St. Pascal's SJCC + Beacon
Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative
2025 Beacon Updates
June 2, 2025
On Thursday, May 29, ten of our parish Beacon team members attended Beacon’s End of Session Assembly, held at Edina Community Lutheran Church. Chris LaTondresse, CEO of Beacon, briefly went over 2025 highlights that included: opening of Bimosedaa housing, future opening of Vista 44 and Emerson Village and, of course, announced the new development of the Aragon. Beacon is now the largest supportive housing provider in Minnesota!
Various Beacon Speakers gave updates on current projects. Our own Ann Lemke, who gave numerous presentations at the St. Paul City Council meetings, was chosen to give yet another update on Aragon. Ann did a great job representing St. Pascal’s!
Another important part of this meeting is to advocate forth upcoming meetings on the importance of defending federal housing programs that make affordable, supportive homes possible. There will be meetings in the West Metro (Minneapolis) and East Metro (St. Paul). St. Pascal’s parish will host the East Metro meeting on June18th from 7:00-8:00 PM. This is a veryimportant meeting. Everyone should plan to attend and bring other interestedpeople who are concerned with this potential crisis. State and local legislators have been invited, so this should be worth everyone’s time.
Our State is still working on final budget agreements before they call a special session to pass those bills before a state government shutdown occurs. What Beacon knows is that they have agreed to fund the$750,000 Family Supportive Bill, which we all worked very hard for! Great News!
This was a well-attended meeting with lots of energy, but with the uncertainties of federal housing funding the need is more crucial now than ever to continue to be a voice for home. We urge everyone at St. Pascal’s to put their Faith in Action and contact me to be part of this team of people, who are making a big difference in supportive housing. You decide on the time commitment. By saying yes to the team, we will give you all the updates and action alerts so that you can be an advocate for future homes. If you would like to be part of this parish team, please email Julie Moore.
February 2025
Read up on current issues that we have shared with our local legislators this month:
- Protect, Sustain, and Grow Supportive Housing. Supportive housing plays a vital role in our state’s housing system, offering subsidized homes and essential services to individuals and families in need.
- Family Supportive Housing Bill. Short term, one-time investment of $1.5 million to fill the funding gap for 100 families in supportive housing.
- Our Future Starts With Home. Dedicated revenue via the MN constitutional Amendment for Housing.
2024 Beacon Update
St. Pascal's Beacon team showed up in force at last Tuesday's Start With Home Rally, at the Capitol Rotunda. Watch this clip from the February 23, 2024 TPT Almanac that shows our St. Pascal's Beacon team in action! Many home-supporting organizations were there along with some key legislators that are trying to move this forward with 2 bills;
- Family Supportive Housing bill (HF 910/SF 673)
- Put home on the ballot in 2024 by passing the Constitutional Amendment for Housing (HF 3329/SF 3357)
There seems to be bi-partisan support to address the critical housing shortage and continue funding rental support for deeply affordable supportive housing. One of the speakers mentioned that housing is a human right and we should make every effort to provide housing to those who need housing. This is our Faith in Action!
January 2024 Beacon Interfaith Convening
St. Pascal's SHOWED UP at the 2024 Beacon Convening! Great night with lots of energy and a list of all the initiatives of what Beacon will be working on during the 2024 Legislative Session. We will continue to have a voice for all those Minnesotan's struggling to find a home!
Watch: The Power of Congregational Organizing: What We Won in 2023
From the BEACON Interfaith Housing Collaborative YouTube channel.
PLEASE BE A VOICE FOR HOME!
Would you like to get more involved with Beacon? Please contact Julie Moore.
Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative News
We are thrilled to announce that Gladstone Crossing has received 14.7 million dollars in funding from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency! Gladstone Crossing is a planned 40-unit affordable supportive housing development in Maplewood. The intended resident population is youth-led families exiting homelessness (families where the primary parent is under 24). Thanks to support from St. Pascal's and other Beacon congregations, Gladstone had a successful land use meeting this past July, and this funding is a huge step in Gladstone’s life cycle.
For more information, please check out this blog post on the topic.
Maplewood City Council Meeting
On Monday, July 10, at 7:00 PM, at least 35 Beacon members including a group of 12 from our parish, attended a Maplewood City Council Meeting. We went to support the Land Use Permits needed to build Gladstone Crossing housing in Maplewood.
The council approved the permits needed to build Gladstone Crossing, with one stipulation: additional parking is needed. In Maplewood, overnight parking is not allowed along the streets. The Maplewood City Council was not convinced that the 59 parking spaces planned for Gladstone are enough and asked the question, “what if additional parking is needed?” Beacon replied that the Philippine Center located across the street has agreed to legally contract 20 additional parking spots. The council was satisfied with this, and permits were approved. Thank you to all who came out to show your support!
Bring it Home Minnesota Bill
The Bring it Home Minnesota Bill was successfully signed into law and is celebrated as a huge success. Minnesota appropriated $46M to cover 5,500 rental vouchers in the first year. The ask was for $2.5 billion, but this is a start and there will be 1/4% metro sales tax added to continue to fund rental vouchers in the seven-county metro area. There are currently 200,000 Minnesotans statewide who are currently eligible for rental vouchers and the $46M will cover only 5,500. Beacon will continue their efforts until everyone in Minnesota who is eligible for a rental voucher receives a rental voucher.
Celebration of the Passage of Bring it Home Minnesota
May 30, 2023 at Lake Monster Brewing
Unlock the Metro
On Wednesday, June 14, six St. Pascal Beacon team members (Kris and Leo Stadler, Ann Karner, Ann Lemke, Julie and Rich Moore and Martha Arko) met with other Beacon Members at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul and marched five blocks to the Met Council offices. We were invited into their meeting where Pastor Elijah spoke to the Met Council about why we would like to work together to make a policy for distributing Project Based Vouchers (PBVs). We also distributed over 1,000 house keys symbolizing all those who need rental assistance vouchers but are not currently receiving any. We were met with some skepticism, but the Met Council Chair, Charlie Zelle, left the door open for more conversation, which Beacon is looking at as a success. Thank you everyone who donated keys!
Would you like to get more involved with Beacon? Please contact Julie Moore and/or Ann Karner.
