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Near North Camp Post-Eviction Support Cash Assistance Program proposal
Published on January 6, 2022 by Benjamin Melançon

This proposal is to our fiscal sponsor, Open Collective Foundation, to be able to take the emergency step of distributing cash ahead of the city of Minneapolis' planned violent displacement of the community you all have supported.

A name for the cash assistance program.
Near North Camp Post-Eviction Support

The intended impact—how this helps achieve the charitable mission of the Initiative.
The Initiative's mission is to give residents of Near North camp some resources to survive if the city's posted destruction of the camp on January 11 comes to pass.

The intended Recipients (as a group, i.e. which communities, characteristics, or situations).
The intended recipients are the residents of the Near North encampment in Minneapolis, a group of people who have come together to build their own homes and genuine community. While not traditionally housed, residents have created stability and security on vacant public land, in North Minneapolis since the fall of 2020.

The criteria or method of selecting Recipients and determining amounts to disburse.
Near North has been a fairly small and stable group of people, with fewer people over time as the stability of the camp has enabled residents to obtain permanent housing.  All current residents will be selected! The determined amount, $240, will cover meals, small storage unit rental, clothing and supply replacement, and possibly a night in a hotel while displaced from the camp.

Why cash assistance is necessary (i.e. why Recipients are not able to submit expenses to get paid directly on the platform).
Near North residents don't have traditional housing, and so are unbanked. Many lack access to internet-enabled devices. Cash assistance creates agency: having cash in hand will give them the ability to buy necessities, rent hotel rooms, and pay storage fees without having to be escorted by someone with a credit card, or a credit card and a computer.  The city of Minneapolis has posted that it will destroy this camp on January 11, and people may become disconnected from one another and from the support networks that the camp has been maintaining that made cash disbursements less crucial until now.

The anticipated amounts to be disbursed, per Recipient or payment, and overall for the program in total.
$240 per person times ten people = $2,400

The timeline for the cash assistance program (start and end dates, or indefinite).
Start date: 1/7/2022
End date: 1/31/2022
❤️  3👍️  2

Alina Manko

Posted on January 6, 2022

What a fantastic initiative team!!

OCF would LOVE to support this. Please follow our process on the incoming claims and well done!
❤️  1

Stephanie seifert

Posted on June 5, 2023

March 1st, 2022 to the day the police forcibly removed all of the residents 

Stephanie seifert

Posted on June 14, 2023


Stephanie seifert

Posted on June 14, 2023


Data per cash assistance disbursement:
a. Stephanie Seifert 
b. None yet, asking for $500
c. Not applicable yet 
d. Supplies for moveable/mobile housing of some sort 
e. 651-368-1390