Settled Incorporated

Supportive Community (Intentional Neighbors/Purposeful Work/Supportive Friends/Homestead): Settled cultivates home in a homeless world. This year we built community at our Sacred Settlements, bridging the gap between people who are formerly chronically homeless and people who arent. We saw people getting involved in many different ways, leading Purposeful Workshops, encouraging independent art projects and learning traditional skills together. We established monthly rhythms for people to make and use the goods being made as part of their daily routines, weaving a deeper shared story. These community-building moments are designed to promote healthy, positive interactions where people can set aside social structures and simply connect with another person. We told these stories through videos and inspired more to join in.

Cultivated Place: Groundbreaking legislation was passed this year which acknowledges Sacred Settlements as a valid form of housing in the state of Minnesota. This recognizes the right of faith communities to establish Sacred Settlements on their land with clear rules and regulations, influencing our ability to scale. We are in the planning stages with several new communities across the state of Minnesota and nationally. We are also developing a permanent Demonstration Settlement where people can walk through and explore a Sacred Settlement in a centralized location, learning about our innovative, research-based model of care, housing, and community through worshiping communities.

Permanent Homes: We streamlined the process of building homes this year, finding creative ways of saving money, increasing quality, and engaging more volunteers at more faith communities. To do this work, we expanded our wood shop, creating a relationship-building environment where we held weekly volunteer days centered around building furniture and homegoods to go in the homes. Additionally, we are developing an alternative to plumbed toilets that will improve the function and sustainability of future Sacred Settlements.