A St. Paul nonprofit is expanding their reach to combat homelessness by acquiring a permanent hub with more housing and wraparound services in Bandana Square.
Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul currently houses 40 families, but the new space could accommodate over 100 families. “Everybody deserves a chance,” Kathy Jo Campbell, who experienced homelessness, said. “It doesn’t matter whatever happened or has happened to you.” Campbell walked the halls of St. Joseph Provincial House, the current shelter, with her kids hoping they’d lead to a better life. “We finally had a roof over our head,” Campbell said, holding back tears. “We had a bed to sleep on.” Through “Project Home,” the nonprofit houses working families facing homelessness at the provincial house.
This summer, families will call the former Best Western Plus Como Park Hotel off Bandana Boulevard West their new home. “We will be able to serve families in a more effective manner, especially families that are experiencing disabilities , ” said Liliana Letran-Garcia, Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul chief executive officer. “They have the solutions. They are smart, competent members of our community that just want a chance.” Nonprofit leaders bought the building using $6 million administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services through the American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Fund, also known as COVID relief funding. They’re depending on partnerships and donors to keep the doors open. “It’s becoming more difficult,” Letran-Garcia said. “We have a group of professionals that are thinking outside of the box of how fundraising might look like. That might be not so much dependency on government from the state or federal level.”…