Minnesota Legislature approves millions of dollars for homeless shelters

(ABC 6 NEWS) – The Minnesota Legislature has approved 98 million dollars of funding to go toward homeless shelters across the state.

Dan Fifield, co-founder of The Landing MN, says the amount of homeless people in Rochester seeking services, like shelter and housing, has drastically increased.

Only 40 percent of this money will be going to rural areas and Fifield says it’s not an easy process to secure this needed funding.

“As far as who gets what and what projects get funded, you have to be able to write a good grant and figure out what it is you want. The time window isn’t large to come up with those plans, but it can be done. I think that there are possibilities for making substantial differences,” Fifield said.

Local governments and non-profit organizations have about 90 days to come up with a proposal for the grant. In the meantime, everyone will remain hopeful for the possibilities this funding could bring.