Emergency Shelter
Homelessness in Southwest MN…does it exist?
YES.
It just looks different here.
People in Southwest MN experiencing homelessness might be:
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Living in their car
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Walking around 24 hour businesses all night to keep warm
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Sleeping in a storage garage
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“Camping” when it’s too cold to still be camping
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Sleeping outside
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Locking themselves in bathrooms of businesses overnight
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“Couch hopping,” (going from friend to friend to friend, staying for a couple of days or a week or two, all the while having no place of their own.)
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Using the last of their resources to pay for short stays at a local motel
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Fleeing domestic violence
When people have no place to go, Western Community Action is there to connect them to resources to help. In the form of limited motel stays, Western Community Action is able to offer a short-term solution while working very hard with participants to come up with a plan for long-term housing stability.
Part of the plan may include employment and housing search, connections to mainstream resources, and/or short to medium term rental assistance.
