Gratitude Great & Small

Here in Minnesota we have Give to the Max Day, nationally we have Giving Tuesday, and then come Thanksgiving, the holidays, and the end of the calendar year, all with a big focus on giving, both financially and emotionally. At Alliance, we prefer to think of this time as gratitude season, shifting the focus from "what can you give?" to "what are you grateful for?” and we'd like to take a moment and share a few things we're grateful for. There is much uncertainty, stress, and chaos on the city, state, and national level this year, but that doesn't diminish the importance of big and small things successes. In many ways, it makes them even more important. 

New Housing! 

This has been a huge year for new Alliance housing. Kyle Garden Square opened this past October after many years in development and the hard work of many, many individuals. Building new affordable housing is a complicated process,  involving real estate purchases, architectual design, necessary zoning changes, and securing capital funding  and that’s even before you get to breaking ground and creating the actual homes! We’re grateful for partner who played a part in getting us to this point. 

Now that the building is open, we’re grateful for the partnership of PSS and Touchstone, who are doing an incredible job moving new residents in before we hit the coldest winter months to come. Once residents move in, these partners make sure they have the support they need to make the often complicated transition from unhoused to housed.  

In addtion to Kyle Garden Square, we're thrilled to share that the next project in our pipeline, 2116 Nicollet, was approved for funding from the Metropolitan Council, bringing us within sight of the funding finish line! We’re grateful for the hard work of everyone putting in time alongside our Executive Director, Jessie, to get us to this point. 

Maintaining Current Housing! 

We share a lot about our upcoming projects, making it easy to forget that much of the day-to-day work in the Alliance office is property management and maintenance to ensure that current residents are comfortable and our smaller buildings receive the maintenance they need. More than 50% of our in-house staff is in property management, including our Senior Property Manager, Mike, Assistant Property Manager, Cheree, and Administrative Assistant, Emily. We also have three incredible maintenance staff: James, our Maintenance Supervisor, and Lyle and Morris, our two Maintenance Associates. 

This property management team is constantly in motion with projects big and small. On the larger end, we're excited to share that our four-plex on Golden Valley Road in North Minneapolis received a new roof! Meanwhile, a duplex on Newton received brand new cabinets and had a door repaired, a new gate was installed in a backyard to ensure a resident's dog stays where they need to be, and bathroom drains were rebuilt at a 6-plex on Park, ensuring they fit correctly, drain properly, and don't cause water damage. 

Much of the work this time of year also involves winter prep: sealing windows that might be leaking cold air and the all-important task of firing up the boilers. We're grateful to have an amazing staff that works day in and day out to make sure residents are comfortable and respond promptly to the new issues that inevitably pop up. 

Our Community 

Finally, we're grateful for our community – our staff and board, vendors we work with, peer organizations, and donors and supporters – we're grateful to have a community that truly understands we're all in this together. It's easy to fall into a scarcity mindset, particularly when funding is threatened, and feel like other organizations are threats. The opposite is true. When we stand together in common purpose and shared values, we ensure everyone has enough and everyone has a place to call home. 

So, thank you!