00:00about a decade ago our family moved to Minnesota for me to get a doctorate in housing a few years
00:11into the program I really sensed God was saying it was time to look at poverty in my own backyard
00:15this is not a housing problem this is not a social service problem this is yeah just a
00:22poverty of relationship and a loss of family I moved to Kansas in 2018 and I think of my brother
00:41for a while he ended up losing the house and I ended up on the street and I was in a tent
00:50down by the rivers it got really cold one year it was like 40 below and some people from a
00:56different church came out he collected everybody they could find that was out there and put us up
01:02in a hotel most people out there haven't been there that long um I mean it could happen to anybody
01:09to some tree you know mishap or something crazy happens in their life he
01:16um yeah most of the homeless people are through out there aren't like I know what the preconceived
01:28notions are you know I wasn't homeless or you know I had there's times when I was making really good
01:34money I had a nice house and nice car everything the people that I've noticed are chronically homeless
01:41have that severe trauma or family breakdown and don't have those relationships to really support
01:47a healthy life when you go through something if you don't have someone to turn to and it's just
01:52yourself it's a lot to depend on yourself I think the biggest general thing that I've heard that I
01:58definitely think isn't true is that people who are chronically homeless kind of got themselves into
02:04those situations um like that'll often say people get into chronic homelessness from a catastrophic loss
02:12of community especially from a young age you know I tend to shy away from people sitting on the corner
02:19no signs and stuff um even though I knew for the most part that they weren't they're not
02:28all you know drug addicts and thieves and whatever else people think um they're just stuck in a
02:36position that once you get there it's really hard to get out of um
02:46see if you find a job trying you know here nothing's consistent there's no consistency
02:54the healthcare system was kind of waving their white flag saying this is really
02:58costly our neighbors are coming into the er um you know feigning an illness essentially for a bed
03:03and a meal because we we lack um enough support to help our neighbors one of those major barriers
03:11was local zoning and um and also the spirit of nimbyism not in my backyard sentiments right
03:17and we discovered the religious land use act there was a church in saint paul that was in a lawsuit
03:23with the city of saint paul in the federal courts because they had opened up a day respite center
03:29in their church basement and the city had put significant restrictions on them operating that
03:35day respite center for the homeless and ultimately they landed on the religious land use act they won in
03:43in federal courts and saw the strength of of that federal law settled with working uh with legislators to come to uh this agreement um legislation to be able for churches and religious institutions to be able to use their land um to provide housing for the chronically homeless minnesota is the first to have this legislation it's the religious uh land use uh that we can provide these homes for the
04:01uh formerly uh chronically uh chronically homeless uh formerly uh chronically homeless neighbors and there is a description of what that is it's three years i believe you've been homeless um and unstably housed it's awesome there's a lot of community um it's a different way of living for sure um
04:31um but we felt called to come by the lord so we came and it's just nice i moved in fairly recently uh end of may i actually housed that a few times for they always like to have someone in the home so if someone's out of town for like the week they like to have someone in there so i had the opportunity to do that a few times and i really loved it
04:53so our homes are sponsored by other faith communities um that maybe aren't ready to put a sacred settlement on their land or don't have the land to do that but um can participate in this movement by building one home and lifting one person up off the streets
05:12we're building homes as if we're building homes as if we're building them for ourselves um you know when you when you stay in a place you build stability you build stability with yourself with the neighborhood with the relationships that you're in and so we want to be building something that is um yes affordable um but but really has that sense of home
05:32we are in such close relationship with our neighbors that we're pretty attuned to the things that go on but we're not a social service agency we really advocate for them to connect
05:42with a therapist or a social worker um people that have the skill the missing piece is the relational piece at the end of the day who is looking at our neighbors in the eye and saying you're of great value
05:54um looking at them with awe and delight and wonder and and saying like i'm so glad to be with you we're certainly not solving the problems of everybody um i like having a friend who always says we throw our rock as hard as we can
06:06we're attempting to you know make a difference in people's lives but it's not life is complicated you don't solve everybody's problems with a home doesn't solve everybody's problems but it certainly is a good place to start
06:20what i realize is everything is temporary like this is all temporary and we're meant to love each other and share while we're here and i think that being here has taught me that
06:30get i mean just in giving you you receive there's a ratio of how many intentional neighbors um versus invited neighbors so that's where we fit with the kind of two to one ratio of having the invited neighbors and intentional neighbors neighbors
06:46help uh help uh in the neighborhood um cutting trees and doing lawn care and helping with odds and ends
06:54and the neighborhood comes in gardens at the sacred settlement and comes to the block parties and comes
06:59trick-or-treating throughout the tiny homes like there is a reciprocity there is a true um uh friendship
07:07between the neighborhood and the sacred settlement what is what goes into being an intentional neighbor i mean is
07:12there any difference from just being a neighbor anywhere else it means like you're intentionally
07:18coming in to live alongside the chronically homeless like we're all on the same level
07:23um it's intentional like we're coming in knowing that we're moving alongside our neighbors coming out
07:29homelessness um and we're gonna be support and anything could happen um and we're willing to walk alongside
07:37and be a friend and be a family member whatever they need i'd say it's it's fairly similar except
07:42the way the community is set up is that you're interacting with people a lot more after the first
07:47time i house sat here i went back home and one of my neighbors was outside and i had this urge to like
07:53go talk to them because that's what i've been doing the whole week i was here but like part of me stopped
07:58because i'm like that's not what i'm supposed to like it felt like disruptive um but i ended up going and
08:04talking to them and we had a great chat so i think there was just there felt like a freedom to engage
08:09with people i mean i think it's kind of the name intentional neighbor i think it's really just what
08:14being a good neighbor is but um for me personally i've been more intentional about spending more of
08:21my time in this community it wasn't just till recently you know that i got caught up with this whole
08:30homeless thing and i don't know i had helped get out of it a lot of help which
08:41made the whole difference i don't know we'll wear it that probably still be out there
08:46if somebody hadn't stepped up to
08:50to pull me out shelters are near temporary i would say that emergency shelters are quick solutions or
08:57transitional housing is a quick solution at settled we've codified a model that we call full community
09:03and essentially it says what do our neighbors on the streets need in order to live a whole life
09:09and the beautiful thing is that they need the same things that you and i need they need neighbors to
09:14lean on they need purposeful work to do they need permanent homes to dwell in they need friends to
09:19trust they need places to cultivate and so that's what we call the full community model they do pay rent
09:25to live here so it's not free housing it's uh deeply affordable housing about how much are we talking
09:34about i would say under 300 a month and our neighbors have the opportunity to receive rent credits so if
09:43they you know do some kind of service around the church um they can earn up to 150 off of their rent
09:50i think there's often oftentimes people are valued for what they can like monetarily contribute and so
09:59if you're someone who doesn't have like a full-time job oftentimes i think you can get overlooked and i
10:03think the government does help in some ways with that but i definitely think in the issue of like
10:08homelessness they could be doing more even if i don't know specifically what those steps the next
10:13steps for that would look like often we look away from the hardest to house um because of things
10:19like mental illness and substance use we also have a point of view at settled where there's there's no
10:25substitute for proximity and so inviting the most vulnerable home onto our land into our buildings into
10:31our lives for reciprocal enduring relationship means that healing is going to come it helps knowing
10:40the past because in dealing with other people
10:49knowing their past or knowing my past and things i've gone through i can help them with um you know
10:58what definitions they might be having or
11:03at least understanding you know if i can't help you know at least understanding there's always somebody
11:10around
11:14you know if you need something or want to just talk to somebody
11:19um need some advice or something there's always somebody around that you can go to or just run into
11:28um it's like a big family i think it's uh eye-opening as in our neighbors are so kind and loving and
11:36um and they have taught us a lot of things we've been sharpened and wait like i'm kind of socially
11:43awkward and kind of an introvert but it's helped me to be more extroverted or have more courage i
11:49probably would have liked to be an intensive neighbor if i wasn't just a neighbor you know
11:57in a way i mean it's kind of the same in a lot of aspects you know really secretly that way it's been
12:05uplifting but also there are so many more people that need help so i guess it's like come on people
12:12bring more people along for the journey i guess i don't know how to how to describe it but yeah i
12:19would say overall it's been a great blessing in my life it's like this divine gift for faith
12:25community is to use their land um to help the most vulnerable in our community and and to then also be
12:31an asset to our states to our nation by creating truly affordable housing we are a landing place
12:38and a relationship and a place that you know they can live and thrive it is not a fix-it model
12:46it's not a time-limited model it is come as you are come and be here uh settle here grow deep root
12:55rebuild trust with yourself with god with others become who you were always designed to be
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