July 28, 2021

“Local officials say that they have identified affordable housing as the highest priority…”

"There's not enough people that are willing to, first off, take a chance on felons. I've gotta work with slumlords, basically," Brown said. "I never thought I'd say this, but they're the only ones that will rent a room."

These statements are from an article titled Renting Can Be Tough for Reformed Gang Members published on July 20 in the StarTribune (http://strib.mn/3ztuVKr). The article describes the substantial need and seemingly insurmountable difficulty people coming out of crime and addiction have in finding affordable housing. And this difficulty creates a massive barrier to change. Ferome Brown, Violence Intervention Program Manager for Project LIFE, which is a City of Minneapolis Program focused on helping reduce violence and crime says that housing is the “gatekeeper” for many who seek to change their lives.

Twin Cities Ministries was founded ten years ago with the specific intent of being a way that Christians and churches could partner to meet the pressing need of affordable housing for those seeking to leave behind lives of addiction and crime. Through your commitment and generosity, Twin Cities Ministries has helped hundreds of men, women, and children through gospel-based efforts. We have provided housing, treatment, discipleship, and for some, lifelong church families through which they’ve been able to find the support that we all need to follow Christ and love our neighbor.

I thought that I would take the opportunity in this letter to actually highlight the housing we provide. We’ve used this letter to tell stories, but we’ve never actually showed you, our supporters, exactly how we provide housing support. Here is a brief description of the houses that we either own or manage.

The Blue House

“The Blue House” is the first house Twin Cities Ministries started to operate. We purchased the house in 2015 and it has essentially been full ever since. It has five bedrooms and is capable of housing six people. To buy the house for the intended purposes, we had to survey the neighbors for approval. We received no pushback from this survey. The members of the house have helped their neighbors, particularly an alley neighbor that residents have been able to help by doing small repairs and upkeep on her house and yard. The name comes from the blue trim.

Collin’s Place

The story behind the name of “Collin’s Place” is a sad one. Collin was a long-term friend of TCM co-founder Seth Evans. Seth and his wife Gina bought this home in 2018 and named it after Collin after he had been murdered in jail for sharing about Jesus while waiting for a treatment bed to open up. Collin’s Place has space for seven people, and as the other homes, has essentially been full since it opened.

Hiawatha House

Seth and Gina also bought this house in 2018 and it houses seven people. Their first house manager, Jonathan Kurapati, caught the vision for what we were doing and purchased the house next door to also provide housing for people coming out of addiction and crime. Since then, they’ve torn down the fence that separated the two properties, creating a stronger sense of community. Since opening, several people have come to put their faith in Jesus Christ through the Bible studies conducted there.

Sycamore House

Sycamore House is the house purchased and started next to Hiawatha House. Jonathan lives in and manages this house now. It houses seven people.

Bethel House

Bethel House is a house dedicated to the housing and support of women and their children. It can house four women with up to two children each. Currently, there are two single moms with two children each, a single, pregnant woman who is expecting twins in October, and a potential fourth resident—a single mom with one child. This house was also started by Jonathan. Discipleship and support for the women and their children are provided by Deirdre Tschanz, a TCM staff member, and female members of Jonathan’s church and Twin Cities Church.

At this time and by God’s grace, TCM provides housing for nearly 40 people at any given time. Unfortunately, the need for this type of housing is not going to diminish anytime soon. TCM is committed to growing our work to provide housing for more people who are serious about setting aside the life of addiction and crime and becoming contributing members of their neighborhoods and cities.

In our last letter, we explained the increasingly tight financial situation we were in. That challenge has continued. For a variety of reasons outside of our control, monthly contributions to TCM have dropped substantially. If things do not improve, we will not be able to make payroll as soon as next month. We realize that you may have been substantially impacted financially due to COVID19 and the other economic challenges of the past year. We would certainly not want to add any further burden to you. But if God has generously sustained you over this past year, would you consider making a significant one-time contribution to TCM? Would you consider becoming a regular giver and set up an automatic monthly gift? As is widely known, the needs for gospel-centered addiction treatment and transition housing are only growing. Let it not be known that slum lords rather than the generous people of God are those willing to help the poor and those striving to change their lives! Please prayerfully consider how God may be leading you to help TCM do this work. We have enclosed an automatic withdrawal form as well as a remittance envelope for donations.

I would like to close with a couple testimonies from current and former residents:

TCM has provided a solid foundation for me to become who God wanted me to be. The fellowship with the other men in the home, my pastor, and the guys from TCM have helped me to become the father I need to be for my daughter. Christ did the work in me, but I don’t know how I would have found Him without what TCM and my church have provided.

—Eric N

I remember the first day I met Seth and Tim from TCM. I was in Ramsey County Jail looking at a lot of time. These men handed me a Bible, and that changed my life. We did a study on the book of Ruth which was a perfect way to catch my attention since I’ve been involved with cocaine and prostitution for 20 years. The lifestyle seduced me. Growing up in Chicago and finding a way to numb my pain at a young age, I never looked back until God had to strip everything from me far away from home. I am grateful he did because today I have God first in my life and a loving mentorship with TCM. Now yes, I have not done this gracefully by any means. I have had some struggles and sacrifices along this journey but loving every minute because, what this has given me today, is priceless. Without TCM and what they have thought of me and how they have been there for me through the ups and downs on my new-found path in life I would still would be in the darkness.

—Timothy U.

In service to Jesus Christ and our cities,

George Stagg

President

Twin Cities Ministries