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A ‘good new home’ for American Indian adults nears construction

Brian Johnson//July 11, 2018//

The St. Paul-based Ain Dah Yung Center and Minneapolis-based Project for Pride in Living hope to start construction as soon as August on this $11.3 million housing and supportive services project at 771 and 769 University Ave. in St. Paul. (Submitted image)

The St. Paul-based Ain Dah Yung Center and Minneapolis-based Project for Pride in Living hope to start construction as soon as August on this $11.3 million housing and supportive services project at 771 and 769 University Ave. in St. Paul. (Submitted image)

A ‘good new home’ for American Indian adults nears construction

Brian Johnson//July 11, 2018//

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The $11.3 million “Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung” project will rise on a site at 769 and 771 University Ave. in St. Paul. The site is a block and a half from the Victoria Street Station on the Green Line light rail transit route. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)
The $11.3 million “Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung” project will rise on a site at 769 and 771 University Ave. in St. Paul. The site is a block and a half from the Victoria Street Station on the Green Line light rail transit route. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

The Ain Dah Yung Center’s planned 42-unit supportive housing project on University Avenue in St. Paul is geared toward homeless, young American Indian adults, but it’s not just about putting a roof over their heads.

A driving force behind the $11.3 million “Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung” project, which will rise on a site at 769 and 771 University Ave., is to help the young adults reconnect with their culture and learn to live independently. Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung means “good new home” in Ojibwe.

“Everything about the building is designed specifically to support creating a place where these young people can regain their sense of identity,” said Deb Foster, Ain Dah Young Center’s executive director. “We are hoping it will be a model project that can be duplicated in other areas of the country.”

Developed by St. Paul-based Ain Dah Yung Center and Minneapolis-based Project for Pride in Living, the four-story, 50,000-square-foot project is preparing to start construction after about seven years of planning. A ceremonial groundbreaking was scheduled for late Wednesday.

The first scoops of dirt could be moved in August or September, said Joanne Kosciolek, vice president of development and external affairs for PPL.

“We are waiting to close on the financing, which we think will be in August,” Kosciolek said.

Last fall, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency awarded $9.4 million in tax credit equity for the project. The Metropolitan Council awarded a $47,200 cleanup grant.

Cleanup requirements at the site were “pretty minimal,” Kosciolek said.

Other funding sources include the city of St. Paul, the Metropolitan Council, Federal Home Loan Bank, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

The housing and support services are targeted to homeless American Indian people between 18 and 24. That age group is especially vulnerable because they have aged out of the foster care system, Foster said.

Though American Indians represent 2 percent of Minnesota’s population, 22 percent of Minnesota’s homeless youths are American Indians, said Foster, who added that they grew up in homes “distressed with poverty, abuse and discord.”

Designed by Duluth-based DSGW Architects and First American Design Studio of Lake Elmo, the building will feature gathering spaces for cultural ceremonies, workshops for bead-working and drum-making, a sweat lodge and a sacred medicine garden.

Classrooms, a technology center, job training and other support services also will be available onsite.

The project site, which includes a single-family house and a vacant lot, wasn’t on the Ain Dah Yung Center’s radar at first. But when notified by the city that it was available, the organization jumped at the chance to build there.

Foster said it’s an ideal location because of its size, ample green space and location on the Green Line light rail transit route. The site is a block and a half from the Victoria Street Station on the line. Other surrounding uses include an Asian food store, a French bakery and a Vietnamese restaurant.

“Being right on University is going to give us the visibility that we were looking for and also gives St. Paul an American Indian presence, which is really important,” Foster said.

Project for Pride in Living acquired the project site in July 2017 from Model Cities of St. Paul, according to Ramsey County property records. The purchase price was $695,000. The estimated market value is $667,600.

The University Avenue location is “a huge plus, because we like to do housing close to transit, Kosciolek said, “and of course, many of the youth would not have access to cars, so they need public transportation.”

One challenge: Rising construction costs have forced the project team to sharpen its pencils a bit to stay on budget, Foster said. The team is delaying plans for “teaching kitchens” on every floor, for example. The main kitchen on the first floor remains and more can be added in the future, she said.

Lakeville-based Loeffler Construction is the building contractor. Construction is expected to wrap up in summer 2019.

Founded in 1983, the nonprofit Ain Dah Yung Center offers emergency shelter, transitional housing, life skills training, parenting education, legal advocacy and services related to children’s mental health, chemical prevention and more.

The center served more than 2,600 people last year, according to its website.

 

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