BRAINERD — For one local nonprofit, providing shelter is only the beginning of supporting community members who are unhoused.
"Our goal is to not help people be comfortably homeless. We want to end the homelessness," Vicky Kinney said in a recent KAXE Morning Show conversation.
Kinney is the executive director of My Neighbor to Love Coalition, which serves the Brainerd lakes area. The organization focuses on building homes to help residents build healthy lives and find a sense of community.
My Neighbor to Love Coalition began in 2021, and by 2023, it had completed the first phase of Creekside Community in northwest Brainerd: a four-plex housing unit. Since then, the organization has built a 12-plex unit and is getting ready to finish phase three.
Thirty people will be move into the latest development at Creekside Community in December. Funds are being raised by My Neighbor to Love Coalition to provide furnishings and finishing touches for these homes.
They have received many generous donations of furnishings, but some essential household items, like toilet brushes or window blinds, are more practical to purchase. With monetary donations, the coalition can buy exactly what is needed, Kinney said.
My Neighbor to Love Coalition offers more than a place for people to call home. They work to break the cycle and address the root causes of poverty through support, resources and a strong sense of community, Kinney said.
She said the goal is to give residents the tools they need to thrive.
"Everybody needs to have a place where they belong, where they feel, 'This is home,'" Kinney said.
All of the housing units are considered permanent housing, and studio units start at $450 per month. Residents may earn money toward their rent by doing things like helping with landscaping.
"These are people that would not have known each other, that maybe have had a lot of trauma and bad experiences," she said. "But they're here in this community now, and they want it to succeed and work."
Having a solid foundation of a home and a community has also led to more employment, Kinney said. The coalition is seeing residents working and finding meaning in work they didn't envision for themselves.
Kinney shared the story of one resident who had been living in conditions that reflected deep hardship. He surprised those who had known him for years as his new surroundings transformed him into a clean-shaven man with a tidy apartment. Having a space of his own was a day and night transformation.
"It's just been very exciting to see life starting to change and for people to have hope again," Kinney said.
Donations can be made online or be mailed to My Neighbor to Love Coalition, P.O. Box 581, Nisswa, MN 56468.
Listen to our full conversation above.
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