December 2025 Newsletter

Your Monthly N4MN Update 🌲 December 2025 🌲 🖋 Sign the Yes to Homes Petition 🖋 Minnesota needs 100,000 new homes to meet the needs of all our neighbors. To reach this goal, statewide action is required. To meet this need, Neighbors for More Neighbors, as part of the Yes to Homes coalition, is working to pass sensible zoning reforms at the State Capitol in 2026. Support this effort by signing the Yes to Homes petition! This petition will help us show lawmakers that people across the state support making it easier to build homes that Minnesotans can afford. Sign the Petition 🍪 December Member Social 🍪 Join your neighbors for an ugly sweater party and high-stakes dessert competition! Bring a baked good of any variety to compete. Bite-sized treats are best, so people can sample everything. Try to bring at least 24 bites. Entries will be judged by fellow party-goers in the categories of flavor and presentation. The overall winner will receive a N4MN swag item of their choice! The competition will be on December 18th, starting at 6 PM. RSVP to receive the address! RSVP Now 🎬 Take Action 🎬 Do you want to see more neighbors in 2026? Support our work with a financial gift before the end of the year and get some awesome Neighbors for More Neighbors merch (if you want it) as a thank you! Donate to Neighbors for More Neighbors Share Your Housing Story As we ramp up for the 2026 legislative session, we need your help! We want to ensure that all conversations about bills that the Yes to Homes! Coalition proposes have real-life Minnesotans at the center. Sharing a personal story can be the difference in getting our bills passed. Share your story via this short form. Complete the 2026 Demographics Survey A core Neighbors for More Neighbors value is equity, and that means engaging an audience that reflects the communities where we work. Please take a moment to complete this optional survey to help us understand our audience and where we need to build more relationships. Take the Demographics Survey Join us for a three-part training series leading into the 2026 Legislative Session. Are you looking to get more involved in state policy or housing advocacy, or are you interested in learning new skills? Then RSVP for any or all of three upcoming trainings happening in January. All trainings will be virtual. We hope to see you at all three next month! RSVP for Trainings 🏡 Join the 2026 State Policy Task Force 🏡 We are looking for volunteers to join our State Policy Task Force, a group of committed volunteers who want to shape and advance our work at the Capitol. The task force will convene starting on January 5th, and volunteers are asked to commit through the end of the 2026 Legislative Session. In this time, we will be focused on: Building Connections Across the State Strengthening Strategic Partnerships Elevating Community Voices and Our Message Developing Training and Building Skills Whether you’re new to policy work or have been organizing for years, we’d love to connect with you! Volunteer with Us 💻 Check out the new MoreNeighbors.org 💻 Behind the scenes, we have been doing some renovations of our own, not on new homes, but on a new website! We are super excited to present our brand new website, check it out at MoreNeighbors.org and learn about about what we do, how we do it, and how you can get involved. Visit the Website 📖 Extra, Extra, Read All About It 📖 Community Land Trusts work, but they need to be scaled up with active participation from states, counties, and cities. Read this case for why land trusts are the best model for affordable housing and why they need to be more widely used. Read the article here.  Photo by Jp Lawrence New Ulm in southern Minnesota is making moves and approving homes! Read about how the City Council, when faced with a housing crisis, decides to say yes to experimental builds and yes to more neighbors! Read the Article Here. Photo by Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune At the local level, St. Louis Park's West End is bucking trends with one of the area's lowest vacancy rates. Read about how this walkable, vibrant area happened here. Then read Neighbors for More Neighbor's own Alana's response on why a desirable community is one where you can live close to the places you want to be. Read Alana's LTE here. 📆 November Event Recap 📆 Organizing Training Cohort More than 40 volunteers completed our three-part Organizing Training Cohort, with the final training happening last week. Special thanks to Jacob from Sustain Saint Paul and RB from Welcoming Neighbors Network for co-leading! November Leadership Retreat Neighbors for More Neighbors volunteer leaders met for a half-day retreat and strategic planning session to outline the major goals and projects the organization will focus on over the next six months. November Member Social - Drag Bingo We had a blast at Drag Bingo! Raising funds to support our mission and winning some sweet prizes! Special thanks to Roxy's Cabaret for hosting us! Don't miss out on Member Social fun! Join us at our December Member Social for a cookie competition and ugly sweater contest. RSVP now. Do you find these emails informative and helpful? Support our work & keep these emails coming by becoming a sustaining donor HERE. Every dollar helps to continue our work to ensure everyone has access to abundant and affordable housing.