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Who
We Are

A beige building facade with the words "PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE" and the number 614 above the entrance.

We are People Serving People

People Serving People supports families experiencing housing instability and advocates for systems change to create a community where no family has to experience homelessness.

Support Families
A woman and three young children in white shirts sit smiling together by a brick wall.

Until no family experiences homelessness

People Serving People exists because our community continues to fail our families. Our work isn’t just about housing families experiencing homelessness—it’s about seeing and valuing the humanity of our neighbors. That’s why People Serving People is the largest and most comprehensive emergency shelter system for families in Minnesota, and a dedicated leader in homelessness prevention and early learning. Every family deserves the tools, support, and opportunities to thrive and never face homelessness.

What We Do

Our mission, vision, and values

At People Serving People, we do not only value the voices of our families, but we also proactively work to center their voices in our work. This collaboration guides how we operate, the work we do to continuously improve our programs and services, as well as our advocacy and systems change initiative.

Our mission

To support families who are experiencing housing instability by providing shelter, early childhood education, housing stabilization, and systems change.

Our vision

Every family has what they need.

Our values

  • Belonging
  • Equity
  • Integrity
  • Possibility
  • Power
Two people with dreadlocks smiling, one wearing a cow-print hoodie, the other a graphic t-shirt, standing by a brick wall.

Our current initiatives

Today’s People Serving People is rooted in a 43 year history of responding to the needs of our community, listening to our neighbors, and continuously evolving to meet an ever growing need for our services and advocacy.

Learn more about who we are and the initiatives we recently implemented and are currently underway to expand and enrich our support for families through investments in people, programs, and places, as well as our history.

Our Initiatives

Our leadership


Our leadership teams, program experts, and advancement staff work closely with our board of directors, community partners, volunteers, and generous donors to support our vision of a community where every family has what they need.

Our Leadership

Work with us

When you work with People Serving People, you become part of an extraordinary group of people who are working to make a difference in the lives of families experiencing housing instability. Join us and become a changemaker today. 

Careers

Featured news stories

Punishing Poverty: Cuts to SNAP 
October 22, 2025

Punishing Poverty: Cuts to SNAP 

90% of families currently staying at our shelters receive SNAP benefits. Not only will the cessation of SNAP benefits drive up the demand for People Serving People’s shelter services (which is already at 200% capacity), it will also increase the number of days, or months that a family will need shelter.
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Minneapolis’ model anti-homelessness program faces “fiscal cliff”
October 15, 2025

Minneapolis’ model anti-homelessness program faces “fiscal cliff”

One of Minneapolis' most successful homelessness prevention programs is not accepting new referrals and could run out of money by next spring unless the mayor and City Council can agree how to financially rescue it.
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Fully Fund Stable Homes Stable Schools
October 9, 2025

Fully Fund Stable Homes Stable Schools

Full funding to meet the need People Serving People strongly supports the City of Minneapolis’ Stable Homes Stable Schools (SHSS) initiative and encourages the city to invest in its continued success. Families in our emergency shelters have relied on SHSS referrals as a vital pathway to exiting shelter into stable housing. SHSS’s focus on education...
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Experts warn of rising dehumanization of unhoused community, impact of federal cuts
September 21, 2025

Experts warn of rising dehumanization of unhoused community, impact of federal cuts

See Kare 11's story featuring Hoang Murphy, CEO of People Serving People, discussing the increasing number of families experiencing homelessness and how we can solve housing instability for all people.
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Punishing Poverty: Trump’s Executive Order on Homelessness
August 8, 2025

Punishing Poverty: Trump’s Executive Order on Homelessness

This is part two in our ongoing series, Punishing Poverty. Here we examine the July 24, 2025, Executive Order, which purports to address homelessness and find that it, like the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” promotes a punishment model for responding to poverty and homelessness rather than proven solutions.
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Punishing Poverty: Initial Reaction to OBBBA
August 1, 2025

Punishing Poverty: Initial Reaction to OBBBA

OBBBA is devastating for all families—yours as well as those we serve— making it even harder for families to secure their basic needs for food, housing, medical care, childcare, and employment, which will only increase the number of families experiencing homelessness.
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