The sad truth is that many kids age out of foster care with nowhere to go.
PERIS Hill, at 1930 Hennepin Ave. S., provides permanent supportive housing for young people aging out of foster care, with the goal of reaching them before they become homeless.
The building has 15 permanent supportive apartments for those young people and 30 affordable apartments for adults of all ages, where needs-based supportive housing is available. Tenants of the 30 affordable apartments must earn no more than 50% to 60% of the area median income (gross).
I interviewed Executive Director Carla Godwin at PERIS Hill on Oct. 13. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Why the name PERIS Hill?
PERIS came from our youth advisory council, which was helping us design the building before we opened. The council wanted to call it Periscope, but there was already a Periscope in town, so they chose PERIS. Plus, it sounds cool with Hill, so PERIS Hill.
What brought you to PERIS Hill?
I had been working at the Graves Foundation and was recruited by then-executive director Courtney Kiernat to take on the role after she moved onto the board.
On a personal note, my great-grandmother was committed to a state hospital in Wyoming, and my grandmother grew up in an orphanage. They experienced family separation, as some families involved with child welfare do. I have this sense of obligation to my grandmother and my family, and I think about what it would have taken, what I would have wanted for my grandmother and for her mother.
It all matters to me as I run the property and think about what needs to go well for people and their families to be able to recover. So I am working at that intersection of family history and supportive housing for young people who have experienced foster care.
How do you select young people aging out of foster care?
PERIS does not use coordinated entry. Coordinated entry helps people find housing once they are experiencing homelessness. We want to be able to reach young people aging out of foster care before they become homeless.
We work directly with Hennepin County extended foster care, and they give us referrals while kids are getting ready to exit foster care. Some funding streams have been limited because we do not use coordinated entry.
What can you tell us about the demographics of the young people in your program?
Most of the young people who live here in supportive housing are African American. Black, brown and Native American families have been disproportionately affected by family separation. We do have Native American and multiracial young people as well. Unfortunately, it reflects the proportions in foster care.
“ We want to be able to reach young people aging out of foster care before they become homeless.”
All our staff are African American. We try to respond to the cultural needs of our clients. We use Kente Circle, a mental health organization whose mission is to provide a culturally relevant space for healing, particularly for people of color. We also partner with Queer Space, which is just down the street, on some joint programming. About 25% of the 23 kids we have served in our five years identify as queer.
Do the young people in your program work or go to school, or both?
About 93% of our young people are either in school or working. One resident is dealing with some physical health issues and one with some mental health issues, but that means 13 of our 15 are in school or employed. One is at Augsburg, and some are at Minneapolis College.
Most are employed in the neighborhood. We find that our location, at Hennepin and Franklin, is great because it is walkable to a lot of work.
How long can your young adults live at PERIS Hill?
We are permanent supportive housing, not transitional housing. There is no time limit on how long a young person can stay here, but we do have a program to help them launch, named, not surprisingly, Launchpad.
We start by heavily subsidizing their rent at about 15% of area market rents and then gradually increase it to 30%, matching the increase with contributions to a savings account, so at the end of five years they would have about $5,000 saved.
In sum, we want them to want and work toward something else. When we talk with staff about it, we think of it as a two- to five-year program. It seems to take roughly two years for a young person to get stable, and by five years, we hope they are thinking about their next steps.
PERIS Hill, at 1930 Hennepin Ave. S. (Image: Courtney Cushing Kiernat)
How has PERIS Hill’s relationship been with the neighborhood?
Mostly good. When we started, there was some push back from concerned neighbors. I think at this point we have proven that we respond quickly to anything that’s going on, especially involving law enforcement.
“In sum, we want them to want and work toward something else.”
We have a security system that youth and neighbors have asked us to keep current, and we make sure we are paying attention to that. We contribute video and make sure we are on top of things.
For the last couple of years, I have been going to Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association meetings to keep up good neighborhood relations. The association has been very supportive of PERIS Hill, helping us raise funds and supporting our efforts.
What are the plans for PERIS?
It will be open five years this November. We are holding a free fifth-anniversary celebration Nov. 12 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Glasshouse in Minneapolis.
We are also thinking about what we are calling PERIS Next.
We are considering two specific options in Minneapolis, including partnering with other permanent housing providers and developers. Ideally, within the next three years we would have 20 additional apartments for young people aging out of the foster care system.
David Piper writes for the Hill & Lake Press. He lives in Kenwood.
