Executive Summary 

Background 
Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research (HACER) was funded by the Housing Stabilization Pilot Program from the City of Minneapolis to serve and conduct research with Latine renters living primarily in South-Central Minneapolis. This was done by organizing community-informed housing workshops and by creating and collecting data with a survey.

Methods
From October 2021 to December 2021, HACER hosted a series of five 90-minute workshops, serving 40 unduplicated households. The purpose of these workshops was to improve housing stability in the area by providing information and resources to support Latines in Minneapolis to transition to more equitable renting situations, become homeowners, and/or access COVID-19 related housing and financial assistance. HACER also created a renters assessment survey with the goal of increasing existing knowledge on Latino renters. The survey was administered in person and online. Participants had the option to complete the survey in Spanish or in English.

Findings
A total of 93 Latine participants met the inclusion criteria for the survey. The largest portion of participants live in an apartment and the majority of participants rated their living conditions as “excellent” or “good”. A small portion reported having applied to rental assistance. Similarly, a small portion of participants also reported receiving a disconnection notice from their landlord. A higher portion of participants reported receiving financial assistance to pay utility bills.
Some participants expressed having negative interactions with their landlords, neighbors, and/or the police. Half of the participants reported a decrease in income due to the COVID-19 pandemic and engaged in a variety of trade-off measures to continue to afford their rent. A majority of participants are severely cost burdened. Lack of income to pay a higher rent, a security deposit or put a down payment to buy a house was the biggest barrier for moving.

Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized housing stability as a critical social determinant of health. The quality, safety, affordability, and location of homes directly impact individual and family well-being. An equitable approach to housing stabilization and recovery measures is needed to address the persisting financial hardships and housing insecurity of Latines in Minneapolis. Recommendations include 1) education on renters’ rights to go beyond improved landlord-renter relationships; 2) continued investment in culturally responsive organizations to provide homebuyer education and counseling; 3) promotion of alternative models of homeownership; and 4) new outreach approaches to disseminate information on housing programs.