Hamza Mahamud

In my summer fellowship portion of the Chuck Green Fellowship, I had the opportunity to work with HOME Line MN, a renter’s rights organization based out of Bloomington. HOME Line is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and advancing tenant rights for all Minnesota residents. They serve many communities, but they primarily run an emergency tenant hotline, which regularly services tens of thousands of Minnesota tenants each year.

There were many routes I could have taken within the organization, but I decided to work with Michael Dahl and the policy team at HOME Line. I continued a project that was shelved before the pandemic relating to crime free ordinances in cities and townships in the seven county metro area. In short, crime free ordinances are city laws that regulate how tenants in rented buildings must behave on the premises. My research was focused on how these ordinances affected communities, and whether they had the effect they were intended to have. My research helped HOME Line update their policy stance on this issue, as well as listen to community voices regarding the issue.

In addition to my in-house research, I participated in many coalition-building activities in the Twin Cities during my time at HOME Line. My research was used to help write legislative agendas for a handful of coalitions, and I even participated in policy writing workshops with a handful of local organizations. Getting to be hands-on and involved in meaningful work was a key highlight of my summer fellowship, and an aspect that I enjoyed the most. Between research, policy writing, coalition work involvement, and meeting local and state politicians, my time at HOME Line was both very busy and well spent. 

I had expectations for my summer work while I was in Chuck Green, and I can safely say that my time at HOME Line blew those expectations away. I was a part of a team that had confidence in my work, and gave me the resources to make that research a reality. Being included in coalitions introduced me to organizing work, and also gave me a new point of view to see from. I could not have been happier with my time at HOME Line, and I recommend them to any potential fellows interested in working in the housing field. I would like to thank my supervisor Michael Dahl, as well as Mike Vraw, Rachael Sterling, and Executive Director Eric Hauge. A special thank you goes to my Chuck Green faculty supervisor (and my advisor!) Lisa Mueller. My Chuck Green summer fellowship was an invaluable experience, and one that I will not forget anytime soon.