Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
In the past fiscal year St. Stephen’s Human Services:
• Served 8,903 people in all our programs; 6,196 adults and 2,707 children.
• Sheltered 958 people.
• Assisted 1,459 households in attaining permanent supported housing.
• Worked with 507 landlords to provide rental housing to program participants in 603 different properties across the Twin Cities.
• Provided intensive on-the-spot services and housing options for 314 different individuals in crisis through Street Outreach and interacted with an additional 1,186 people with less intensive needs.
• Partnered with the Homes for All Coalition to: successfully advocate for the inclusion of $100 million for affordable housing in the state bonding bill; changes to the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) that will make it easier for participants to gain job training and education; and for the increased minimum wage.
• Debuted a new work by our zAmya Theater, Home Street Home Minneapolis, to promote the Downtown Council’s Downtown 2025 goal of ending street homelessness. Downtown Council President Steve Cramer and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges attended performances and participated in the public discussions following the performance. zAmya held 18 performances, attracting 1800 audience members.
• Hired Gail Dorfman to serve as Executive Director. Gail previously served as the Mayor of St. Louis Park and as a Hennepin County Commissioner where she championed efforts to end homelessness and create affordable housing.
Current Goals
St. Stephen’s 2012-2014 key goals adopted as part of the strategic plan are to:
• Support Prevention and Permanent Solutions to Homelessness;
• Promote Systems Change and Self-Advocacy;
• Further Learning and Sharing; and
• Enhance Ongoing Program and Funding Efforts.
Community or Constituency Served
St. Stephen’s helps families with children and single adults who are experiencing homelessness. 30 percent of our clients are children, 79 percent are people of color, and 44 percent are female. We assist people with diverse barriers and needs including young at-risk moms with children, those facing eviction or foreclosure, families and singles in shelters or on the streets, chemically dependent homeless American Indian women and their children, veterans, people experiencing long-term homelessness, and the most frequent users of detox, shelter, and jail. We are known for helping people with severe housing barriers and the longest lengths of homelessness.
Geographic Area Served
Hennepin County with a focus on Minneapolis.
