Purpose

Provide funding to support a new multiuse facility in Hennepin County for youth housing and services. The bill would authorize a one-time grant from Minnesota’s general fund to help The Bridge for Youth acquire land and move through the stages of planning, building, and equipping a new facility. The building would serve unaccompanied homeless youths and young families experiencing homelessness, and include spaces for youth programs, recreation, offices, and up to 40 units of transitional and affordable housing plus emergency shelter.

Main Provisions

• Source and recipient: A one-time appropriation from the general fund to the commissioner of employment and economic development to grant to The Bridge for Youth.
• Project scope: Used for land acquisition and to predesign, design, construct, furnish, and equip a new multiuse facility in Hennepin County.
• Facility components:
  • Youth program and recreational space
  • Administrative and program office space
  • Up to 40 new units of transitional and affordable housing
  • Emergency shelter space
• Population served: Unaccompanied homeless youths and young families experiencing homelessness.
• Timeframe and conditions: The appropriation is available until the project is completed or abandoned, subject to Minnesota Statutes section 16A.642. This is a one-time appropriation.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Creates a targeted, one-time capital investment allocation to fund a specific youth facility project.
• Expands funding for a housing and shelter project administered as a grant to a nonprofit (The Bridge for Youth) through the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
• Establishes project milestones and housing/emergency shelter components as part of the funded facility.
• Ties the funding to the completion-or-abandonment rule under Minnesota Statutes section 16A.642.

Key Considerations

• This is a capital investment action (construction and related activities) rather than ongoing operating funding.
• The project location is specified as Hennepin County, and the beneficiary organization is The Bridge for Youth.
• The facility aims to combine youth services, recreation, administration, and housing with emergency shelter for a vulnerable population.

Relevant Terms

• capital investment
• appropriation
• general fund
• commissioner of employment and economic development
• The Bridge for Youth
• land acquisition
• predesign
• design
• construct
• furnish
• equip
• multiuse facility
• youth program space
• recreational space
• administrative office space
• program office space
• up to 40 new units
• transitional housing
• affordable housing
• emergency shelter space
• unaccompanied homeless youth
• young families experiencing homelessness
• Hennepin County
• Minnesota Statutes section 16A.642
• one-time appropriation