Good Neighbor Training for the Unhoused
May 20
If you missed the training, you are invited to watch the recording below.
Ms. Yusra Murad and Ms. Naheed Murad offer this training for how housed neighbors can be better neighbors to people experiencing homelessness, especially through better understanding of what makes and keeps people unhoused.
How can you advocate for housing policies that actually move people into safe, secure accommodations on the way to long-term homes? Bring your open mind and learning heart to this opportunity to have eyes opened to the realities our community is facing.
Bio of Trainers
Yusra Murad is a writer and housing justice advocate based in the Twin Cities. She also works at an organization that convenes health system leadership from across the nation, based out of Washington, D.C. In Minnesota, she works as an advocate and resource navigator with ZACAH, a Muslim-run, grassroots organization with the mission of 1) preventing homelessness via the redistribution of wealth in our community and 2) providing financial assistance and emergency housing for our unhoused neighbors. Aside from that I am working with some of the incredible religious and community leaders in Minneapolis to build a new ecosystem of resources – nonprofits, co-ops, etc – that can slowly reduce our reliance on government systems that have repeatedly failed our Black, Brown, Muslim, Indigenous and immigrant neighbors who are unhoused or at imminent risk of homelessness.
Naheed (her co-presenter/colleague, who also happens to be her mom) is a hematopathologist, co-founder of ZACAH and currently getting her MPH with a focus on health and housing.
Y.murad.13@gmail.com
naheed.x.murad@gmail.com
Londel French is an at-large representative on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in Minnesota. He got into housing when hundreds of people were tenting in the parks because of being unhoused. French’s experience includes work for the Minneapolis parks, as a special education paraprofessional for the Minneapolis Public Schools, and as a union organizer for the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59. In his work and life, French focuses on making parks a place for community, providing professional pathways to park workers of color, focusing on racial, economic, gender and social justice and being a good steward. He stands up to corporate power that seeks to profit from public goods with no public benefit. He demands that environmental justice goes beyond which types of fertilizer we use in the parks, but also focuses on the racial and gender impact to our communities. As a black man running for office, he has been the victim of police brutality. He has fought for years to reform our Justice System with allies in the community. He advocates for using methods of restorative justice, mandate extensive trauma informed policing training, and seek to partner with other governmental agencies to provide services to those in need.
This event was convened by Pastor Joy McDonald Coltvet of Christ on Capitol Hill Lutheran Church in support of community institutions involved in the Bethesda Good Neighbor Group*.
* The Bethesda Good Neighbor Group is a community collaboration launched in 2020 as a condition of permitting by the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (the planning and zoning authority for Capitol Area of Saint Paul). CAAPB hosts monthly check-ins attended by community group representatives, Ramsey County, Bethesda Shelter representatives, MHealth Fairview representatives, Saint Paul Police Department, Capitol Security and others. Meetings have included updates on status of the shelter, discussion of neighborhood safety issues, public safety statistics, physical improvements, communication and information sharing, and community building opportunities. The group currently meets on the second Tuesday of each month. Download the 5×8 Informational Flyer for printing and distribution or for circulation to neighbors and community networks. For more information on the group contact Peter Musty, CAAPB, 612-743-5994 | peter.musty@state.mn.us.
