February 7, 2019 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Deaf ministry Father, daughter team up to serve the hearing impaired at northeast Minneapolis parish. — Pages 10-11
Consecrated life commission formed
HOMELESS no MORE
At Jan. 27 Mass to celebrate jubilees, archdiocese introduces members of a group that will serve religious men and women. — Page 5
Canon law expert Chancellor for Canonical Affairs in the archdiocese uses expertise to address clergy sexual abuse, gains national recognition. — Page 7
Vocations book for children Local author uses rhyming prose and colorful pictures to help children look at career choices through the lens of serving God. — Page 13
Paying for college As costs for higher education rise, parents look for ways to keep debt to a minimum. — Page 14-15
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Markeus Taylor has found a home at Higher Ground in St. Paul. Others in Minnesota are not so blessed. Shelters and affordable housing are full, and people routinely find shelter in public transit, skyways and vestibules. Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which built and runs Higher Ground and other shelters and affordable housing options, is among agencies trying to help and lobbying for more affordable housing in Minnesota.
Catholic Charities’ Higher Ground: Multi-service approach to homelessness By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit
T
wo large encampments of homeless people, one in St. Paul, another in Minneapolis, drew unprecedented attention this fall and winter to the plight of people unable to afford a home, including the working poor, unemployed, mentally ill and intellectually disabled. More than 7,000 people on any given night in Minnesota experience life on the streets, in shelters or transitional housing programs, based on numbers gathered in an annual survey conducted by local agencies for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The high cost of health care, persistent racial disparities, a hot housing market in a growing economy and lack of proper support for people facing mental health and other health difficulties create a challenging environment, experts said. But Catholic Charities has stepped into that environment with vision and energy through a Higher Ground facility
The Catholic Spirit is taking a four-part, multi-faceted look this year at homelessness in Minnesota and the ways agencies, governments and people work to prevent and eliminate homelessness. This issue highlights Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Higher Ground initiatives in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
in each city that in one place provides overnight shelter, transitional “pay-tostay” shelters, permanent apartments for people suffering from late-stage alcoholism and other chronic barriers to housing, as well as food service, job assistance and health care. In St. Paul, finishing touches are being made on an Opportunity Center that will offer hot meals, social and health services and apartments beginning in late summer or early fall. The center is adjacent to the Higher Ground shelter and apartments that opened in 2017. Collectively called Dorothy Day Place, the $100 million facilities are the largest public-private partnership in housing and social services in Minnesota history. They replace Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Center, which had served the downtown homeless population since 1981, first as a drop-in center for meals and later as a shelter it was never truly designed to be, with bedding on the floor. PLEASE TURN TO HOMELESS ON PAGE 12