A Place for Everyone: Fair Housing for All Community Members

On Tuesday, November 19, the League of Women Voters of the Roseville Area and the League of Women Voters St. Paul (LWVSP) are sponsoring “A Place for Everyone: a discussion of fair housing for all community members”featuring a panel of housing experts, who will discuss the current situation in fair housing in the region. The forum runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Centennial Methodist Church — Roseville Campus (1524 County Rd. C2 W, Roseville, at the corner of C2 and Snelling). It is free and open to the public.

Panelists will include:

• Rep. Alice Hausman, Chair of the Minnesota House of Representatives Housing Committee; 
• Cathy ten Broeke, Executive Director of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness; and 
• Maria Wetherall, Director of Ramsey County Veterans Services, who chairs Heading Home Ramsey, a community-wide partnership that seeks to end homelessness for veterans in Ramsey County.

The program is co-sponsored by Centennial, Hamline United Methodist Church, Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues of Women Voters (CMAL) and CAN (Catalyzing Community Action Network) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ramsey County (NAMI Ramsey).

LWVSP has a long history of monitoring affordable housing in Twin Cities and advocating for fair policies. Its most recent study, on housing foreclosure, was published in 2009 during the financial crisis. At that time, it was estimated that the city would have 2,400 houses in foreclosure by the year’s end; the number of buildings registered with the city as vacant was on the rise, and the number of demolitions was rising. In 2019, fair housing options have become scarce, and millennials who delayed house purchases during the financial crisis, students and other younger generations, are finding themselves priced out of affordable options.

The League of Women Voters of St. Paul (lwvsp.org), celebrating its 100th year in 2019, is dedicated to informed and active participation of citizens in government. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization and neither supports nor opposes political parties or candidates. Future LWVSP talks will include topics such as election security; affordable housing; the National Popular Vote, and presidential primaries vs. caucuses in Minnesota. Please see the LWVSP event calendar for more election information, program details, and upcoming events: lwvsp.org/events.