Nicolle and her daughter, Amaya, relocated to Minnesota from South Carolina to be closer to extended family and further her education at a well-known culinary school.
When their housing with an extended family member fell through, Nicolle and her daughter experienced homelessness for four months, living in a hotel and out of their car during the summer and fall months.
We slept at a bus stop that night.
I remember the culmination of events that led to the lowest point of my life. I had my five young children with me, and we had nowhere to go. We were on the street after two years of staying with my family and living in and out of motel rooms with my youngest son’s dad.
Simpson Housing Services has been selected to receive a $2.5 million grant award from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund to expand our Family Housing Program, including Children and Youth Services programs, over the next four years. Simpson was one of 24 nonprofits across the country and the only one in Minnesota to be awarded this grant. Simpson is honored to receive this generous gift and extraordinary opportunity to serve more families experiencing homelessness. Click here to read the press release.
Talisha is a goal-oriented working mother, devoted to the needs of her four children. A year ago she and her family faced homelessness. Without a support system to fall back on, Talisha and her kids lived in a large Minneapolis shelter for nine months. Talisha found daily life in the shelter challenging.
Leroy, a former guest in Simpson’s shelter program, has just settled into his new apartment in northeast Minneapolis, but it wasn’t long ago that he found himself among the rising numbers of senior citizens in our community’s homeless shelters. At 75 years of age, Leroy slept alongside men half his age. Leroy is one of 69 guests age 62 or older that Simpson has served in the shelter program within the past twelve months. Click here to read Leroy’s story.
This video was made possible with support from the St. Joan of Arc Justice Fund.
Randy Pottebaum may be retired, but he’s not done helping others. For two years, Randy has volunteered his time at Simpson’s Shelter 3-4 evenings a month. He stocks and cleans up the supply closet, he makes coffee for guests, and then greets them as they enter the shelter for the evening.
Joshua Kortgard is not your average 14 year old boy. Sure, he likes playing tennis, video games, but he also spends his time collecting toiletries to donate to Simpson’s Shelter.
It all started a few years ago on a family trip to Chicago. Josh saw people on the streets and started asking questions:
“Where do they sleep?”
“Can they come live with us?”
“How do they brush their teeth?”
“Can we buy them a house?”
His mom,
On March 29th, we joined the community in celebrating 10 years of Heading Home Hennepin. At the celebration one of Simpson’s participants, Brittany, was featured in the video.
Click here to view the video, her story starts at 1.44. Brittany and her two children found housing through a partnership with Simpson and Hennepin County’s Stable Family Initiative.
