Family Housing Fund

TLDR; SMITTEN KITTEN FINALLY HAS A WAY TO TAKE ONLINE DONATIONS FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE - our current rental assistance list is 100 families long and each ask is an average of $1.4k ranging to $3k AND THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS HAS TAKEN TWO MONTHS TO DO WHAT WE AND OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN DOING SINCE THE BEGINNING OF PROJECT METRO SURGE.

We have a match of up to 250k from the Wilson Foundation on donations that we raise.

Smitten Kitten is partnering with Neighbors Helping Neighbors due to the high volume of families who need rental assistance in Minneapolis. As many of you may know we started offering low barrier financial assistance to families effected by operation metro surge.

For the past 2 months our phones have been ringing off the hook with families desperate to stay inside the safety of their homes while ICE circles their blocks, their schools, their legal appointments, hospital visits and more.

Smitten Kitten has risen to the responsibility that our elected officials have taken two months to do. We have also risen to the occasion of bringing the rest of the world the reality that has been unfolding on our front doorstep (Lyndale and Lake St)

We have watched our neighbors be kidnapped, separated from their families and unable to meet their basic needs. Seeing this, we thought to ourselves "where the hell is the city and state government on all of this?" and also "we can't just sit here and watch this happen, we need to do something. now."

City and state elected officials have turned away from communities in the Minneapolis area that have been devastated by anti-immigration activities that have upended daily life. Thousands of families have spent months sheltering in place. Afraid to go to school, the doctors office, a funeral, a birthday party etc.

Many now face an urgent financial crisis: in March, households behind by up to three months on rent will be at risk of eviction. The average ask is $1,400 aka one months rent, but these families need so much more. THE CURRENT RENTAL DEBT OF MPLS COMBINED IS AN ESTIMATED 16 MILLION DOLLARS DIRECTLY RELATED TO OPERATION METRO SURGE.

The consequences extend far beyond losing a home. Eviction is a recognized adverse childhood experience with lasting effects on children’s lives, and an eviction record creates barriers to stable housing for years to come. The ripple effect of this occupation will continue on for generations and its our job as individuals to stand up and take care of each other.

We are combining the forces of Smitten Kitten and Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) to ensure no neighbor faces this crisis alone.

NHN is a community-led mutual aid network powered by volunteers. We are partnering with the Family Housing Fund to ensure donations quickly and safely reach those in need. Every dollar raised goes directly toward rent and food assistance. Please join us in supporting local families and donate today.

WE KEEP EACH OTHER SAFE. FED. AND HOUSED.

I'm Anna Stamborski, I live in South Minneapolis and am a faith-based organizer who was asked in early December by a Latine-led organizing entity to help coordinate grocery and ride requests for neighbors who were afraid to leave and work due to the presence of ICE agents. What was once 3-5 requests a day from south Minneapolis has turned into the largest mutual aid network in the Twin Cities where we have 2,000 volunteers fulfilling 80 requests a day from neighbors across the metro area. However, when neighbors say thank you when receiving the grcoeries, many are now asking "Can you also help with rent?"

That's why we have the bold goal to raise $1.3 million to help 1,000 families pay their rent this month.

Since December, federal agents, primarily ICE and Border Patrol, have been brutalizing our community: dragging people from cars, entering private homes without cause, brandishing weapons in front of children, deploying tear gas near families, and abducting parents at school bus stops. People are afraid to leave their homes – scared to go to work, to the doctor, to the grocery store, or even to take their children to school.

Across the Twin Cities, local families are facing detention, separation, and displacement due to these extreme ICE enforcement actions. Now, many in the community are facing an urgent financial crisis: the rent is due, fridges are empty, and basic household expenses are piling up.

In response, friends and neighbors came together to create Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a community-led support network rooted in mutual aid. We are powered by volunteers and many others who have brought people together in the spirit of care and community. The Family Housing Fund, a nonprofit based in the Twin Cities, has partnered with us as the fiscal sponsor for this relief effort to allow us to get funds quickly and safely to our neighbors in need.

Our goal of raising at least $1,300,000 will allow us to support 1,000 families as we persist through ICE raids and try to recover in the aftermath. There are news reports that some ICE agents may leave Minneapolis in the coming weeks, and we hope that’s true. As we work to make ourselves whole again, right now thousands of families in Minneapolis are behind on rent and urgently need your support. We are currently receiving requests for thousands of dollars of rent relief per hour.

Friends and colleagues: We are physicians and healthcare workers in Minnesota. We’ve seen ICE brutalizing our communities and patients for months. Though the occupation has changed, the devastating impact lives on. People are returning to work, businesses are opening — but an unprecedented housing crisis looms. And you have a remarkable opportunity to help.

Please make a tax-deductible contribution to help keep our vulnerable neighbors in their homes! All funds will be directed to Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a mutual aid network connecting Twin Cities communities to families most in need.

The Power of Your Donation

Right now, your contribution goes a long way. A major infusion of resources over the next 60 days is critical to stabilizing immigrant families and preventing mass evictions:

Matching

Donations to this effort will be matched up to $250,000 by the Wilson Foundation. Clinicians on this letter have committed an additional $14,000 in matching funds to make your contribution go further.

The Situation in Minnesota

The militarized immigration crackdown occurring in the Twin Cities has waned, but the damage has been done. It will take time and support for the immigrant communities who bore the brunt of this siege to recover.

As physicians, we have seen families forced to ask impossible questions: Will I have enough food for myself and my family? Should we pay for our medication or our rent? Can the insulin we have last a bit longer? My kid is having trouble breathing, but is it really safe to go to the hospital?

This is the new reality for our immigrant neighbors.

Housing Crisis — By the Numbers

The economic toll of this crisis is staggering. Tens of thousands have missed months of paychecks to stay home and stay safe. Wage earners have been abducted, detained, and some deported. Numbers report:

- 67,000 people — 20% of its population — need assistance

- $16 million in back rent in Minneapolis

- $27 and $50 million in back rent statewide

- 59–118% increase in helping calls for housing and rental assistance

- Unprecedented wave of evictions

Mutual Aid to the Rescue

Thankfully, communities are standing together to profound effect. That’s why we are proudly partnering with Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN). NHN has become the single, streamlined destination for donors who want to reach all coalitions. To date, NHN has enlisted more than 2,500 volunteers and distributed over $783,000 in direct rent relief to affected families.

Your donations will be used to help NHN:

Housing is a Healthcare Issue

Stable housing is one of the most powerful social determinants of child health; its absence drives chronic disease, developmental delays, and toxic stress. The prolonged fear, displacement, and lost wages are Adverse Childhood Experiences accumulating in real time, with lasting effects on brain development and lifelong wellbeing. We have an opportunity — and an obligation — to intervene. Because keeping families housed is medicine.

The impact of this crisis is still being felt in our community, leaving an imprint of lasting trauma and harm. Together, we can step up and help our communities heal.

More Ways to Donate

For other ways to donate via donor-advised funds, check or wire, please contact Cindy at the bottom of this page.

All donations are tax deductible and the Family Housing Fund accepts employer matches.

Sincerely,

Aaron Ackerman, MD

Third-year pediatrics resident & co-organizer, Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Cindy Howard, MD, MPHTM

Retired Professor of Pediatrics and Global Health

Janna Gewirtz O’Brien, MD, MPH, FAAP

Adolescent Medicine Physician

Ben Trappey, MD

Medicine-Pediatrics Hospitalist

Jessica Goldstein, MD

Pediatric Neurologist

Michael Pitt, MD

Pediatric Hospitalist

Angie Erdrich, MD

Pediatrician

Emily Borman-Shoap, MD

Pediatrician

Marjorie Hogan, MD

Retired Professor of Pediatrics

Megan Schultz, MD, MA

Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician

Maren E. Olson, MD, MPH, MEd

Pediatric Hospitalist

Billy Sveen, MD, MA

Pediatric Critical Care Physician

Michael Westerhaus MD, MA

Primary Care Physician

Heidi Coplin MD

Internist

Chris Reif, MD, MPH

Family Medicine

Iris Wagman Borowsky, MD, PhD

Pediatrician and Adolescent Medicine Physician

Stephanie Madzey, MD

Medicine-Pediatrics Resident

Nourishing Nights for a cause.

We are a group of local chefs, musicians, and a wine educator, feeling called to help our neighbors remain housed and fed through rent and food relief provided through the Twin Cities ICE Relief Fund, sponsored by the Family Housing Fund (FHF) in partnership with Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN).

Please join us the evening of Sunday, April 26, 2026 for a fundraiser, hosted at the Kumari Chocolate Studio in the North Loop of Minneapolis, featuring food, wine, music, and shared presence to benefit the Twin Cities ICE Relief Fund.

At this event, 4 local chefs will prepare a plated, coursed dinner each in their unique cuisines paired with wines from US-based immigrant winemakers, telling a vibrant story of wine, food and the diversity yet common connections of our shared experiences.

This event will feature:

Chef Abraham Gessesse - Hyacinth Restaurant

Chef Soleil Ramirez -Crasqui Restaurant

Chef Brooke Faudree - Quince Catering & Events

Chef Janel Sharma - Kumari Chocolate

Vanessa DeCourcy, DipWSET - Wine Educator with Sips Ensemble

Music by Pianist Misty Boyce of Lord Huron & Sara Bareilles

Visit our event page to learn more and buy tickets:

https://www.brookefaudree.com/store/p/nourishingnights

100% of the profits from ticket proceeds will be donated to the Twin Cities ICE Relief Fund, helping families in need of rent and food assistance.

We've created this campaign page to promote additional giving leading up to, during, and following our event.

Communities in the Twin Cities area have been devastated by anti-immigration activities that have upended daily life. Thousands of families have spent months sheltering in place. Many now face an urgent financial crisis: in March, households behind by up to three months on rent will be at risk of eviction.

The consequences of an eviction extend far beyond losing a home. That’s why we are raising money to ensure no neighbor faces this crisis alone. NHN is a community-led mutual aid network powered by volunteers. We are partnering with them and the Family Housing Fund to ensure donations made to this campaign quickly and safely reach those in need.

Please join us in supporting local families either by purchasing tickets for our in-person event or by contributing to this fundraiser campaign for the Twin Cities ICE Relief Fund.

All donations made via this GoFundMe page are tax-deductible.

Communities in the Minneapolis area have been devastated by anti-immigration activities that have upended daily life. Thousands of families have spent months sheltering in place. Many now face an urgent financial crisis: in March, households behind by up to three months on rent will be at risk of eviction. The consequences extend far beyond losing a home. Eviction is a recognized adverse childhood experience with lasting effects on children’s lives, and an eviction record creates barriers to stable housing for years to come. That’s why I’m raising money for Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) to ensure no neighbor faces this crisis alone. NHN is a community-led mutual aid network powered by volunteers. We are partnering with the Family Housing Fund to ensure donations quickly and safely reach those in need. Every dollar raised goes directly toward rent and food assistance. Please join me in supporting local families and donate today.

Communities in the Minneapolis area have been devastated by anti-immigration activities that have upended daily life. Thousands of families have spent months sheltering in place. Many now face an urgent financial crisis: in March, households behind by up to three months on rent will be at risk of eviction. The consequences extend far beyond losing a home. Eviction is a recognized adverse childhood experience with lasting effects on children’s lives, and an eviction record creates barriers to stable housing for years to come. That’s why I’m raising money for Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) to ensure no neighbor faces this crisis alone. NHN is a community-led mutual aid network powered by volunteers. We are partnering with the Family Housing Fund to ensure donations quickly and safely reach those in need. Every dollar raised goes directly toward rent and food assistance. Please join me in supporting local families and donate today.

We have secured $10,000 in matching funds. For every dollar donate up to $10,000 your impact will be doubled.

Communities in the Minneapolis area have been devastated by anti-immigration activities that have upended daily life. Thousands of families have spent months sheltering in place. Many now face an urgent financial crisis: in March, households behind by up to three months on rent will be at risk of eviction. The consequences extend far beyond losing a home. Eviction is a recognized adverse childhood experience with lasting effects on children’s lives, and an eviction record creates barriers to stable housing for years to come. That’s why I’m raising money for Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) to ensure no neighbor faces this crisis alone. NHN is a community-led mutual aid network powered by volunteers. We are partnering with the Family Housing Fund to ensure donations quickly and safely reach those in need. Every dollar raised goes directly toward rent and food assistance. Please join me in supporting local families and donate today.

Communities in the Minneapolis area have been devastated by anti-immigration activities that have upended daily life. Thousands of families have spent months sheltering in place. Many now face an urgent financial crisis: in March, households behind by up to three months on rent will be at risk of eviction. The consequences extend far beyond losing a home. Eviction is a recognized adverse childhood experience with lasting effects on children’s lives, and an eviction record creates barriers to stable housing for years to come. That’s why I’m raising money for Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) to ensure no neighbor faces this crisis alone. NHN is a community-led mutual aid network powered by volunteers. We are partnering with the Family Housing Fund to ensure donations quickly and safely reach those in need. Every dollar raised goes directly toward rent and food assistance. Please join me in supporting local families and donate today.