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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 44-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
People Serving People logo with tagline "Until every family has what they need."

About our brand

A logo centered in family voice

At the heart of our logo is a home. The home is the foundation of stability, dignity, and possibility. Surrounding it is a vibrant cityscape of overlapping shapes, each representing the interconnected services we provide: shelter, education, stabilization, and systems change.

The overlapping forms symbolize connection and community. The diversity of colors and shapes reflects the richness of the families we serve and the multifaceted approach we take to ending family homelessness.

This is more than a logo. It’s a symbol of belonging, equity, and hope. It’s a reminder that change is possible when people serve people.

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

Why Renters Harmed by the ICE Surge Need Time and Money
March 23, 2026

Why Renters Harmed by the ICE Surge Need Time and Money

The solution to the housing crisis created by Operation Metro Surge is to provide both rental assistance and eviction restrictions.
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Impact of Operation Metro Surge: Program Funding Depleted
March 11, 2026

Impact of Operation Metro Surge: Program Funding Depleted

At People Serving People, prevention resources we rely on to serve families have been depleted due to the unprecedented demand for rental assistance in the wake of ICE activities in Minnesota.  
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People Serving People Honors and Demands Justice for Alex Pretti
January 26, 2026

People Serving People Honors and Demands Justice for Alex Pretti

We are horrified to be responding to yet another killing by federal agents of another member of our community, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who cared for veterans. Another life unjustly taken, and just days after 50,000 Minnesotans gathered to peacefully protest the harm that our community, our state, and our country are experiencing in the face...
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Punishing Poverty: The Rising Cascade of Harms
January 22, 2026

Punishing Poverty: The Rising Cascade of Harms

People Serving People explores the impact of ICE enforcement operations in Minnesota on family homelessness.
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Minneapolis Should Have a Stake in Family Shelter
November 10, 2025

Minneapolis Should Have a Stake in Family Shelter

Read the November 7, 2025, letter to the editor submitted by Hoang Murphy to the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the City of Minneapolis funding shelter for families experiencing homelessness.
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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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