Introducing Judith House

Thanks to Aroha Philanthropies, three clients have found a permanent home in Judith House, a duplex purchased and renovated by Tasks Unlimited, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that provides supportive housing and services for people with mental illness.

In 2018, Tasks acquired and renovated a duplex in south Minneapolis in order to provide permanent homes for four women with mental illness. Aroha Philanthropies funded the acquisition and renovation of the home, named Judith House in honor of Ellen Michelson’s mother. Judith House provides Tasks clients with the support of a roommate and housemates while allowing the privacy of independent living.

Such homes are hard to come by. The shortage of affordable supportive housing is exacerbated by current real estate market conditions. As the cost of housing increases, more Tasks clients in community housing are finding themselves priced out of their homes. Judith House allows Tasks to provide housing that anyone would be proud to call home, at a price that its clients can afford.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.— 9.8 million — experiences a serious mental illness that substantially interferes with one or more major life activities in a given year. For this population, “the lack of safe and affordable housing is one of the most powerful barriers to recovery. When this basic need isn’t met, people cycle in and out of homelessness, jails, shelters and hospitals,” NAMI explains.

NAMI argues that housing should be affordable, provide the right amount of independence, meet the individual’s physical needs, and be discrimination-free. The NAMI site includes a wealth of information on mental illness and the changes we need to make to meet this challenge. https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Living-with-a-Mental-Health-Condition/Securing-Stable-Housing

Tasks Unlimited provides supported employment, housing and recovery services for people with mental illness “so that they achieve a full life with the rights and responsibilities of adults in our society.”