Donald Ray Evans is on a mission to break a record: being the longest tenured team member ever at MPHA. He is just over two years away from accomplishing that goal, with former team member John Newago’s record of 50 years. Donald Ray currently holds the record for longest tenured employee actively serving at the agency.

Back in the early 1970’s, Donald Ray was living in public housing with his family. As a teenager, Donald Ray was captivated by the MPHA maintenance staff that would come to his house to fix faucets and change light bulbs. Donald Ray was impressed by their uniforms, the company vehicles, and the way they fixed problems.

Although Donald Ray was too young to be a full-time employee, the Neighborhood Youth Corps had a program that matched high school students with summer jobs with organizations like MPHA, so Donald Ray signed up. Donald Ray spent three summers working at MPHA through this program, completing tasks like distributing materials to residents, mowing the grass, and eventually, working as a supply clerk for the maintenance warehouse.

“I’m just as dedicated today as I was the day I started,” said Donald Ray Evans, Service Maintenance Specialist for the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.

In 1977, Donald Ray landed his first full-time job with the agency as a building caretaker for a community center MPHA owned at the time. After about a decade in that role, he transferred to the agency’s main office building, working as one of two building service workers. In that role, Donald Ray watched the agency remodel the office building over the years to meet the demands of a growing organization. To this day, Donald Ray can still rattle off 1001 North Washington’s square footage and other quirky building facts.

In 1995, Donald Ray transitioned to a preventative maintenance inspector. In this role, he worked in the South Minneapolis high-rises, preparing units for new residents to move in, performing inspections, and making repairs across 20 buildings and 2,500 units.

In 1999, Donald Ray became a Service Maintenance Specialist at the two Fifth Avenue Highrise buildings. In this role, Donald Ray works exclusively on the two buildings’ 254 units, responding to mechanical and plumbing work orders for residents and preparing vacant units for new residents.

Year after year, Donald Ray is part of the team working tirelessly to keep the agency’s buildings clean and maintained. Because of team members like Donald Ray, MPHA received a near-perfect 98.5 percent in the physical inspection segment of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) annual Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) in 2023.

“I always tell the new employees: clean it like you’re going to move in,” said Donald Ray.

In his time at MPHA, Donald Ray has earned agency awards like the Customer Service Employee and Housing Hero. Donald Ray was even honored by the Minnesota House of Representatives with a resolution for his courage and dedication in 2013.

MPHA’s success is underpinned by talented, dedicated team members like Donald Ray. Their work has earned MPHA a “high performer” status with HUD, and in recent years, helped propel the agency to numerous national and international awards for its innovative, nation-leading work.

But Donald Ray’s job is not done–he remains committed to breaking John Newago’s career record. And so tomorrow, Donald Ray will arrive at work ready to help provide MPHA residents a well-managed home, as he dutifully has for the last 48 years, one day closer to being MPHA’s longest serving team member ever.