How housing solves homelessness

Supportive housing is a lifeline for 59 new neighbors in Minneapolis.

For Aminat, holding the keys to her new apartment marked the beginning of a new chapter. Finally, she could find both safety and support, two things she had been without for far too long.

“When I was handed the keys, it felt like I had home in my hands,” she said.

Her apartment is in Kyle Garden Square, a 59-unit affordable supportive housing building that opened this spring. And it turned out to be the perfect landing spot for Aminat.

After a violent relationship forced her to flee, she spent years moving in and out of shelters, sleeping in cars, and staying in other unsafe, unsheltered places. “I had to drop out of school. I lost my job. I never imagined my life would look like that,” she said.

On the gloomy, cold morning she moved in, the lobby of Kyle Garden Square told a different story—one of community and possibility. Staff at the front desk greeted residents by name. To the right, a small group gathered in the bright community room, chatting over donuts. “Do you want to join the gratitude group?” one resident called out to another. “We have donuts!”

A model for supportive, affordable housing in Minneapolis

Alliance Housing developed Kyle Garden Square in downtown Minneapolis in partnership with Property Solutions and Services, who manages the property, and Touchstone Mental Health, who provides on-site supportive services.

Nearly all units are reserved for people with incomes at or below 30% of the area median income (AMI), with 48 homes specifically dedicated to individuals exiting chronic homelessness. Hennepin County’s Coordinated Entry system matches eligible residents to units, ensuring an equitable, streamlined process that pairs people with the housing that best fits their needs.

But Kyle Garden Square is more than an apartment building. It is designed to offer stability and supportive community for residents who have experienced homelessness or long-term housing insecurity.

Residents have access to 24/7 services focused on mental health and addiction recovery, as well as a nurse, medicine management, and community integration activities, ensuring people have the tools and connections they need to move forward.

For Aminat, movie nights, facials, and nails top her list. Most importantly, she has a specific person she checks-in with to talk about weekly goals and resolve any barriers. “But the team is very coordinated so I can talk to anyone,” she says. For residents like Aminat, that combination of safe housing and wraparound support creates the foundation to rebuild.

Kyle Garden square is a new affordable housing development that offers 59 deeply affordable and supportive homes.

"With the right support, people stay”

Supportive housing pairs deeply affordable homes with onsite or coordinated services for residents who face the highest barriers to housing. These are families and individuals who are often screened out of the private rental market because of credit challenges, rental history, disability, income instability, or other factors.

In other words, supportive housing exists because the conventional housing market does not meet the needs of everyone in our community. Hennepin County steps into that gap with a model designed to create stability, promote wellbeing, and prevent homelessness. And with the services they need in place, this type of housing works.

“We’ve got a really high retention rate for supportive housing. 94% of people are still in their housing after three years,” said Commissioner Angela Conley, who spoke at the grand opening of Kyle Garden Square in April. “With the right support, people stay.”

The work behind the scenes

Long before a family ever picks up their keys, dozens of steps have already unfolded behind the scenes.

The County’s procurement process, with the help of members of the Couty’s Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG), helps identify developers and service partners with the expertise to build and operate high quality supportive housing. In the case of Kyle Garden Square, Hennepin County awarded $2.65 million in capital investments to developer Alliance Housing, including through our Supportive housing strategy capital fund, as well as a commitment of $185,000 in ongoing annual service funding to service provider Touchstone Mental Health.

When a building opens, lease-up is coordinated through the Coordinated Entry System (CES) to ensure that households with the greatest needs have equitable access to available units.

Just five months after lease up began at Kyle Garden Square, 45 residents have already moved into their new homes—13 of them during the first two weeks alone. This momentum is the result of strong coordination between Touchstone, Hennepin County’s Coordinated Entry team, case managers, social workers, shelter providers, and street outreach workers. Aminat was matched to her unit based on an assessment she completed with a Street Outreach worker.

Their collective effort ensures that referral, documentation, and move in processes happen quickly and equitably.

A new chapter

Back in her new home, Aminat is settling into her next chapter. It’s the start of something different, something steadier. She can dream again.
“I am going back to school in the fall!” she said. “I want to finish my bachelor’s degree."

Affordable housing developments like Kyle Garden Square not only expand access to safe, dignified homes, they offer residents like Aminat a chance to rebuild stability hand in hand with the support they need. Because when housing and services come together, people thrive.