AsaleSol Young & Temi Ogunrinde
Story by Mair Allen
“I have to support my people.
That’s my calling, that is my life's work,” says AsaleSol Young, Executive Director of Urban Homeworks.
“It's to see the gaps in society that are not being filled and say, ‘I'm going to do my part to try.’” But this re-visioning can’t be done alone. Together with Equity and Engagement Director Temi Ogunrinde, they’re expanding the organization’s mission — from providing more affordable housing in the Twin Cities, to shaping long-term change that addresses the roots of the housing inequity.
“I was raised to understand the depth, the sort of insidiousness of white supremacy, and its impact on Black and brown communities,” AsaleSol says. This led to a commitment to changemaking that budded in their Illinois highschool. In their twenties they worked for Teach for America in New Orleans, moving back to Minnesota to start their own charter school. All of these experiences have helped them develop the framework needed to close the housing ownership gaps for people of color in Minneapolis. “When you're coming from a justice lens and a historical lens, this doesn't get done without a policy shift,” AsaleSol explains.
“We're really trying to build those opportunities to build a North Minneapolis that is thriving,
for the betterment of the community that's been here for generations,” says Temi Ogunrinde, Urban Homework’s Equity & Engagement Director.
Temi wants to see more people across the cities committing to this kind of engagement, whether it’s calling elected officials or educating themselves about the systemic racism that leads to these disparities in housing. “There is deep work here, and we need everybody,” she says. “Lean in. Ask yourself, ‘With the privileges, capacity, and time I have, how can I engage and do my part for housing?’”
Policy work is not easy. It requires a critical mass of people raising their voices for equity. But without foundational changes and funding, housing justice organizations will always be fighting an uphill battle. Urban Homeworks is rethinking how the systems that upheld this injustice can now be used to fix it. “We're not only naming what the real issues are, but we're stepping into it,” Temi says. “And it can be hard, policy wise, but it's so worth it.”
That proved true this year. The groundwork they laid with community and the legislature brought in a $5 million one-time appropriation to build 15 deeply affordable houses in Minneapolis. Urban Homeworks will then sell them for less than half of the $450,000 it will cost to build each one. “It costs a lot to establish justice where there has previously been none,” says AsaleSol. “But it's just dollars; the thriving lives of people are much more valuable.”
In order to create these housing opportunities at the scale needed though, new zoning laws supporting higher density housing are necessary—and the state has to continue to fund the gaps between the cost of building and the sale price. AsaleSol and Temi are both committed to keep leaning into this nexus of change policy and property provides.
