![](https://mc-379cbd4e-be3f-43d7-8383-5433-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/housing/-/media/housing/home/mom-and-daughter-hero.jpg?rev=aa56dbd805244d53ad7a1c66dfd5869c)
Hennepin County Housing
Building a foundation for all
Support across the housing spectrum
A safe and affordable place to live is the foundation on which people build successful lives. At Hennepin County, we work to develop a range of affordable housing options across income levels. We call it the affordable housing spectrum. We also work to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.
This spectrum is the heart of our housing strategy at Hennepin County—helping everyone across the continuum gain access to greater housing stability.
Making a difference
Our programs and strategies have very real impacts on the lives of thousands of people living in our county. Read some of their stories.
![women standing outside her home](https://mc-379cbd4e-be3f-43d7-8383-5433-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/housing/-/media/housing/stories/women-outside-her-home.jpg?h=520&iar=0&w=800&rev=e9826adce253419381e4a267b1bd6582&hash=8540C1F2C7CF3A826C587FFDF985F207)
Hennepin County loan program helps make homes more accessible
Hennepin County offers loans for home repairs and maintenance to help make homes safer and more accessible.
![downtown apartment building](https://mc-379cbd4e-be3f-43d7-8383-5433-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/housing/-/media/housing/stories/lamereaux-apartment-building.jpg?h=520&iar=0&w=800&rev=08f05c37b15242998d43acbdb320155b&hash=823A7DAA77654091900AD9C33E510A55)
All about AHIF: the little funding engine that could
The county has been running the Affordable Housing Incentive Fund (AHIF) for over 20 years. It doesn’t often make headlines, but it is making an outsized impact on communities.
![speaker at a conference](https://mc-379cbd4e-be3f-43d7-8383-5433-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/housing/-/media/housing/stories/conference-speaker.jpg?h=520&iar=0&w=800&rev=d2543b97314540c08f46a8217f8726d3&hash=83AA865FC51BA968FB43491AD7CC5FE6)
Rico Morales, who has struggled with housing instability for most of his life, is now one of the leading voices for change in housing support programs.
Families are facing a crisis
53,090 households in Hennepin County make below 30% of the area median income, but there are only 18,705 housing units affordable to them.![There are an estimated 73,660 households in Hennepin County with incomes below 30% of the area median income, but only 14,192 housing units affordable to them.](https://mc-379cbd4e-be3f-43d7-8383-5433-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/housing/-/media/housing/home/families-facing-a-crisis-graph.png?h=253&w=588&rev=bfbb664d0a594fa38824e6cc45280312&hash=FA3FFA787405C7D6B1FF4AC13E19FBE8)
Disparities in housing affordability
We also see significant racial disparities in households that spend more than a third of their income on housing.
![51 percent of black households and 25 percent of white households are cost burdened](https://mc-379cbd4e-be3f-43d7-8383-5433-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/housing/-/media/housing/home/disparities-in-housing-pie-chart.png?h=260&w=457&rev=5242c6cb8ff048419f143d58272cff83&hash=A79076FF5AA11C46EDC918180EFC7C52)