New AmeriCorps program in Minnesota created to respond to housing crisis

Starting in September, 85 AmeriCorps members will deploy to nonprofits and counties statewide in a newly created program to help Minnesotans on the verge of homelessness or those already without a home.

The new Heading Home Corps, which is still looking for applicants, was launched in response to the housing crisis in Minnesota. The program's aim is to reinforce nonprofits and counties with extra staffing needed to connect Minnesotans to services — an urgent issue, especially with pandemic-related eviction moratoriums ending.

"There's a huge need among nonprofit and government agencies serving individuals experiencing homelessness," said Andrew Mueller, director of talent acquisition at the program. "It's definitely growing into a more emergency issue in Minnesota."

The program, administered by Reading & Math, Inc., in partnership with ServeMinnesota, the state service commission that administers AmeriCorps state programs, will work with 3,000 people by next July.

At the start of the pandemic, ServeMinnesota created a special unit called the Emergency Response Initiative to help nonprofits on the front lines, deploying AmeriCorps members to food shelves, senior facilities, schools and even as COVID-19 contact tracers.

But many of the organizations the emergency unit worked with still needed extra support for housing services, so leaders decided a separate new program was needed.

The "housing resource navigators" will start their jobs between September and January, working at nonprofits and counties to help residents complete necessary forms and put together plans for housing and supportive services. Like other AmeriCorps members, they get a $750 stipend every two weeks plus a $6,345 award to pay for student loans or tuition.

In Minnesota, AmeriCorps programs — often referred to as the domestic Peace Corps — saw an "overwhelming interest" at the start of the pandemic as recent college graduates struggled to find jobs. Now as the economy has rebounded, interest in AmeriCorps programs has dipped slightly, Mueller said, and many of the 85 spots in the Heading Home Corps are still open.

"People have a lot more choices than they did last year at this time," he said.

That's why they're appealing to workers of all ages, especially the influx of people looking for a career change as they reevaluate work in the pandemic.

"AmeriCorps can be a great steppingstone to what's next," Mueller said. "You can really make a big impact in a short time."

For more details or to apply, go to servetogrow.org/headinghome.

Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141