“I’ll never forget my advocate, Lucy, and the rest of the staff. They treated me and my daughter like humans. They went out of their way for us. When you’re already down, you need a piece of light. They were our light.”
Brianna - mother, nursing student, former guest, 2025
What
We Do
Stability through support and advocacy
People Serving People is about more than crisis response. Families experiencing homelessness need more than food and shelter; they deserve holistic stabilization and prevention services that help them thrive.
Emergency shelters and supportive housing
Hennepin County is the only county in the country to maintain a “Shelter All” policy, which is also often described as a “No Child Sleeps Outside” policy. Hennepin County’s approach is something to celebrate and support, and for other counties and states across the country to adopt.
Guests of our two shelter locations and residents of our long-term permanent supportive housing units are referred to us first through Hennepin County’s Coordinated Entry program.
Downtown Shelter
Our Downtown Shelter is Minnesota’s largest and tallest shelter for families experiencing homelessness, comprised of 11 floors, 99 private shelter rooms, early childhood classrooms, program space, and administrative offices.
St. Anne's Place Shelter
In 2024, we were gifted the St. Anne’s Place Shelter and program. Located in North Minneapolis, it features 16 rooms for women or non-binary heads of household and their children and offers families on-site programs and services.
Permanent Supportive Housing Units
10 two-bedroom permanent supportive housing apartments provide affordable housing to families who have experienced long-term homelessness or have a disability. Families can take advantage of many of our on-site programs and services.
Our programs and services
We offer a suite of programs and services for all our families, centered around preventing homelessness, providing crisis support to shelter families experiencing homelessness, and offering stabilization programs and services to both our shelter guests and our permanent supportive housing residents.
Early Learning Program
Early childhood education at two locations
People Serving People proudly offers two locations to nurture, grow, and prepare children ages six weeks to 5 years old for school readiness and lifelong learning. Both locations are licensed 4-Star Parent Aware-Rated centers with compassionate educators ready to support your child’s education.
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Early Learning Center
Located in Downtown Minneapolis, inside First Covenant Church, our Main Site provides healing-centered early learning for families in the community seeking high-quality care. Our Main Site is also one of only 11 Strong Beginnings sites recognized by Hennepin County.
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Downtown Program
Located at our Downtown shelter, our early childhood education program serves our youngest shelter guests with a NECPA-accredited, developmentally-appropriate curriculum that also provides support as the families and children create additional stability.
Advocacy and systems change
The Systems Change Department's mission is to center family voice and choice in leading and advocating for systems change. Systems change refers to the policies and systems that families interact with when facing the loss of housing, accessing childcare, entering shelter, and advocating to remove barriers. We do this through:
- Public policy advocacy
- Coalition building
- Lived Experience + Advocacy Fellowship
- Providing resources and avenues for our supporters to advocate for families
“Families don’t come in pieces; their services shouldn’t either. That’s why at People Serving People, we work to provide our families with all the programs and services they need.”
How you can support families
There’s no single way to make a difference – it takes all of us to care for our neighbors and to realize our vision of every family have what they need to thrive.
Give today
Donate
Give your financial support or donate key items that support families in your community. No matter the amount, your generosity helps us ensure every family has what they need.
