Please watch our press conference here: https://www.facebook.com/DefendGlendale/posts/1812345162264666

Here are some points made by public housing residents and organizers:

— For the past few years, elderly residents have been lied to by the City of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and especially their former Council Member Abdi Warsame who is now Executive Director of MPHA.

–Warsame swore on the Quran – the religious textbook of Muslims, during the month of Ramadan – saying MPHA would not displace any residents and that they could trust him.

— The City of Minneapolis and MPHA are using Elliot Twins as their first project of the voluntary RAD privatization program and if successful, will continue to do the same with the rest of public housing stock in Minneapolis.

— In 2017, the City hired Greg Russ, the Czar of Privatization and Gentrification to implement RAD at Elliot Twins, and he was also hired to privatize the rest of Minneapolis Public Housing stock through RAD and Section 18.

— Between 2018 to 2019, Mayor Frey, CM’s Abdi Warsame, Andrea Jenkins, Cam Gordon, Jeremiah Ellison, Kevin Reich, Jeromy Schroeder, Lisa Bender, and Lisa Goodman authored and voted for a resolution and MOU to privatize the entire stock of Minneapolis Public housing starting with Elliot Twins.

–According to Greg Russ, MPHA Board, and the City of Minneapolis, RAD is a success at Elliot Twins.

–As a result, July of 2019, Greg Russ quit his job at MPHA and moved to NYC to dismantle and privatize NYC Public Housing Authority (NYCHA ) with the endorsement of Secretary Ben Carson and the Mayor of NYC.

–Greg Russ is responsible for dismantling public housing in cities like Cambridge, Massachusetts, Detroit, Chicago, and displacing thousands of public housing residents across the nation since the ’90s. — Due to RAD, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is now the new owner of Elliot Twins with 99.9 % ownership, and MPHA leased the land to the Royal Bank of Canada for 99 years; https://www.dgphc.org/2020/06/25/its-is-official-mpha-and-the-city-of-minneapolis-privatized-and-sold-elliot-twins-public-housing-apartments-to-the-royal-bank-of-canada/, https://www.dgphc.org/2020/06/25/its-is-official-mpha-and-the-city-of-minneapolis-privatized-and-sold-elliot-twins-public-housing-apartments-to-the-royal-bank-of-canada/

–There are currently more than 22 empty units at Elliot Twins, and residents were displaced to make room for remodeling through RAD for the Royal Bank of Canada to attract higher-income renters.

— During this press conference, there was a tent encampment set up next door at Elliot Park while there are empty units in Elliot Twins.– Now there are construction crew members going in and out of the occupied apartments & doing remodeling for RBC during COVID-19.

— 3 elders currently died of COVID-19 in one of the buildings within the last 2 weeks. All of the residents are majority elders, Black, Black Immigrant/ Muslims, and people with disabilities on fixed SSI income.

— In the middle of a hot summer and the global pandemic, residents were told to close their windows so construction could be completed outside for the transfer of the buildings to RBC. There are elders that can’t afford to buy AC’s.

— MPHA is putting the health and lives of elders at risk in the middle of a global pandemic and there is no one to go to at the City or MN State to hold them accountable. Elected officials continue to ignore this crisis while they want us to vote for them. If the residents of Elliot Twins where white and wealthy, would this be allowed? No.

–There is no accountability whatsoever to the abuses, racism, bullying carried by the City Council, Mayor Jacob Frey, MPHA Board/Staff, and the Executive Director of MPHA Abdi Warsame in order to silence public housing residents that are organizing to stop the privatization of their homes and the displacement of their communities.

— Residents of Ward 6 want to know why MPHA and the City of Minneapolis are putting the lives of its residents at risk?

— Mayor Frey, City Council, MPHA Board, and Abdi Warsame care more about the Royal Bank of Canada than the residents they are hired to serve and protect.

— In the middle of a hot summer and the global pandemic, residents were told to close their windows so construction could be completed outside for the transfer of the buildings to RBC. There are elders that can’t afford to buy ACs.

Below are Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition’s demands to pass resolutions, ordinances, policies, and bills at the City of Minneapolis and State to keep public housing public housing & build more public housing permanently !

• Protect all public housing and build more: Create a permanent-public policy, county, city-wide ordinances, and state bills to keep all public housing units as public housing in Minneapolis and build more public housing. This includes 42 high rises, over 740 homes, Glendale Townhomes, more public housing homes, and over 6,040 current public housing units. Prohibit the sale, or lease of land to private developers/investors, or MPHA becoming a private investor, charging market prices for profit through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, or Land Use Restrictive Agreements, etc. Adhere to the permanent protection land trust Declaration of Trust (DOT).
• Stop the sale and lease of public housing buildings: Public housing properties are currently the first target of conversion by MPHA to private developers and investors. This includes Elliot Twins,  Glendale Townhomes, Cedar-Riverside Public Housing,  Horn Towers, etc. This also includes public housing buildings in Wards that predominantly Black and Brown, elders/ seniors and people with disabilities that are the first target, and all public housing properties.
• Eliminate future displacements: Build more public housing as is 30% of income for rent for low- income tenants, and stop the privatization of public housing to minimize displacement, homelessness, the housing crisis, social & economic crisis. And, approve Glendale Townhomes’ application for local historical designation at Minneapolis City Council.
• Fund public housing as a public good: Access public funds from the State, County, and City to keep public housing public. Funding for public housing (through the City Levy, County Funs, Affordable Housing fund, etc.) must be added to the City of Minneapolis, County, and State legislative agenda. Public funding to private developers that build temporarily limited-income-based housing for low-income families must be eliminated. Instead, that funding should be used to build more public housing, as well as funding & sustaining public housing, which provides a long-term safety net, and provides social and economic stability to low-income residents of Minneapolis.
• Hold MPHA accountable to fix & repair all public housing properties  and stop using the fund to privatize 
• Investigate MPHA: Investigate the legal/working relationship between MPHA and Minneapolis City Council, including the shift in mission in MPHA’s “Strategic Vision and Capital Plan for 2018-2020”, which inappropriately abandons the provision/mission of public housing for low income/poor families, in favor of housing for wealthier persons whose income is 50%-80% AMI, which far exceeds the income of MPHA’s current tenants, including MPHA’s proposal for construction, management, and ownership of high-end market-rate housing by MPHA as a public agency. 
• Fill all current public housing vacancies with unsheltered people immediately.
• Specifically, fill the 22 empty public housing units at Elliot Twins that are set aside for RAD privatization by MPHA and City of Minneapolis. These units are one-bedroom and studio.
• Minneapolis should seize vacant units created using taxpayer money like the low-income housing tax credit and affordable housing funds and run them as public housing units with MPHA managing them as a public good to house unsheltered people.
• All residents with zero income must be housed in public housing units.
• All residents who are able to pay rent must pay not more than 30% of their actual income for rent which includes all utilizes and fees.
• Seize back all privatized public housing and cancel all contracts and programs meant to privatize public housing.
• Fund the construction and maintenance of high-quality public housing as a public good.
• Continue the creation of public housing to meet the need for housing unsheltered people.
• Reverse all the privatization resolution, MOU, etc. The city of Minneapolis approved without the approval of public housing residents and the community at large.                                    

Dear Allies:

Here is a photo of a notice from last week to Elliot Twins residents from MPHA. A resident from Elliot Twins emailed us this photo of the notice.  The resident wanted us to know the safety and health crisis MPHA and the City of Minneapolis are creating due to the  RAD construction.  While vulnerable residents are dealing with COVID19 Pandemic, MPHA is ordering residents to close their windows for three weeks as they complete the outside construction for the RAD renovation and redevelopment.  As you can see in this photo, this is a short notice, and residents were not giving enough time to prepare. According to the contract between MPHA and the new owner Royal Bank of Canada, Elliot Twins is under construction to attract wealthier residents that earn between  60% to 80% of AMI; https://tinyurl.com/Sale-of-Elliot-Twins-to-RBC.MPHA is rushing the construction,  not safeguarding the health and well being of the seniors and disabled public housing residents that are on a fixed income and can’t afford air conditioners. The resident who sent this email to us is afraid of dying from heat exhaustion because they don’t have an air conditioner in their unit. We all saw the 5 people that died in Cedars public housing building due to MPHA’s intentional neglect.  Is Elliot Twins next?   The neo-liberal DFL  including Mayor Frey, the entire Minneapolis City Council, Congresswoman  Ilhan Omar, Gov. Walz, Senators Hayden, Champion, Dziedzic, Representatives  Hassan,  Nor,  Dean and Commissioner Conley do not care about Elliot Twins. Public housing residents have always been invisible to them.  #VoteThemOut.

Dear Allies: 
In case MPHA Commissioners that are appointed by the Mayor and Minneapolis City Council or your Council Member try to lie to you, here is the actual contract https://tinyurl.com/Sale-of-Elliot-Twins-to-RBC  between MPHA and the  Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) turning over 99.9% of Elliot Twins Public Housing Buildings to RBC  with a 99-year lease. When it is time to vote, don’t forget all of the Minneapolis DFL elected officials pushed RAD  privatization and the rest were complicit. RAD and Section 18 are promoted heavily by Trump and Carson. Because we are POC, poor  Black, and Black immigrants public housing residents, the Minneapolis elected official including POC electeds from Congress to MN State Senate and House don’t hear or see us.  We are invisible to them. #VoteThemOut.

MPHA and Mayor Frey announced they have officially privatized and sold Elliot Twins Public Housing to the Royal Bank of Canada through Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD): mphaonline.org/mpha-and-partners-begin-unprecedented-modernization-of-the-elliot-twins/.  Elliot Twins are two apartment buildings for seniors and low-income single residents, located in the Elliot Park neighborhood of Minneapolis in Ward 6. The majority of the residents are Black (Black American and East African) seniors on a fixed income.  The RAD privatization program promoted by Donald Trump and Ben Carson is what MPHA and the City of Minneapolis used to convert Elliot Twins from public ownership to private ownership and into the hands of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).  MPHA and the City of Minneapolis leased the public land Elliot Twins are built on for 99 years to RBC.  As a result, Elliot Twins is no longer public housing nor a public good.  According to RBC’s contract with MPHA, page 1 says RBC will own  99.99% of Elliot Twins; https://tinyurl.com/Sale-of-Elliot-Twins-to-RBC.  The remainder will be owned by an unaccountable private non-profit that MPHA created.  The $25 million MPHA and Mayor Frey are bragging about are private dollars and low-income housing tax credits that benefit inventors, not the residents.  MPHA claims the units will be subsidized through Section 8 vouchers, but Section 8 housing is unstable and very vulnerable to budget cuts.  Majority of the current residents are on social security fixed income of $750 a month, $9000 a year, and they pay 30% of their actual income which is $225 to $245 per month for rent for one-bedrooms and studios at Elliot Twins.  This is rent control.  However,page 14 of MPHA and RBC’s contract reveals rents will increase and will not be based on the public housing rate of 30% of actual incomes; https://tinyurl.com/Pg14-Rent-Increase-ElliotTwins.  Page 14 says under RAD and Section 8 guidelines, rents for studios known as 0 bedrooms will be $816, and rent for one-bedrooms will be $998.

There is nothing affordable about this.  The current vulnerable residents will be displaced and evicted slowly if they can’t make up this rent gap of $591 to $773 per month.  Residents with higher incomes will replace the current residents.  Even though MPHA has a waitlist of over 40k people to move into public housing, they currently have at least 22 empty units at Elliot Twins.  We don’t know what happened to the residents who used to live in these units. Have they been quietly displaced or evicted?  MPHA will not say.

Since 2017, Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition (DG&PHC) has been ringing the alarm bell about RAD.  Ever since then, MPHA intimidated residents from speaking out, misled, and marginalized them.  Mayor Frey, Abdi Warsame, and the rest of the current City Council Members manipulated the facts, failing to explain what RAD is and what it does. Instead of learning about RAD, City Council Members with their “great wisdom” began demonizing the residents and organizers.  Regardless, Elliot Twins residents continued to organize to fight back and stop RAD,  and they filed a complaint at City Hall and HUD about how unethical, illegitimate, and egregious MPHA’s tactics were, and of course this complaint was ignored; https://tinyurl.com/Elliot-Twins-Ltr-to-MPHA-HUD.  MPHA even called the police on residents and organizers at a protest against RAD.  MPHA and Minneapolis City Hall did everything possible under this illegitimate process to sell Elliot Twins to RBC under the false pretext that they cannot afford to maintain the buildings as public housing even though MPHA receives a 45% budget increase for repairs yearly from HUD and sits on $23 million in surplus. 

By privatizing Elliot Twins, the real affordable, rent-controlled public and stable housing in the city is being destroyed intentionally to allow the risks of private banks to profit from poverty.  This is an unacceptable decision made even worse because it is happening in the midst of COVID 19 Pandemic. Our elders’ lives are already at risk, and now their homes are too.  The entire Minneapolis City Council, Mayor Frey, Abdi Warsame and the rest of DFL elected who are silent are also responsible for supporting this attack on public housing. This case is emblematic of the City’s lack of respect for POC communities and makes it very clear that gentrification and privatization, not affordability, is their real goal.

Source:

mphaonline.org/mpha-and-partners-begin-unprecedented-modernization-of-the-elliot-twins/

What is RAD & Does it Make Sense for Elliot Twins Public Housing

https://shelterforce.org/2019/03/21/fearing-privatization-public-housing-activists-push-back-against-rad-plans/?fbclid=

MPHA’s manipulation of the media

https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/minnesota-housing-retraction-mpha.php?fbclid=IwAR07AIL

https://tinyurl.com/Sale-of-Elliot-Twins-to-RBC.

https://tinyurl.com/Elliot-Twins-Ltr-to-MPHA-HUD

https://tinyurl.com/Pg14-Rent-Increase-ElliotTwins

https://tinyurl.com/Elliot-Twins-Privatized-Sold

Here is our response to this article:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/06/18/npr-minneapolis-has-a-bold-plan-to-tackle-racial-inequity-now-it-has-to-follow-throu

The same Minneapolis City Council that voted to award the violent, racist MPD with more funding each year is being hailed as a champion of progressive values for its supposed efforts to end racial disparities in housing through its 2040 Plan. The City Council has gone to great lengths to promote this plan – they even hired a PR firm to buy themselves some good press. But, the 2040 Plan is just neoliberal, free-market deregulation dressed up in progressive language. Our campaign, Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition (DG&PHC), as well as other anti-gentrification activists around the country, have spent years explaining how increasing the supply of housing alone doesn’t make housing more affordable, and actually leads to real estate speculation that prices us out low-income communities of color. Yet, the supposedly progressive Minneapolis City Council, their nonprofit allies, and the white-dominated press ignored POC opposition to the plan, even as we protested about how up-zoning would put development pressure on our neighborhoods that are already suffering from gentrification. 

This City Council does not care about making Minneapolis affordable for POC residents. If it did, it would not have passed the 2040 Plan, and it would also not be engaged in privatizing Minneapolis public housing. Since 2015, DG&PHC led by Black, Black Immigrant Muslim women who are public housing residents have been fighting to keep public housing public and to expose MPHA’s (Minneapolis Public Housing Authority’s) xenophobia, racism, and misogyny. The City Council has not only refused to stand with residents of public housing, but they have also gone out of their way to support MPHA’s privatization plans that put at risk over 12,000 poor, low-income majority Black, Black Muslim immigrant residents with children, seniors/ elders, people with disabilities and Hmong residents. Mayor Frey and the current City Council passed a resolution approving MPHA’s privatization plans through Section 18 and RAD which has been highly endorsed by Trump and Secretary Carson. To mislead the public, once again the City of Minneapolis used “progressive language” to hide their neoliberal, pro-Trump agenda allowing MPHA to sell over 720 single-family scattered sites public housing homes for $1 – yes, literally $1 a piece – to a shady nonprofit MPHA created who will then hand majority ownership over to private investors. This is in line with the 2040 plan which by way does not mention keep public housing public or building more public housing to address the houselessness crisis. DG&PHC and allies sent 100’s of comments to the city to add that language to the 2040 plan, as usual, we were ignored by Mayor Frey and City Council. If the City wants to brag about how it’s working to make housing more” affordable and equitable”, they need to explain why they support dismantling public housing which is rent-controlled by law at 30% of residents’ income. Public housing is the only type of housing POC low- income residents can afford to rent in Minneapolis. The city refuses to talk about public housing, and they want to talk about “ “affordable housing” which is not really affordable for our communities. This fact sheet explains the difference between public housing and affordable housing: 

Public Housing vs. Affordable Housing, Fact Sheet

The so-called affordable housing schemes promoted by the City and white-led nonprofits as an alternative to public housing are worthless. “Affordable housing” relies on racially-discriminatory measures of area median income that result in housing that is out of reach for most POC in this city. So the City of Minneapolis is destroying Black and Brown communities with one hand and patting themselves on the back with the other. And white-led nonprofits, banks, developers and investors are benefiting from this crisis. Enough is enough. How can the City pretend there is not enough money to keep public housing public and build more when they found more than enough money to prop up the white supremacist police force that murdered George Floyd? We demand a city government that works for the people, not landlords, and developers. We demand that the City of Minneapolis to #KeepPublicHousingPublic, #Build more public housing, #StopSection18, and #StopRAD. 

Sources:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/06/18/npr-minneapolis-has-a-bold-plan-to-tackle-racial-inequity-now-it-has-to-follow-throu

Story on PR firm they City hired to promote the 2040 Plan:

https://kstp.com/news/5-eyewitness-news-investigation-minneapolis-hired-pr-firm-to-sell-2040-plan/5223017/

A story explaining a study on how up zoning led to higher real estate prices in Chicago: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-31/zoning-reform-isn-t-a-silver-bullet-for-u-s-housing

Ubuntu article about BIPOC opposition to the 2040 Plan: https://www.weareubuntu.com/race-politcs/2019/4/16/the-san-francisco-fication-of-minneapolis

Call To Action: Submit Public Comments to Keep Public Housing Public & to Build More to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Due Sunday, July 22

SECTION 18 Demolition & Disposition: A Fact Sheet

Historic Public Land Grab: MPHA, Mayor Frey and Council President Lisa Bender move forward to sell 717 scattered sites of public housing and 104.67 acres of public land through Section 18 Demolition & Disposition without public input or a city council vote.

2019 Omnibus Spending Bill increases funding for Public Housing while MPHA, Mayor Jacob Frey and Council President Lisa Bender put out a false PR campaign to white homeowners that public housing is no longer sustainable or a worthwhile public good. This is racial.

https://tinyurl.com/Response-MPR-2040-Plan.

To all of our allies and community organizers:

In the aftermath of the brutal police killing of George Floyd and the subsequent terror imposed on our grieving communities by the MPD, Minneapolis City Council members are attempting to portray themselves as innocent and helpless all-over social media. They are promising to pass a useless resolution and make statements that are nothing but a PR stunt, https://tinyurl.com/Mpls-City-Council-Statement. They are trying to tell the world that they support communities of color in Minneapolis. They don’t and never did.

The POC Councilmembers we elected to bring about systemic change continue to fail us. Mayor Frey and all 13 Council members voted to increase the police budget and allow white supremacist Bob Kroll to do what he wants as head of the police union. These Councilmembers never prioritized Minneapolis residents of color, our businesses, our housing, our rights, or our safety. In their latest statement, all 13 City council members failed again to call for the arrests of the other 3 officers and say that the killer Derek Chauvin should receive 1st-degree murder for killing Georg Floyd. The City of Minneapolis’s Department of Human Rights that is discussed in this letter has never been successful in police cases let alone discrimination cases. They are all complicit and guilty.

Our City Council has aggressively courted developers and investors to build luxury apartments we cannot afford, encouraged the gentrification of Black and Brown neighborhoods, and authorized the privatization of our public housing – actions which all benefit wealthy white people at the expense of BIPOC communities. Ward 6, which is home to most of our city’s public housing, does not even have a Councilmember to represent them at this time because Abdi Warsame left his position earlier this year to become head of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, after years of pushing MIPHA’s privatization agenda at City Hall. Ward 6 is made up of the majority of people of color and has been hit hard by COVID19, and no one is advocating for Ward 6 now.

Hold them accountable because they are also responsible for this crisis and tragedy. They need to go. They have been attacking BIPOC communities since they came into office: gentrifying BIPOC neighborhoods, privatizing public housing, failing to support minority businesses, and funding a police department that terrorizes our communities and kills us. As a campaign led by Black East African Women, Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition has first-hand experience for the last five years of this council’s racist attacks, anti-Black rhetoric, xenophobia, islamophobia, and misogyny.  This is a corrupt and incompetent City Council and Mayor, and they need to resign. We need new leadership that cares about the Black, Brown, and low-income communities of Minneapolis.

A mother that lives in  Minneapolis Public Housing in single-family homes, scattered sites wins her case against MPHA and the City of Minneapolis. This case was about public housing units being subject to state and local codes. This case states that public housing tenants have the right to Minneapolis City housing codes and inspections. The denial of inspections denies the civil rights of public housing residents in Minneapolis. This impacts all public housing residents of Minneapolis.  To learn more about this case see this link and attached press release.

http://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/Appellate/Court%20of%20Appeals/Standard%20opinions/OPa191558-051120.pdf

MPHA requires Elliot Twins to Move and Sign new RAD Lease During #COVID19

Minneapolis Public Housing Authority is risking the health and safety of Elliot Twins residents by requiring them to sign new leases and move in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.  According to the letter sent by MPHA, residents must sign the new lease and move by May 29th, as COVID-19 cases are anticipated to reach their peak in Minnesota. The timeline for leasing and moving and possible displacement proposed by MPHA for Elliot Twins residents is dangerous and possibly deadly given the current environment. Some of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks have been in facilities with elderly residents living in close quarters, including 47 dead and 130 infected at St Therese in New Hope and nearly 70 dead at a Veteran’s Home in Massachusetts, where staff spread the disease from one resident to the next. Asking a large number of residents to meet with the property manager and other MPHA staff greatly increases the potential to spread Coronavirus through the Elliot Twin towers. Asking them to move during this crisis is stressful and will further compromise their ability to fight illness. Residents should not be asked to sacrifice their health in the name of MPHA’s agenda to privatize Elliot Twins and push their RAD plans according to their preferred timeline.

Additionally, the lease and recent letters to Elliot Twins are in English and Somali with no other translations available. Elliot Twins also has residents who speak Spanish, Arabic, Oromo, Amharic, and disabled residents, who may need assistance understanding what they are signing. Residents are being told they can meet with their Property Manager and the Property Manager will verbally explain the lease to residents and the options they have to move in and out of Elliot Twins. Residents should have the ability to seek independent interpretation services and legal counsel to properly understand the implications of signing the new lease and being displaced out of Elliot Twins. Not only does this process lend itself to coercion (residents signing in the presence of management without knowing where they will move), but it is incredibly unsafe given the circumstances of COVID-19.  Elliot Twins is already at high risk for a COVID-19 outbreak given the density of the high rise and the population of elders and individuals with underlying health conditions who reside there.  

The new lease MPHA wants residents to sign is 42 pages and filled with complicated terms, fees, charges, and addendums that are not translated in any language nor explained. In addition, MPHA stated verbally residents will be paying 30% of their income for their rent. This policy is not referenced in this lease nor is this in writing anywhere in this lease. Only the bottom of pages 2 and 3 of the lease are rental payments mentioned, and there is nothing that states current and future residents will pay 30% of their income for rent.  Elliot Twins are public housing buildings where the current residents make between 0 to 20% AMI and the majority of the residents are on a fixed income, such as social security. They receive $750 a month, $9000 a year, and pay on average $225 a month of rent which is 30% of their income. There is no clear language protecting current residents in the new lease.  

We are asking MPHA, Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, Minneapolis City Council, State Senators & Representatives, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to stop the new lease signing and moving for RAD Conversation at Elliot Twins to prevent COVID-19 outbreak. The infection rate is not going down in Minneapolis. Elliot Twins residents face the greatest risk of infections and fatalities because they are mostly elders/seniors with underlying health conditions and people with disabilities. 

References: 

https://tinyurl.com/New-Lease-Signing-Elliot-Twins;

https://tinyurl.com/90days-to-move-March-30-2020

https://tinyurl.com/Notice-to-move-March-30-2020

https://www.startribune.com/deadly-toll-grows-at-minnesota-s-new-hope-nursing-home-with-47-dead-and-130-sickened-by-coronavirus/570080252/

https://time.com/5829083/coronavirus-holyoke-veterans-home/

https://tinyurl.com/New-RAD-Lease-Elliot-Twins

Sincerely,

MPHA please answer the following questions: 

1. MPHA, why are you not answering phone calls from Section 8 Voucher holders when they want to report loss of income due to COVID19? 
2. Why is it that you do not have phone numbers on your website for residents to report their loss of income? https://mphaonline.org/section-8/online-income-family-change-submission/
3. Why are you requiring residents to submit all of their income changes in only English and online? 

• https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/128cbb353ca3431aaebac2eda35e764e   
• You are well aware that the majority of public housing residents and Section 8 Voucher holders do not have access to home computers, many are disabled, and almost half of the population does not speak English as their first language.  

4. Why do you refuse to cancel rents and fully fund Section 8 vouchers knowing private landlords continue to increase rents?
5. Why do you continue to violate the civil rights of public housing and Section 8 residents? 
6. Why are Section 8 voucher holders calling DG&PHC to figure out what to do and how to contact you   because they cannot afford to pay their rents?