New data shows Minnesota’s homeless population is more Native American, rural than ever

NINA MOINI: As temperatures have plummeted over the past week, some people who are homeless have had to find a way inside to stay safe. It's a difficult time of year for the roughly 10,000 people in the state who have unstable or no shelter. And often, people without homes live unnoticed and without the safety and the care they need.

That's why the Wilder Foundation in Saint Paul conducts a survey of all the unhoused people they can find every three years. The research organization just published their Minnesota Homeless Study with new information about people without housing. And Rebecca Sales is a research scientist who worked on this project. She's on the line now to explain. Thanks for being here, Rebecca.

REBECCA SALES: Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I'm happy to be here and share some of the latest findings about what's going on in the community.

NINA MOINI: I really appreciate it. I was actually there doing a story when they were conducting this last homeless study. And it's interesting that it happens every three years. But then it didn't happen for, I think, five years, because of the pandemic, right?

REBECCA SALES: Right, right. We were a little delayed with our most recent one. So the most recent study was October 26, 2023-- a five year gap as opposed to three year, mostly as a result of the impact that COVID was still having on the community at large, as well as, specifically, amongst folks who are experiencing homelessness and service providers.

NINA MOINI: And the study's been going on since 1991. Can you talk a little bit about just why it got started and why it continues?

REBECCA SALES: Sure. So back in 1991, folks who were working at Wilder Research and people in state agencies and service providers knew that homelessness was becoming more of an issue. But they really just didn't have any data to say, how big is the problem, what are the needs that people are experiencing. And so that's really how it started in 1991.

And the reason we're still doing it 30 years later, unfortunately, is that homelessness is still something that the state is grappling with, not unlike a lot of states across the country. But it still remains the most comprehensive data about peoples' really in-depth experiences about homelessness in their lives.

NINA MOINI: And you have so much data that you are releasing in batches, results, and different things that you're finding. I'm curious this time around, was anything surprising, or what stood out to you in this newest release of some results?

REBECCA SALES: Yeah, so as you're saying, we've tried to focus how we're disseminating the information on particular topics or populations. And so this most recent one was focused on unsheltered homelessness. And so that really means focusing on talking about the experiences for people who are staying outside, or in a car, or a vacant building, or on public transportation.

So unsheltered, really being people that don't have anywhere to go-- and so looking at people who are outside 15 or more nights. And I think what top line is most surprising is that we have seen an increase in the number of people who have spent time outside comparing from 2012 up until 2023.

NINA MOINI: Do you have an idea of why that might be or contributing factors?

REBECCA SALES: Well, first and foremost, I mean, there really just are not enough places for people to go. And so in the short term, what that means is that there's just not enough, or there's not adequate shelter options to get people off the streets.

In the longer term, there's just not enough supportive and really affordable housing to get everyone housed rather than just sheltered. We know from the findings that affordability continues to remain a top challenge, both in Greater Minnesota and the metro. We know housing inventories are low and prices continue to be high, even for people who are looking at market rate housing.

And then secondly, I would say, too, is that beyond just where people are going, we're seeing that people who are experiencing homelessness, especially those unsheltered, have higher rates of mental health and substance use challenges, as well as criminal histories.

And each of those particular issues can not only contribute to homelessness, but once someone has become homeless, it can actually keep them in a state of homelessness for some time.

NINA MOINI: And you found that this is an issue, as you're saying, across the state. It's not just in the Twin Cities. It's in the suburbs. It's in Greater Minnesota, rural areas. What are the unique challenges, perhaps, to the more rural areas?

REBECCA SALES: So in rural areas, there are just fewer services available. People have to travel further distances, assuming that they even have the ability to travel.

And so that's not only a challenge for people that are experiencing homelessness, but also a challenge for service providers, who really have to pour so much time and energy in trying to connect people to the services that they need. So what we see in Greater Minnesota is people tend to be, even more so than the metro, piecing their shelter options together.

So maybe some nights, they're staying in a shelter. And other nights, they're camping. And then another night, they're doubled up with somebody, couch hopping. But we know that in Greater Minnesota, we're still seeing, sometimes even more greater challenges for things such as mental health conditions, physical health issues, substance use.

And it's also important to point out that not only are these impacting people experiencing homelessness in the metro, in Greater Minnesota, but things like lack of affordable housing, substance use, mental health conditions, those are the same issues that everybody's talking about, impacting all communities and families.

So I think that speaks to the larger, more systemic challenges that just happen to disproportionately impact people who are homeless or unstably housed.

NINA MOINI: And you also found that drug abuse and sleeping outside have a really close correlation. And in case folks don't know, a lot of shelters, temporary or otherwise, you cannot be using when you're there. Can you tell me a little bit more about that correlation?

REBECCA SALES: Sure. So what we saw is, when looking at people who spent zero nights outside in the past month, all the way up through people who spent the entire last month outside, we saw a pretty steady increase in substance use rates.

So particularly for ones that we know can have really immediate impacts on people's well-being and behavior, so meth and fentanyl, we know that 43% of people who were unsheltered in the last month had reported using meth, 30% using fentanyl.

And as you say, it not only creates a barrier sometimes to getting into shelter because of policies, or possibly because somebody might be exhibiting behaviors that aren't good to have around other people in shelter, but then that just keeps people outside. And we know a lot of people are using to cope with just the dire situation of sleeping outside.

Maybe people want to use to stay awake all night, because they're afraid. And then they spend the next day in a warming center, getting something to eat and sleeping in a chair or against the wall, because that is a safe place to sleep, as opposed to trying to sleep at night.

NINA MOINI: And your study also focused on an especially large, really disproportionate number of Native people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. What reaction are you hearing from that? I'm assuming it was not surprising given other data. But what are you hearing about that?

REBECCA SALES: Yeah. As you said, this is something that we've consistently seen, and especially with our tribal partners that we work with. I mean, I think it's affirming of just how challenging the situation is for people.

So again, we think about this, both in terms of things that contribute to this in the long term, as well as what has happened more recently. So Native Americans in Minnesota have experienced intergenerational trauma, resulting from systemic racism and policies that were intended to dismantle culture, sovereignty, and prosperity.

And we know that is translated into Native Americans having bad experiences with government, with social services, and so maybe not feeling safe or comfortable to stay in shelter and choosing to stay outside, or it's kind of going back to substance use.

We're seeing really high rates of substance use for Native Americans who are staying outside. And we know that there's a lot of shame that can come along with that and people maybe not wanting to seek services and not wanting to make it known that they are really struggling.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And your study also found that almost 80% of people sleeping outside, on a given night, are experiencing long term cyclical homelessness. It's not like they just started outside. It's been a long journey.

Can you tell me a little bit about some of the solutions you find through your research or things that you think could be helpful? What stands out to you as what we could be doing as a state, policymakers, individuals to interrupt that cycle and make an impact there?

REBECCA SALES: Well, in terms of long term homeless, it's really about not one thing being the solution. People have become homeless in the long term because of a complexity of issues that they're dealing with, both individual, and again, systems level.

And so creating services and shelters or housing that can be responsive to that is really important. And that's not to say that does not currently exist in Minnesota. There are a ton of people doing really great work. But it is really difficult work. It's not always funded in the way that it needs to be. Staff aren't always compensated in the way that they need to be.

And so it really is about looking at the individual and understanding what their needs are and thinking like, OK, if we know that there's these disparities for Native Americans, having services that are responsive to their needs and can provide supports in a way that is meaningful.

Or women-- we found that women, while they aren't as represented in the unsheltered population, they're far more likely to experience violence. And so, again, keeping all of these individual experiences in mind, as services are being funded and policies are being created to be more supportive to what's happening.

NINA MOINI: It's not a one-size-fits-all. Rebecca, thank you so much for being here and just sharing these latest findings. I wish everybody could witness this study being conducted.

It's really something to have people sit across from people who are experiencing homelessness and really speak to them and really learn about their story. It was a really beautiful experience to be there. So I thank you. And I hope you'll come back and share more findings in the future. Thank you.

REBECCA SALES: Yeah, thank you so much. Look forward to talking with you in the future.

NINA MOINI: Bye bye. That was Rebecca Sales, research scientist with the Wilder Foundation in Saint Paul. And by the way, the Minnesota Homeless Memorial March will be 40 years old on December 12th. The March honors people who died while homeless in Minnesota. You can learn more about participating in the March in Minneapolis at simpsonhousing.org.