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:
- A full month’s rent for one family is about $1,400. Some may be able to cover a large portion; others may be able to give $25, $50 or $100. Every gift moves a family closer to staying housed.
- If you live in Minnesota, call your legislators and ask them to support emergency rental assistance proposals.
- Share this message with your colleagues and within your networks.
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:
- Deliver $150,000 weekly through our rent relief fund
- Distribute donations over $150,000 via grants to rent relief partners with 501(c)(3) sponsorship
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