Sun Thisweek Burnsville-Eagan 01-18-19

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Sports 100 seasons of coaching Page 17A

Burnsville • Eagan SunThisweek.com

Jan. 18, 2019 • Volume 39 • Number 46

Established 1975

Survey:Affordable housing is top concern in Eagan by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE

Photo by Patty Dexter

CutlineFrom left, Melissa Wikstrom, Aryana Swisher and Sandy Gibbens pose for a photo in Gibbens’ home on Jan. 4.

Many Eagan residents are worried about finding affordable housing in Eagan, according to a recent questionnaire by National Citizen Survey. Markers about the availability of affordable quality housing went down from 2016, the last time the survey was given to residents. It was mentioned frequently as the most serious issue facing Eagan. “That was not the case two years ago,” said Crys-

tal King, Eagan communication specialist. “They run the gamut from starter homes, low-income housing to housing for seniors.” It’s particularly an issue for those between the ages of 18 and 34. “They’re not finding the housing options they need,” King said. It’s something that the Eagan City Council members are well aware of. Members have noted that it has become a challenge for employers who want to open or expand, but can’t find employees. Many people who are

fully employed are still finding it a challenge to afford local housing. Council Member Paul Bakken said local governments need more flexibility to address the affordable housing issue. Council members met with area members of the Minnesota Legislature as well as Metro Cities and the League of Minnesota Cities representatives earlier this month during an annual meeting to discuss legislative priorities. Rep. Laurie Halverson, DFL-Eagan, said cities See Housing, 25A

Mentor comes full circle New lawmaker seeks to ban Kids ‘n Kinship volunteer once a mentee by Patty Dexter SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE

Apple Valley’s Melissa Wikstrom isn’t sure how her mother learned about Kids ‘n Kinship, but she’s glad she did. Wikstrom, a 39-year-old mother of two boys, ages 7 and 5, was matched with a mentor, Barb Ostlund, when she was a child, around age 7. Prior to that, life had been difficult for her, her older sister, younger twin brothers and their single mother. Wikstrom’s siblings were also matched with mentors through the organization. “I think it showed me a different life that I didn’t know, that I wasn’t experiencing in my own family. My mom was

very loving and she tried her best, but it was hard on her,” she said. “(Ostlund) was married, so I would see her husband every once in a while and see a healthy marriage and a loving home.” The mentoring experience has come full circle for Wikstrom. For the last year and a half, she’s mentored an 11-year-old girl named Aryana Swisher, a student at FIT Academy in Apple Valley. “It’s a lot easier than I expected,” Wikstrom said of the experience. Kids ‘n Kinship, an Apple Valleybased nonprofit serving children ages 5 to 16 in Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Lakeville and Rosemount, started in 1972 as an affiliate of National Kinship. The organization serves youth from mostly single-parent homes, but children from two-parent families or who See Mentor, 28A

practice of conversion therapy by John Gessner SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE

Freshman state Rep. Hunter Cantrell wasted no time introducing his first bill: a ban on the controversial practice known as gay conversion therapy. The Savage DFLer, whose District 56A includes northwest Burnsville, is chief House author of legislation that would ban mental health practitioners from using conversion therapy with clients under 18 or “vulnerable adults.”

The bill also prohibits therapists from fraudulently offering conversion-thera- Hunter py services Cantrell “that could reasonably be interpreted or inferred as representing homosexuality as a mental disease, disorder or illness, or guaranteeing to change an individual’s sexual orientation of gender identity.” It’s time to relegate

the harmful practice of conversion therapy to the “ashbin of history,” Cantrell said in an interview, quoting a campaign promise of new DFL Gov. Tim Walz. Cantrell, 23, the only openly gay man in the Minnesota House of Representatives, is reviving legislation that was introduced last year but failed to pass the then Republican-controlled chamber. It was carried by former Rep. Erin Maye Quade, DFLApple Valley, Cantrell See Therapy, 25A

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