Street Voices of Change honors lived experiences

We can all agree that everyone wants a safe place to rest.”

Tyra

Audio

Street Voices of Change honors lived experiences_Jan Willms.mp3

Street Voices of Change (SVoC) reflects the voices of lived experience.

The organization started in 2016 when some folks in Minneapolis came together to talk about conditions in the shelters for homeless adults and other traumas of being homeless.
“They began informally meeting, and the small group sprouted into SVoC,” said Katie Dillon, the executive director of Align Minneapolis, an organization that engages faith congregations and communities working together to address homelessness.

The group began meeting every week at Central Lutheran Church, shut down briefly during COVID, and now holds meetings every Thursday at Central Lutheran and every Friday at the Basilica of St. Mary.

She said there are usually 45-50 participants at Thursday’s meeting and about 20 attending on Fridays.

“SVoC has had significant accomplishments over the years,” Dillon continued. “One win was getting shelters in Hennepin County not charging people for stays. A Shelter Residents’ Bill of Rights was also established.”

According to Dillon, anyone who has experienced homelessness as a child, a youth, an adult or is currently homeless can attend the weekly meetings. The group is under the umbrella of Align Minneapolis.

Tyra: everyone wants a safe place to rest
Dillon said SVoC was the first local group that gave people with lived experience the chance to raise their voices and be heard. She said other programs have followed, but SVoC was the role model.

“Align believes we cannot do this work without the voices of experience,” she said.
One of those voices belongs to Tyra, who is a member of Central Lutheran and had been volunteering at the church’s restoration center and free store. At the time, she had recently experienced homelessness and was in transitional housing.

“I was walking through the church and saw my best friend, the pastor and about 10 other people sitting together in a room. I backed up and asked them what they were doing, and they told me they were discussing concerns with the treatment and conditions of people in homeless shelters.

“I sat down with them and got to be part of a small group building on solutions,” Tyra said.
She said the group did not yet have a name or T-shirts, but had a common ground for changing the way folks are treated while they experience homelessness.

“Homelessness can happen to anyone in any given time, no matter the age or race or background,” Tyra said. “Although it predominantly affects people who are Black and Brown, due to systemic racism, the loss of a job, divorce, fire or foreclosure can affect any human life. SVoC believes housing is a human right.”

Tyra explained that homelessness had happened to her on and off after recovering from mental health problems and alcoholism.

“I believe cities across this country have failed to assist in safe and affordable housing with ownership in mind,” she noted.

She cited the importance of the city not only working to help tenants, but also some landlords. “There are some bad actors out there, but a lot of them need help with aging properties.”

Tyra said SVoC’s focus is on treating the unhoused with dignity during some of the lowest points in their lives. She said members of SVoC have gone out on speaking engagements, and the group has been influential in improving the conditions of shelters.

“SVoC has had an impact on this city, county, state and ultimately country,” she said. “I work with a national organization around homelessness and how communities can actively connect with people.”

Tyra recommended that there be lived experience by people who work with the White House on issues of homelessness. She said that people who have been homeless need a safe space to recover from the trauma.

“I shook like a leaf the first night that I spent in my apartment, just walking around and thinking 'this is real, this is my home, my place.' That’s how traumatic homelessness is, along with all the things you lose along the way.”

Tyra said she has received training through SVoC to be a facilitator, a role she currently holds. People are also trained to go out and speak to other organizations, another task she has accomplished. She said people usually go out to speak with another person along for peer support.

“We can all agree that everyone wants a safe place to rest,” she said.

David: feeling more hopeful
In the summer of 2022, David said he felt very alone and was looking for a way out of his homeless situation. He started attending the lunches and meetings SVoC was holding weekly at Central Lutheran Church.

“I had friends who had come here throughout the years, and so I had a certain amount of trust in the church,” David said. “I got the fuel that I needed by coming here.”
He said SVoC gave him a place to come to get away from what he was going through. And he said he has seen the results of the group’s advocacy efforts.

“Before 2021, the conditions in the shelters in Minneapolis were horrible. They were not regulated and conditions were awful. Then suddenly things changed, and I know SVoC was part of that.”

David said that personally he was benefiting from the SVoC meetings, where people would share stories of their life experiences. “Some of the stories were unbelievable,” he said.
David stated that homelessness can happen quickly. “A lot of people have families disown them, but it is not always over drugs or domestic violence. It can happen over money and land.”

He said that in his situation, he felt the government institutions failed him. “I had to become my own investigative reporter.”

David said incarceration could also greatly affect the chances that some people become homeless, but he has not faced that barrier.

“I have never been incarcerated, but I have had my struggles, especially after my father died,” he said.

“The ideal is that you think someone will hear your story and help, but it doesn’t happen like that.”

David, who is currently housed in St. Paul, said that he had a place to stay for awhile in 2023 and that gave him the opportunity to do a lot of work and research and draft paperwork.

“The power that I had and have now was nothing I did,” he stated. “It definitely came from above.

“It is hard to develop trust when your life is a mess. You realize what people are willing to do to make your life miserable.”

David said that SVoC has given him the hope that the generations after him will have more chances. “I think the presence of SVoC in Minneapolis has helped a lot,” he said.
David voiced his concerns that law enforcement, which is designed to serve and protect, can also be problematic.

“SVoC is fighting for the ones who are not being heard, the ones without a voice. I just think it needs to be broadened and expanded somehow.”

Payten: it’s hard to get out
Payten has been a member of SVoC for about a year and a half. One day she overheard a leadership meeting going on at the church and had asked to join. The leadership meetings are in addition to the regular weekly gatherings, and are where most of the decisions for the group are voted on. Anyone who attends the weekly meetings can also attend the leadership meeting.

“I came here from another area, where homelessness is a lot different. They place you faster. I realized after moving to Minneapolis that housing was going to be tougher to find.”
She had thought she was going to move into her grandma’s estate but soon found out that was not going to happen. Then COVID hit. “There are so many different stories and scenarios for homelessness,” she added.

Payten said that Hennepin County lists people as long-term or short-term homeless. “If it has been over a year, you are considered long-term homeless. Another version is if you are hard to place.”

Although Payten is currently housed, she said she is on her last chance. “The county may not see it as foreseeable to house me again.”

Without any rental history, it is difficult to find housing. Payten added that even if a person is couch-hopping or living in supported housing, during that time he or she is still considered to be homeless and those days build up.

“So even though I have spent four years being housed, I am still considered homeless,” she said.

Since being with SVoC, Payten has completed organizational and facilitator training, and now serves as a facilitator for the group. She has also taken speaker training and has been part of a book on homelessness that has just been published. She has attended legislative meetings on homelessness.

Payten said SVoC members are there for the common interest of homelessness and shelter conditions.

“I have a very strong interest in shelters and would like to see one started for people 65 and older,” she said. “I would also like to see shelter staff get dementia training.”

SVoC provides a place for people to look out for each other and build trust, according to Payten. “If someone is having a bad day or starts missing meetings, we let the pastor know. We reach out to them, and that’s a good thing.”

Payten said she still has concerns about lack of housing, abusive landlords and housing court.
“You get stuck in this route of homelessness, and it’s hard to get out.”
To learn more about Street Voices of Change, go to alignmpls.org/svoc.

Editor's note: To maintain their privacy, we have used only the first name of those who have experienced homelessness.