Dear Friends,
2020 has been, for most people and organizations, a year like no other, and NeighborWorks Home Partners is no exception. While there have been challenges, we have risen to meet them, resulting in some of our greatest impact in our 40-year history.
It was a year when we learned to deliver services in a pandemic. As a result of a move to paperless systems and cloud-based apps, we were well positioned to transition to remote work in March when COVID-19 began to surge. We had already begun offering virtual appointments for our customers, and so service delivery was seamless. While we might have anticipated a slowdown in demand, instead we’ve found that more people than ever are seeking assistance to buy, fix, and keep their homes.
And it was a year when the structural inequities of decades of housing policy were brought to the forefront. Eliminating Minnesota’s 50-point gap in homeownership rates between white households and households of color has been part of our vision for several years. The tragic killing of George Floyd shone light on systemic racism in the Twin Cities, including decades of discriminatory housing policy that has excluded households of color from the benefits of homeownership and resulted in segregated neighborhoods and adversarial policing relationships. (you can read here how these are related)
Homeownership is a pathway to building family wealth, opportunity, and equity. The story of Kali Terry, told in this report, is just one example of how access to information and resources can lead to life-changing opportunity.
Jason Peterson
Chief Executive Officer
We imagine a Twin Cities where all people have a home.
Our Vision
Our Mission
We aspire to be the preferred Homeownership Center dedicated to building and preserving sustainable homeownership for all people in the Twin Cities. We deliver innovative services dedicated to:
Kali used down payment assistance from NeighborWorks Home Partners to purchase a property where he could live and also build income. The spacious duplex where he now lives overlooks what once was Rondo Avenue, the heart of a historic and thriving Black-owned business district and neighborhood that was razed to make room for the freeway.
On the day we visited, Kali was preparing the first floor unit for a new tenant, a teacher, who would be moving in soon. He beamed at the tall ceilings, the fresh paint in the light-filled living room, and showed off the built-in desk and storage unit he’d just installed, hoping that it would be a good place for his new neighbor to work. He takes pride in the details, in creating what will be a nice place to live and housing that will be affordable for the neighborhood.
Kali also recognizes that while he’s providing an affordable rental unit, he’s building economic security for himself.
“I’ve turned a potential liability – my housing expense – into an income producing asset,” he marvels. “Now I’m in a position of power to build this income. It’s a total game-changer for me.”
Kali said that access to information about buying a home, like what he learned in the Home Stretch workshop he took, made him feel more confident about the purchasing process and was key to seeing the possibilities. It was easier than he expected, though it did take a few tries before he had an accepted offer. He was a back-up offer on this particular house, and when the initial buyers fell through, he was prepared to act quickly.
At the workshop, Kali learned about some of the other services NeighborWorks provides, including home improvement financing, and not long after closing on his home he came back to apply for funds to create more finished living space in the attic. He is hoping that with a proposed zoning change, he’ll be able to eventually offer it as a third living unit. His goal is to keep the rent a little lower than other places, to offer opportunity to other people just starting out. But he plans to tell others about how owning a home is possible, and that there are resources in the community that make it easier.
“Homeownership has put me in a position of power,” he says, smiling. “It’s the ultimate home hack.”
”I am the first of my family to become a homeowner, breaking a generational cycle of renting and lacking equity. NeighborWorks Home Partners has been directly involved in every step of the process and has empowered me to secure my dreams of ownership and equity that has ultimately allowed me to change my life.” – Kali Terry
When she decided to buy, she made a list of must-have items: “One was a space to have a garden. That was number one – it was non-negotiable,” she said. “Two was a big, open space to have members of my community and my friends over for dinner, and then the third was a space to hold my loved ones in periods of transition.”
In her new home, she’s able to pursue her hobbies and her community values. She’s transformed the yard into a vegetable garden, added a flock of chickens, and built connections with her neighbors.
Our Development team took on three single family home projects in Saint Paul in 2020. Two were top-to-bottom rehabs of homes that had sat vacant for years, in the North End and on the East Side. The third was a new construction project that created a three-bedroom energy-efficient home on a vacant lot in Frogtown.
1295 Galtier – Renovation
1885 Nevada – Renovation
995 Charles Avenue – New Construction
“NWHP customers could very well be my own family members or neighbors. There are so many people who only know how to rent and do not know owning a home is within their reach.” – Juan Bates
Krissi Mills, Vice-President Katelyn Shehu, Treasurer Juan Bates, Secretary Brian Deppe William Flowers Seema Kairam, RA Kevin Knase Justine Logelin Mark Nettesheim Peris Outa Nancy Tuomie Mai Lee Yang Dave Zastrow
Mike Morrell, President
Sunrise Banks
Minnesota Housing
University of St. Thomas
Capella UniversityJoe Chow
Bremer Bank
Riverton Community Housing
SPS Commerce
The Trust for Public Land
City of Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development
NTH, Inc.Randy Nelson
Guaranteed Rate Affinity
CorTrust Bank
Affordable Housing Connections
BankCherokee
Nilan Johnson Lewis PA
Drewes Law PLLC
Beth Hyser Kjirsten Johnson Fraynke Atkinson Matt Brown Becky Errigo Chris Lubin Marie Malrick Fatima Saine LaShelle Smith Cory Teshera-Levye Amanda Welliver GT Xiong Nick YangJason Peterson
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Program Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Lending Coordinator
Construction ManagerGina DeNardo Graf
Homeownership Advisor
Housing Development Coordinator
Lending Coordinator
Lending AdvisorNick Pierce
Business Development Coordinator
Accounting Coordinator
Lending Advisor
Data Coordinator AmeriCorps VISTACasey Ware
Community Lending Manager
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Homeownership Advisor
Homeownership Advisor
Sponsors provide financial support to underwrite programs like Home Stretch, Homebuyer Basics, Financial Wellness, and Homebuyer Pre-purchase Counseling, and also have the opportunity to contribute to instruction and host education programs on their site.
Every day we help another homebuyer become a homeowner. You can be an important partner of this exciting and important work – making homeownership opportunity available to all strengthening communities, and helping people stay in their homes – by supporting us with a one-time or recurring donation.
Please become a NeighborWorks Home Partner by making a gift today.
