Minutes Oct 03

Conveners: J. Haberman, B. Aderhold

Bus Tour: Bob A. gave a brief review of the UUAHP-sponsored bus tour on September 17. There were 18 participants representing 6 or 7 UU congregations/fellowships/churches. We visited three affordable housing development sites funded by The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH).

The sites were: the Central Avenue Apartments, where UUAHP seed money was used; Archdale Apartments; and Alliance Housing. We also took a quick look at Lydia Apartments from the outside. The tour was very well received, and was very effective in showing where UUAHP money has been used in support of affordable housing for people and families struggling with homelessness, which is the focus of CSH's work.

CSH arranged the tour and provided hosts as well as a bus.

MICAH Presentation: Joan Pearson presented a slide show produced by MICAH that showcases their new three year campaing theme, Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY). The show emphasizes the importance of siting affordable housing in all neighborhoods and the steps that must be taken to overcome the Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) syndrome that is all too common.

We were able to offer some critiques of the slide show. Our comments included concerns that the show was not very applicable outside of Minneapolis, and UUAHP has many St. Paul and metro suburban constituents. There is also a bible-centered section that would not be applicable to many of our congregations.

MICAH will conduct training sessions in late October for those interested in taking the slide show to others. We expressed interest in being informed about the particulars of the training sessions.

Looking Ahead: UUAHP Planning: Since there is not much enthusiasm for another annual meeting this winter, we discussed alternate ways of engaging UUs in the affordable housing movement.

Having just seen the MICAH presentation and its potential use as a teaching and focusing tool, we discussed whether the YIMBY message might become our next strategic focus and could be taken to all metro UU congregations as well as to other interested groups. Such a presentation would have to be tailored to our metro UU congregations, and could be expanded to include related topics such as: why should UUs be social activists? What core concepts lead us in that direction? What are the concepts and skills of effective social change organizing? How can one-to-one relationship building further these efforts? Can we recruit and train others for leadership development? The group felt that it would be useful to start a dialog on these issues among all UUAHP members, perhaps via e-mail, in order to have more discussion points at our next meeting.

Jo H. commented that MUUSJA is planning to do "house parties" at all UU congregations, to build relationships and have discussions on similar leadership development subjects. UUAHP and MUUSJA should combine efforts, to avoid duplication and increase energy.

Barbara Weatherhead will contact Joan Pearson to get a copy of the presentation and will work on modifying it to meet UUAHP needs. Then, we need a core group of speakers who knows the presentation and the underlying facts and are willing to "take it to the streets." There was discussion about when and how to present specific YIMBY problems and challenges occurring in the neighborhood surrounding each UU congregation. This idea needs more development, including such topics as: Given our scarce resources, should we initially focus our efforts on Minneapolis, where MICAH is strongest and where most of the siting problems are? What would be our focus in the suburban UU churches? What would we want them to do?

These items will be expanded on at the next meeting, Thursday, November 6 (time and place to be announced).

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Dueltgen

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