Where this sits: Benefits › Topics › Housing help. Related: Housing Support, Emergency Assistance.
Vouchers and public housing
Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) are federal rent assistance run by local housing authorities. The household pays roughly 30% of its income toward rent and utilities; the housing authority pays the rest to the landlord. The voucher works with private landlords in the authority's area and can move with the household if program rules are followed. At Metro HRA, the largest program in Minnesota: gross income at or below 50% of area median income, every adult must pass a criminal background check, and every adult must be a citizen or have an eligible immigration status (permanent residents, asylees and refugees among them). Its waitlist was closed when this site saved the page; applications open only now and then, places are chosen at random, and the wait can be up to 5 years.
Public housing and other waitlists open at different times at each housing authority. HousingLink lists open Twin Cities waitlists (for example, Minneapolis public housing lists for people with disabilities, people 50 to 61, and seniors 62 and older); its Housing Search covers Greater Minnesota. On 2026-10-29 it showed Bloomington HRA and Dakota CDA voucher waitlists open, and St. Paul PHA's Bring It Home voucher waitlist set to open 2026-11-04 to 2026-11-11; these dates go stale quickly.
Bring It Home is state rent assistance run by housing authorities. At Metro HRA it works like a voucher (about 30% of income toward rent and utilities) within the authority's area; invitations go to households already on its voucher waitlist at or below 50% of area median income (preference for families with children at or below 30%) who don't already get another housing subsidy.
If someone is homeless: Coordinated Entry
Many homeless housing programs are reached through Coordinated Entry: the person contacts one access point in their region (Coordinated Entry runs in ten regions; the right access point depends on whether they are a single adult, a family or leaving domestic violence), which assesses their situation and urgency and adds them to a system that matches people to openings by need. It doesn't guarantee housing, and waits depend on vacancies. It is for people who are homeless or at risk, but who qualifies varies by region (some take only people on the street, in a shelter or in a car); people leaving domestic violence always qualify. It connects to rapid rehousing, transitional housing (up to 24 months, often for groups such as veterans or youth), permanent supportive housing and Long-Term Homeless Housing Support. Not every program is part of it, so people should also apply for other benefits at the county.
State-funded homeless programs run by DHS (as described in February 2024): emergency services grants for shelters and essential services, transitional housing (up to 24 months, rent at least 25% of income, with follow-up), services that stabilize people in supportive housing who were homeless long-term (a year or more, or four times in three years), Homeless Youth Act programs, Safe Harbor shelter and housing for sexually exploited youth, and shelter facility grants.
Tonight: 211 and county shelter
211 (United Way) connects people to local help 24/7, confidentially, in any language: call 2-1-1 or 800-543-7709, or text a zip code to 898-211. For a place to stay tonight, the county can direct people to a shelter, and the county is also the contact for short-term emergency assistance.
Preventing homelessness, and help for people with mental illness
FHPAP (Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program), through Minnesota Housing and regional providers, pays for things such as deposits, rent or utilities and gives services to households that are homeless or at imminent risk, with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, living in Minnesota (or otherwise approved by Minnesota Housing) and in a housing crisis. Providers decide eligibility and amounts, and funds are limited.
Bridges gives temporary rental assistance, deposits and supports to low-income people with mental illness. Priority goes to people in an institution, a segregated setting or under correctional supervision who would be homeless on leaving, then to people rated high priority through Coordinated Entry, then to others homeless or at imminent risk.
Not covered here
Each housing authority sets its own preferences and waitlist openings; the voucher details above are one authority's. Not yet covered: eviction law and the Cold Weather Rule, tenant rights, HUD-subsidized buildings, rural and Tribal housing, veteran housing (VASH), shelter access by county and youth programs in detail.