Proposed Homeless Shelter in Uptown Needs Vetting

A new medical respite center has been proposed at 918 W. Lake St. by Lakeshore Care Inc. on the corner of Lake Street and Colfax Avenue South. What is a medical respite center?

These facilities provide non-hospital-level medical care for folks experiencing homelessness. Imagine you had an outpatient surgery but needed to rest and relax for several days afterward. Surprise, it turns out health outcomes are better when people are sheltered. Is it a homeless shelter? Yes, but with a particular goal and clientele.

The proposal has been met with much community opposition. In the last four years, homelessness, drug use and violent crime have all increased in Uptown, and having a space for unsheltered people has been documented to have impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

I was raised to help those less fortunate. As I’ve grown up, I’ve learned that we must harness our goodwill intentionally to set projects like this up for success. And that’s what worries me about this proposal.

When I inquired at various levels of government about the proposal, no one had heard anything about it. Neighbors have asked for more information or to have a forum, but as of July 21, nothing is scheduled. The community does not know if substance use rehabilitation is a component of the facility, and the fact that the application did not even mention the vulnerable population it will be serving gives me pause. We don’t know who is funding the proposal — not the county — and all we know of Lakeshore Care Inc. is that it was formed in 2024. It does not have a website.

We are doing no one a service when we approve a facility without proper transparency and community engagement. The website www.endhomelessness.org recommends best practices for medical respite such as “generating ‘buy-in’ and engaging with… community programs”.

The City of Minneapolis Planning Commission meets on August 12 to discuss this project. Please consider reaching out to city staff at lindsey.silas@minneapolismn.gov or Planning Commission members asking that the public be given more information before the project is approved.