Click here for an article about the government shutdown affecting project-based Section 8 voucher holders.

The government shutdown is exposing how risky and unstable housing vouchers are compared to public housing, as residents at over 1,000 project-based Section 8 properties around the country are at risk of eviction.  If the shutdown continues, even more residents will be at risk. See the map below to get a sense of the scale of this crisis.

Project-based Section 8 housing is NOT public housing; it is owned by private landlords who sign contracts with HUD to accept Section 8 vouchers. When the government is shutdown, these contracts can expire and residents will face eviction. This is not a danger that public housing faces, because it is publicly owned. Yet, MPHA and the City of Minneapolis want to convert and sell Minneapolis’ safe, stable public housing to private developers, which will cause massive evictions and displacement. 

https://nlihc.org/issues/budget/shutdown-map

MPHA and the City of Minneapolis are moving forward with their privatization and eviction plans that will destabilize the lives of thousands of public housing residents. While the federal government is shut down, MPHA and City of Minneapolis are starting the eviction plans of Elliot Twins Public Housing in Ward 6 that have majority East African- Somali, Oromo and African American seniors and elders. Both the City and MPHA want to gentrify by selling  the buildings to private developers through the RAD program, and they want residents to apply for Section 8 Vouchers with no place to go. The city and MPHA both  know that wait- list for Section 8 Vouchers including Project Based Section 8  is over 7 years, and vulnerable residents will face homelessness.  Also, hardly anyone is renting to Section 8 Vouchers holders because these residents who are majority BIPOC, immigrants and refugees face extreme discrimination in Minneapolis by landlords.

The current crisis facing voucher holders makes it clearer that this crisis must be stopped. City of Minneapolis and MPHA want to forcefully remove residents.

Please come support residents of the Elliot Twins apartments fighting MPHA’s eviction plans this Thursday, January 17 from 1:30 – 3:30 pm at the Elliot Twins Community Room, 1225 South 8th Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55404.

Say no to privatization! 

 Say no to RAD!

Keep public housing public!