During the first few months of this year, I grew accustomed to seeing puffs of gray smoke from wood fires in the shivering cold. Each time Minneapolis officials removed Camp Nenookaasi, a south Minneapolis homeless encampment, I followed where the homeless encampment went and how it evolved.
But that’s not all that stands out to me about housing stories this year. There was the anti-Muslim email that prompted the Lino Lakes city council to censure one of its members. I also vividly remember the before-and-after photos of the West Side Flats when the area was cleared to build the Riverview Industrial Park.
I hope readers were inspired to read beyond the headlines to know more about the people who opened up to me about their struggles and optimism for a stable life.
1. The Camp Nenookaasi saga
The first closure of Camp Nenookaasi, a south Minneapolis encampment of predominantly Indigenous residents, happened on January 4, 2024. Sahan Journal started covering the evictions then, and continued throughout the year, as the city of Minneapolis repeatedly tried to remove Camp Nenookaasi. It quickly sprouted again after each eviction. In February, the camp site was destroyed by a fire, forcing residents to move.
Camp Nenookaasi relocated at least five times to different lots in south Minneapolis. By the summertime, Camp Nenookaasi had split into three different lots and the city authorized removing them all on the same day in July.
The camp’s endurance prompted some city leaders to look into new ordinances on how city authorities handle encampments and evictions. A few council members criticized the city for dumping rubble on lots where the camp had been to prevent it from coming back.
2. Pushback on Muslim-centric development in Lino Lakes
The Lino Lakes City Council voted on July 8 to enforce a moratorium halting the proposed 156-acre Madinah Lakes development for a year to allow city staff to create a master plan for 900 acres of land in the city, including the project site.
For several months, project supporters and opponents packed the council chambers in heated discussions. Several Lino Lakes residents said they were concerned the project could overwhelm the water supply, increase traffic and harm the environment. Project supporters say the criticisms are steeped in Islamophobia.
The project included a plan to build more than 400 homes, businesses and a mosque. Faraaz Yussuf, president of Zikar Holdings, which proposed the development, opposed the moratorium and vowed not to abandon the project.
It seemed like the dust settled a bit after the moratorium was approved. But then an email came out and thrusted me back into the story.
Lino Lakes City Council Member Chris Lyden used his city email address to respond to a lengthy email on August 4, praising critical comments about Islam and the religion’s holy book, the Qur’an.
The Minnesota chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN), which played a key role in gathering support for the project, organized a news conference on August 28, demanding the council member to resign.
On September 23, the council voted to pass a resolution that disavowed Lyden’s email, calling it “inappropriate” and adding that it “reflects poorly on the City.” Lyden decided not to vote, but took time to defend his email and ask for the resolution to be thrown out.
Shortly after, the project developers filed a lawsuit against the city of Lino Lakes and named two council members, Lyden and Michael Ruhland, as defendants.
3. Supreme Court ruling on homelessness
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it’s not unconstitutional to enforce laws that penalize people for sleeping outside on public property. The ruling clears the path for cities to ticket, fine and jail people who sleep outside, even if there are no shelter beds or housing available.
Local shelter providers worry the ruling will create more barriers for those struggling with homelessness, who are disproportionately people of color.
The ruling doesn’t automatically make sleeping outside on public property a crime; such penalties are dependent on local governments passing their own ordinances.
Minneapolis and St. Paul city officials stated that the ruling won’t impact their responses to homeless encampments, but a few cities in Minnesota are looking into or have already passed ordinances banning people from sleeping on public property.
4. ‘Why couldn’t they just leave us alone?’: Pain of displacement from St. Paul’s West Side Flats lingers decades later
Most of the significant places in Linda Castillo’s childhood are gone, including the church, elementary school and the family home where she was born. During the summer, Castillo and I visited those places, which have been demolished.
Castillo was 12 years old when she and her Mexican American family were among 2,147 residents displaced from their neighborhood located along the Mississippi River across from downtown St. Paul. The area was cleared to make way for the Riverview Industrial Park, protected by a flood wall that was built after the families were forced to leave.
Cynthia Tu, our data reporter and AI specialist, created graphics that showed maps of the area before and after the displacement. She also made a map of the church, Castillo family house, and the Neighborhood house, a central hub for services and community gatherings.
Through Castillo’s eyes, we told the story about the displacement and how it still affects generations of families. A report by the West Side Community Organization and Research in Action highlighted recommendations to remedy the loss by families like Castillo’s.
5. ‘You live day by day’: Language, cultural stigma add to barriers for unhoused Hmong
I first found out about an encampment of Hmong people from seeing a series of video interviews with residents posted on Facebook. I started digging to learn details about the city’s plans on the encampment, the demographics and number of people living there.
I learned that the encampment is located near the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and has at least 60 residents. Roughly half are Hmong. In addition, the city also told me that they don’t track demographics other than identified gender, so they don’t know if the Hmong homeless population in Minnesota is growing.
Eventually, I came across Hmong Haven of Minnesota, an organization fundraising to bring winter essentials to the encampment. I called the listed phone number, and Kabo Yang picked up right away. I found out the group had formed only a couple of months ago, and there was another encampment of largely Hmong occupants at the abandoned Kmart on St. Paul’s East Side.
Group members deliver food to the two encampments every Tuesday. Visual journalist Dymanh Chhoun and I went along with them.
We interviewed some of the Hmong residents at both encampments. I had the opportunity to delve deeper into some of the challenges, such as substance abuse and the stigma of homelessness, which are often overlooked in the community.
