“At People Serving People, I feel like I belong and I’m heard. So many people make you feel bad when you’re homeless or struggling. Here, I don’t feel bad when I ask for help.”
Duane - father, guest of People Serving People, Downtown, 2025
Our Programs
and Services
Whole families. Whole support.
People Serving People believes that families don’t come in pieces, and their services shouldn’t either. That’s why we are known for providing family-centered, wrap-around services to our guests.
Family-centered programs
We’ve seen firsthand that family-led, family-centered strategies lead to growth and success. That’s why our programs and services are designed to be holistic, collaborative, sustainable, and flexible to meet family-defined needs.
Family Advocacy
Family Advocacy Program
Case management to support families on their path from shelter to housing. Advocates come alongside families to help break down barriers to housing through goal setting, building support systems, and resource connection.
Finance Program
Families for Finance Program
Financial empowerment program combining financial literacy, cultural awareness, and financial healing as program pillars.
Family Engagement
Family Engagement Program
Whole-family focused events, activities, and partnerships that aim to provide stress relief, community building, and meaning making for families living in the shelter.
Youth Program
Youth Engagement Program
Designed for school-aged children and teens, the program fosters learning, well-being, and community connection through activities and programs, including an after-school program.
Prevention Program
Family Homeless Prevention Program
Provides one-on-one flexible financial assistance and case management to keep families in housing, thereby preventing the experience or re-experience of homelessness.
Supportive Housing
Supportive Housing Program
Long-term, fdsa affordable housing units for families with supportive case management. There are 10 two-bedroom apartments in the program, which come fully furnished.
Supportive services
On-site Medical Clinic, Downtown Shelter
Hennepin County Healthcare for the Homeless operates an on-site clinic at our Downtown Minneapolis shelter that is staffed with medical assistants, public health nurses, and nurse practitioners. This clinic offers free basic care, including health screenings, physical examinations, vaccinations, and additional services. Guests of both of our shelters and our Supportive Housing Units can access this clinic.
Minneapolis Public Schools on-site coordination
Minneapolis Public Schools supports students experiencing homelessness who stay in one of our shelters by providing transportation to and from school for our school-age guests who attend Minneapolis Public Schools. This helps lessen disruptions in their school experience and keeps them enrolled in their home schools. Minneapolis Public Schools staffs an office onsite at our Downtown Shelter to support families with their schooling needs. In 2025, we support approximately 125 school-age children staying in our shelters each day.
On-site mental health services
We interviewed our families about the services they need, and many requested access to mental health services and support. As a result, Hennepin County Mental Health Center is on-site at our Downtown Shelter every Tuesday afternoon, providing therapeutic drop-in counseling services for guests—both parents and their children—of our Downtown Shelter.
Technology Resource Center
Guests of our Downtown Shelter can utilize our Technology Resource Center, which features 15 desktop computers, as well as Advocate support for tasks such as conducting job searches, creating resumes and cover letters, and submitting job applications. Our school-agechildren can utilize the Technology Resource Center to work on homework assignments.
Head to Toe Program
Shelter guests can receive complimentary toiletries, including deodorant, toothpaste, and hair care products, through our Head-to-Toe program. We also provide seasonally appropriate clothing, including pants, shirts, sweatshirts, coats, and winter weather gear when donors adequately support our inventory.
Support our families
We rely on the generous support of individuals and organizations to provide our families with the programs and services they need and deserve to move from homelessness to stability.
For our guests
If you have any questions about any of the onsite support services offered at People Serving People’s Downtown Shelter, please see an Advocate on the 2nd floor.
