AEOA Provides Much Needed Homeless Services, Opens New Shelter

Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency's homeless services are essential for individuals and families experiencing homelessness and its current shelter is not large enough to meet the demand of people experiencing homelessness in our community.

In May 2023, AEOA opened a new homeless shelter in Hibbing called “Home on the Range.”

To meet its community’s need for safe shelter and decent affordable housing in our legislatively designated service area (Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties), AEOA owns and operates Bill’s House, the Youth Foyer, and scattered shelter sites.

AEOA has provided emergency shelter to over 500 individuals over the last three years. With the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Northeast Minnesota, AEOA has been forced to turn away 3,364 individuals since 2019.

The opening of “Home on the Range” in May seeks to partically address the need.

Once renovations are complete, “Home on the Range” will provide 54 rooms of shelter to individuals in the AEOA service area. This will be the second-largest homeless shelter north of the Twin Cities.

The AEOA’s homeless services and prevention services are designed to keep community members housed, including individuals and families escaping domestic violence and Veterans, through prevention resources or rapid rehousing. This includes emergency shelter, assistance in finding housing, connection to needed resources, and other support services, as well as direct assistance with rent, security deposits, mortgage, and other assistance targeted for families, single adults, and youth who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

AEOA’s homeless programs serve the whole family, not just the individual. Case managers work to connect individuals and families with as many programs and resources as possible that will help them secure safe, stable housing and become more self-sufficient, with hopes they will eventually move out of poverty.

In a wrap-around approach, housing staff have the knowledge and experience to mix, match and coordinate in-house and referral resources to meet the individualized goals of the families they work with.

Learn more about AEOA at aeoa.org. Shelter information can be found here.

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