Minneapolis City Council fields allegations that contractor mistreated homeless clients

Some Minneapolis City Council members expressed concerns Wednesday about allegations that a city contractor misused funds meant to help the homeless.

A coalition of service providers and homeless encampment organizers wrote an anonymous letter to Minneapolis city officials in March, alleging that Helix Health and Housing Services misused city funds in its work providing housing and support to unhoused individuals. About a dozen people showed up to a meeting Wednesday, urging city leaders to conduct an investigation and audit.

City council members did not address activists’ demands, but said discussing the concerns Wednesday would help them vet future contracts.

Adam Fairbanks, president of Helix Health and Housing Services, refuted the allegations. Fairbanks spoke to Sahan Journal Tuesday and Wednesday, but did not attend Wednesday’s meeting. No Helix representatives attended the city meeting.

The issues were discussed at Wednesday’s public health and safety committee meeting, which is composed of Council Members Jason Chavez, Robin Wonsley, Elliott Payne, Michael Rainville, Jeremiah Ellison and Linea Palmisano. The conversation was part of a staff presentation on a report about $18 million the city started receiving in 2022 from a settlement with companies that manufacture opioids.

About a dozen activists at the meeting held up signs reading, “DOES THIS LOOK LIKE DIGNIFIED HOUSING,” that included a picture of a broken front door covered in graffiti. Some expressed frustration about the lack of transparency in the city’s vetting of Helix and the city’s oversight of its work.

The city used $1 million from the opioid settlement to contract with Helix last December so it could rapidly find housing for people living in homeless encampments. Helix, a for-profit company which operates independently from the city, also offers mental health and addiction services that are culturally-specific to Native Americans.

The city’s contract with Helix began in December 2023 and ends November 2024. There are no current plans to renew the contract, said Scott Wasserman, a city spokesperson with the public health department.

The money was a “one-time investment” for start-up costs, Fairbanks said.

Minneapolis Council Member Elliott Payne said he supported Helix early on because their services offered “everything we would want to see.” But on Wednesday, he questioned the city’s oversight of the city funds and its selection of Helix without holding a competitive bidding process for the contract.

Payne said Helix’s services represented “everything that we would want to see that’s on paper, but then there’s what’s happening on the ground.”

Heidi Ritchie, deputy health commissioner, said she had “no concerns” about Helix’s work or use of city funds based on her interactions with Helix staff. She noted that she recently visited a home where Helix provides services and placed Native women seeking recovery.

“I didn’t feel any hesitation,” Ritchie said Wednesday.

Wonsley asked Ritchie and the city’s Health Commissioner, Damōn Chaplin, whether they have spoken with Helix clients about their experiences. Ritchie said they are working to arrange meetings, but haven’t yet met with clients.

No other council members spoke on the matter; Ellison was absent.

Fairbanks said that because of the anonymous letter, he requested a voluntary audit from the city and is waiting for the results. Helix sent receipts and documents to the city as part of the audit, he added. He said he’s reached out to Chavez multiple times to discuss the letter, but hasn’t heard from the council member.

Asked if the city is conducting an investigation or audit of Helix, a city spokesperson responded in an email that, “City staff is actively reviewing relevant documentation provided by Helix.” The city did not provide further detail.

Helix service providers made multiple visits to Camp Nenookaasi, a prominent Indigenous encampment in south Minneapolis, in attempts to steer occupants to housing before the city first evicted it in January, said Fairbanks. The encampment has been evicted multiple times since then, relocating each time to nearby lots.

Letter lays out allegations

Concerns in the anonymous letter sent by 10 service providers and encampment organizers allege that Helix mishandled finances, placed unhoused individuals in Airbnbs and provided inadequate support. The service providers and organizers did not include their names in the letter, but identified themselves in the letter as a community coalition.

A few service providers who were part of the letter told Sahan Journal that they feared that identifying them by name would jeopardize their organizations’ relationships with the city and subsequent funding.

They wrote that they were sharing stories from unhoused individuals who left Helix’s services because they felt unsafe, were unlawfully evicted or had short-term rentals.

The letter said former Helix clients were bullied out of their units and evicted without notice. It also said that Helix’s reporting on the number of individuals it found housing for and its staffing levels is inconsistent with the costs for housing and salaries.

When the discussion ended Wednesday, a few activists followed Ritchie out of the City Council chambers, yelling at her and accusing her of lying. Ritchie handed one of the activists her phone number, shared a few words with them, and walked away from the group.

Fairbanks denied the allegations in the letter, saying that Helix is not a landlord and does not own any rental properties, so it does not have authority to file evictions or force tenants out of rental units. Helix case workers assist clients who are navigating issues with their landlords, and help relocate them if needed, he added.

He also said that case workers help clients apply for federal and county assistance to cover costs such as rent and food. Helix’s budget is not solely dependent on the city’s allocation, he said, adding that services such as chemical dependency treatment are billed to Medicaid for reimbursement.

Fairbanks said 98 individuals, including four children, from an encampment were housed and received support from Helix this year. He said that Helix has lost contact with 16 clients.

Initially, Helix planned to house 32 individuals, Fairbanks said. But as Helix was making calls to landlords, they realized the number of units available allowed them to house more people. To accommodate the additional clients, Fairbanks said, they increased staffers’ workload.

Christin Crabtree, an encampment organizer, told Sahan Journal Wednesday that clients Helix helped move into the building pictured on their signs dealt with safety issues at the building. She also said that many former Helix clients returned to encampments because they experienced violent incidents at places provided through Helix.

Wednesday’s meeting was between city staff and committee members, and did not include a public comment period.

Fairbanks said the problems at rental units where Helix clients are placed were related to the struggles many individuals face transitioning between living at an encampment to living alone in their own unit. Oftentimes, friends and harmful behaviors follow Helix clients, he said.

At a particular building pictured on some activists’ signs Wednesday, an outside community member broke into the building and caused problems for tenants, said Helix Executive Officer Carrie Johnson. Three Helix clients lived at the building and were relocated before the building was condemned, she added.

“It’s not abnormal,” Johnson said of the disruption.

Fairbanks said Helix spent the city’s $1 million allotment by May, mostly to pay for encampment response services for unhoused individuals.

Fairbanks also said that Helix does not work with Airbnb or similar services that provide short-term, vacation-oriented rentals. Fairbanks said he has felt frustrated that the letter was written anonymously, because he is not able to reach out to the authors and discuss the allegations. He also reached out to council members Wednesday evening, inviting them to talk about concerns and Helix’s work.

CORRECTION: The story has been updated to indicate that Helix spent most of the $1 million allotment for encampment response services.

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