Stearns County partners with nonprofit to help local Latinos find rental assistance

Becca Most
St. Cloud Times
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Ma Elena Gutiérrez hears the stories often. Latino families in Central Minnesota sharing apartments together because each family can't afford to pay rent for their own. Children going hungry because parents don't know where to find food stamps. Others who have been forced to continue working through sickness, for fear of missing a rent payment.

As head of Fe y Justicia, a faith-based Latinx-led organization, Gutiérrez is working to help families who fall through the cracks due to language barriers, fear and inaccessibility. Latinx is a gender-neutral term for "Latino" or "Latina."

In a new collaboration with Stearns County, Fe y Justicia will soon be able to fund a rental navigator who will help Spanish speakers in the county apply for rental assistance and navigate other resources available to them.

Ma Elena Gutiérrez heads Fe y Justicia, a local nonprofit partnering with CentraCare to help vaccinate Latino people in Central Minnesota.

The position was approved by the Stearns County Board at their meeting Tuesday and will be paid for with $100,000 from the federal American Recovery Program.

County Human Resources Administrator Melissa Huberty said the position will only be funded for a year, but it's possible the position could be renewed if the county finds additional funding.

Rental navigator

Gutiérrez first immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico about 35 years ago, and when she came to Minnesota she saw a need in the Latino community.

"There were no people that speak English or were doing organizing for the Latino community," she said. "So we started to organize. We try to change things we see that are wrong."

As part of the new rental navigator position, Gutiérrez said she wants to hire a Spanish-speaking person who understands the unique experiences of Latinx people and immigrants in Central Minnesota. The position would be set up like a phone hotline, with the rental navigator providing assistance and connecting people to the resources they need.

"It's very important to hire a person that speaks Spanish," she said. "We explain in our own language because they trust us, they trust our organization … We want somebody that speaks Spanish and understands the community."

Gutiérrez said she will try to post the position on Fe y Justicia's website next week. As part of the funding, Fe y Justicia will also be able to connect callers to public assistance programs or provide referrals to local organizations who can help.

"We want our community to [be treated] with respect and dignity," she said. "It's not because one person [who] asked for rent [help] has no values, it's because they're going through something. Our organization wants to treat everybody the same." 

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Ma Elena Gutiérrez's name.


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