As one of Unity’s Community Outreach Ministry Teams, the Housing Justice Team, recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of every human being, seeks to hasten the day when every person has safe, affordable, quality housing regardless of class, zip code, race, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, or other category. Home is foundational to individual and collective health and well-being. 

​We meet on the second Tuesday of each month from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Visiting a meeting would give you a better idea of our activities, and we certainly don’t pressure anyone to join us. Contact Lauren Gunderson at [email protected]​ for more information and to request a Zoom link to join our next meeting.

October Update

Here We Grow Again: Project Home
Do you like to get things done? Do you prefer projects vs policy? Sheltering families involves everything from painting a room to helping in a small library at a temporary shelter. Project Home offers many opportunities to volunteer and get things done! They are a partner of Unity’s Housing Justice Team and their new location is at 1010 Bandana Boulevard West in Saint Paul. You don’t need to be a member of our team to volunteer, but we can help get you connected to meaningful opportunities.

Unity Church has been a long-time supporter of St. Paul Interfaith Action's Project Home program. For years, the congregation provided shelter at Unity Church for families. We continued our efforts when the program moved to Provincial House during the Covid years. Our team continues to support Project Home as it grows at its new, larger location at Bandana Square. Currently, 148 parents and children have private living space and support programs are available to these families who have lost their homes.

Rachel Morey, Program Director at Interfaith Action, said that this new space opens up new volunteer opportunities. Every month, for example, there is volunteer work needed that would nicely fit a group from a church. This can be everything from helping during holiday seasons with special programming to preparing rooms for a new family! 

Unity Church member Janice Gestner is the liaison to Project Home for our Housing Justice Team. She would like to create a small group of volunteers from the congregation who are interested in supporting Project Home. If you’re interested, please email Janice at [email protected]. Include your name, phone number, and a general sense of what hours/days work best for you.

Household Goods Collection

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Saturday, October 10 | 9:00-11:00 a.m. | Holly Avenue Parking Lot 
Once again, Evergreen Quilters and the Housing Justice Team, will collect small household items for Project Home. Project Home is an emergency shelter for families where they stay until they can move into their own housing. Last April we had a very successful collection and they can still use more items! They now have 42 families — 147 people in total, 58 adults and 89 kids. The first floor is filled with residents and the second floor has two rooms where clients select household items for their move to permanent housing. We want to fill those rooms with your donated items. Please consider donating clean and gently used or new small household items:
  • Bath towels, washcloths, kitchen towels, and dishcloths
  • Gently used silverware sets, knife sets
  • Gently used pots and pans, baking pans, storage containers, service pieces, Corningware
  • Cleaning supplies: brooms, Swiffers, micro dust cloths, toilet bowl brushes and toilet cleaner, all-purpose cleaners, glass cleaner, dish soap
  • Dish sets (large and small) including fine china — new or gently used — no chips, cracks, stains
  • Kitchen utensils
  • Gently used small appliances: toasters, mixers, etc.
  • New pillows, new or gently used sheets
Items should be brought to the Holly Avenue parking lot (just east of the church, enter from Holly Avenue). Barb Rogne from Evergreen Quilters and Janice Gestner from the Housing Justice Team will be there to meet you and transfer the items from your vehicles to theirs. Questions? Contact Barb at [email protected].
The Housing Justice Team is an umbrella, including three teams focusing on housing justice public policy, development of deeply affordable housing, and providing direct service to persons who are unsheltered, homeless, struggling with unstable housing, and in transition. 
 
We partner with community agencies in each of these three areas. Collaborating with three partner organizations reflects the important needs of our community.
We believe we have a mandate and a calling to live out our values by moving the needle on the complex issue of equitable housing. We believe housing is foundational to well-being and dignity.
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We meet on Zoom on the second Tuesday of the month from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Come check us out! Contact Lauren Gunderson at [email protected]​ for more information and to request a Zoom link to join our next meeting.
Unity Church-Unitarian | 733 Portland Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104 | 651-228-1456 | [email protected]
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