Growing Up Healthy

Connecting the families of Rice County, Minnesota

Mobile homes as long-term communities

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According to the Center for Housing Policy, the research affiliate of the National Housing Conference, affordable housing can have a positive impact on the health of families and communities. Exploring hypotheses around this relationship, the CHP has looked at ideas ranging from the money that is freed up for other health promoting expenses when housing is affordable to the stress reduction and self-esteem boosting which results from the availability of stable, quality housing. This Zoom Out explores mobile or manufactured homes as affordable housing and the challenges that mobile home parks face in being seen as a vital part of a community.

All Parks Alliance for Change is a non-profit tenants union for residents of Minnesota’s manufactured mobile home parks. In their fact sheet, they detail just how prevalent mobile home parks are in Minnesota. There are over 900 licensed parks housing almost 180,000 individuals, with about 80% of these residents (144,000 people) identified as low- to very-low income. 15% of homes in Minnesota are mobile homes, and there are more units of affordable housing in manufactured home parks (48,700) than there are HUD subsidized units (36,000) and Rural Development units (12,400) combined. Despite what the term “mobile home” implies, 42% of residents have lived in their home for over 10 years, implying the tie that mobile home residents have to their communities. And yet there are many challenges faced by members of manufactured home communities in actually being a part of the broader community.

In many cases, mobile home park residents own only their home and not the land on which they live, and so are vulnerable should a park need to close. In addition, a Consumers Union report indicates that “Most manufactured homes are financed using a personal property loan like a car or a couch. Consumers who finance their home with a personal property loan (also known as a chattel mortgage) do not have foreclosure protections similar to those available for real property home mortgages.” And, as Julie Trnka discusses in her video, the perception of trailer parks as homes for “trailer trash”—the implication being people who do not contribute to a community and are not a real part of their community—and thus not “worthy” of being a part of a neighborhood. Stigma and stereotypes and prejudice must surely negatively affect the health of mobile home park residents and accordingly the health of the whole community.

What is a home but a place where a family is trying to make it work? What is a community but people coming together to build a life together? Manufactured home parks and their residents are a valuable and important part of any community. How do you see the mobile home communities in your neighborhood? If you take pride in your community, you must care for your community—all of your community.

Zoom Out: Welcome to the U.S.A.?

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Welcome To USA.gov is a site created by US Citizenship and Immigration services and USA.gov. This website provides a myriad of links to important information and resources from the U.S. government that someone just entering the United States might need: finding English classes in your area, finding work, dealing with healthcare and education issues, getting a social security number, ideas of how to manage money. On the home page, beneath the motto “E Pluribus Unum—Out of Many, One” and the tagline of the website, “Celebrate Citizenship, Learn About America,” a greeting on behalf of the President of the United States appears, stating:

“…We welcome you to this great nation. The United States has benefited from the contributions of immigrants since its founding more than 200 years ago, and we are certain that our newest immigrants will continue this storied legacy.”

All in all, this website seems the picture of “welcoming.” Immigrants are presented as positively fundamental to the United States of America, particularly since the country itself was founded by the descendants of those who had emigrated from across the Atlantic. But does this sense of “welcoming” on paper (or in this case, online) translate into reality at the national level? At the local level?

It is difficult to know exactly what is needed for a community to be considered “welcoming.” When the City Counsel of Astoria, Oregon, officially declared its community to be “welcoming,” it suggested that a welcoming community must be one in which “‘everyone feels valued, accepted, respected, and safe,’” and in which the city “accepts its responsibility to ‘encourage a strong, diverse community connected by its shared commitment to mutual respect, understanding, and dignity for all.’”

Historically, though, the United States has found it difficult to manifest these values as a nation, as President Obama commented during his July 1st, 2010 immigration reform speech:

“…the ink on our Constitution was barely dry when, amidst conflict, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which placed harsh restrictions of those suspected of having foreign allegiances. A century ago, immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland, other European countries were routinely subjected to rank discrimination and ugly stereotypes. Chinese immigrants were held in detention and deported from Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay.”

Though we are a country created by newcomers, our uncertainty as to how to approach and incorporate immigration and immigrants clearly continues today. It is difficult to balance the fear that a stranger may cause harm if he or she enters our lives with the reality that we are all people and must reach out to each other in order to survive. Yet the commitment to making a community inclusive and “welcoming” is important for ensuring a safe, healthy, and thriving society.

What to you defines a welcoming community? What is being done here in Rice County to make a welcoming community? What more can be done? How can one turn that sense of welcome into a sense of inclusion and integration?  What do you think?

Pressville talks to Growing Up Healthy

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On November 14, Janet Lewis Muth sat down with Carleton student Brian Gilbert for an interview.  Brian and several other students at Carleton, along with faculty members, have started a website called Pressville for publishing news that is pertinent to the Northfield area.  Here is the link to the interview…

Pressville.org

Celebrate Summer with “Mondays in the Park”

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Last night we had another successful “Monday in the Park” in Faribault.  Despite the cool, somewhat rainy weather, over 50 people gathered to socialize, play games with kids, share some food, and just enjoy time together.  We are continuing to meet every Monday evening in June and July from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in the park behind the Faribault Middle School.  While the focus is on socializing and English practice for women and children, all are welcome to come meet some new friends.   Join us if you can!

Hulett Garden breaks ground

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On Saturday, May 23 – in the rain – we broke ground for the community garden in the Cannon River Mobile Home Park.  Nine families will have small plots this year (10′ x 10′) right in their own neighborhood.  The tenth plot will be tended by the children who participate in the summer programming in the neighborhood.

Residents and volunteers remove sod from garden area

Residents and volunteers remove sod from garden area

If you have any gardening supplies that you would like to donate, please contact Growing Up Healthy.  We are specifically looking for: a large (1000 gallons or more) water tank; a small shed for storing tools; various garden tools; and fencing to surround the garden.

The Growing Up Healthy initiative

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The Rice County Growing Up Healthy Planning Project has resulted in many outcomes: a strong collaboration between and among agencies and organizations serving families with young children; a cadre of community members serving as facilitators and leaders; a shared community vision; a community plan to achieve the shared vision; and a greater awareness of the needs of families with young children. But the greatest outcome from this project is, without question, the body of knowledge gained through the community dialog process. Not only did we receive feedback on partner agencies, but we also heard stories from people about how “the system” is not meeting their needs. We learned what families worry about, what keeps them from accessing existing services, and what changes they would like to see made. We were given the opportunity to hear from community members who are often marginalized and overlooked to the point of being unwilling to share information and opinions. And we were also able to gain the trust of many community members who were not necessarily trusting at the beginning of the planning process. It is our greatest hope that we are able to address their concerns and needs in a way that is deserving of their continued trust. The following Shared Community Vision – developed during the planning project – is what continues to guide the Growing Up Healthy project:

Through agency and community collaboration, Growing Up Healthy will collapse barriers, enhance access, and nurture relationships and educational opportunities resulting in a sense of true community spirit that supports an environment where children grow up healthy and thrive.