Last month, MPHA hosted U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen while on a visit to Minnesota. As a part of the Secretary’s visit, she toured a unit in one of the agency’s new sixplexes that make up its 16-site, modular multiplex Family Housing Expansion Project (FHEP).

Secretary Yellen was joined by U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and other community partners to highlight the federal investments and innovative city policies that helped enable MPHA’s nation-leading project. Additionally, Secretary Yellen announced new efforts by the Treasury Department to increase the supply of housing across the country, which includes providing an additional $100 million over the next three years to support the financing of affordable housing.

But prior to sharing remarks with the crowd gathered outside the Seward neighborhood sixplex, the Secretary and elected officials were learning first-hand how impactful this new deeply affordable family housing was on the lives of those who lived there from their host, Jennifer*.

The brand new FHEP unit Jennifer and her son live in has been a game-changer for them. When they first moved in, Jennifer was astonished by the building and unit’s newness, cleanliness, and size. Coming from a different subsidized housing program’s unit, this was a significant upgrade. Jennifer says the first night in her unit, she slept on the living room floor like a kid making an angel in the snow, amazed that she and her son would get to call this space home.

For Jennifer, hosting the Treasury Secretary in her home was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. She got to open her apartment doors, show officials her home, and share what her home means to her and her nine-year-old son. Jennifer is proud of her home, evidenced by how neatly she keeps the space and how graciously she welcomed strangers in to tour it.

“It was a life changing experience. I never thought in a million years I’d be hosting such important people. When you grow up in the hood and poor, you don’t think you’ll ever get opportunities like this,” said MPHA resident, Jennifer. “They made me feel important. I really felt like they cared about what I had to say. It felt like a bucket list moment.”

Jennifer shared with her guests the impact of the stable housing on her family, her health, and her future. And beyond her own lived experience, Jennifer sees the power of safe, stable, affordable housing every day through her work as a housing navigator, helping families like hers get into affordable units. She understands just how many families rely on income-based housing like hers.

“I want to give other people the opportunity to get back on their feet. I want to help provide a place for families to sleep at night,” said Jennifer.

Since moving into her new apartment and having quality, stable, affordable housing, Jennifer has begun dreaming of owning her own home and a career in affordable housing property management—a chance for her to pay it forward with families experiencing the same challenges hers is overcoming with her new MPHA home.

*At the request of the resident, their name has been changed in this story.