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Request for HRA Action <br />Date: 02-17-15 <br />Item No: 9.a. <br />Director Approval: Agenda Section: <br /> Action <br />Description: Provide financial assistance to Emergency, Community, Health and <br />Outreach (ECHO) for development of video on rental, rights and responsibilities of <br />tenants. <br />1 Requested Action: <br />2 <br />3 The RHRA financial contribute $10,000 of assistance to ECHO for the Development of video on <br />4 rental, rights and responsibilities of tenants. <br />5 <br />6 Background <br />7 <br />8 City staff from various departments and HRA staff have been coordinating meetings with the <br />9 Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM), Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services <br />10 (SMRLS), the International Institute, and Adult Basic Education staff from Roseville Area <br />11 Schools to coordinate how we can work together to better serve the needs of the Karen <br />12 population in Roseville especially for their rental rights and responsibilities. The team has been <br />13 meeting on a monthly basis and the result of the cooperation has allowed for SMRLS to serve <br />14 and represent almost 40 Karen families, assuring they aren’t illegally charged for repairs, or <br />15 subject to illegal lease amendments. The International Institute has provided a significant amount <br />16 of information regarding the needs of the most recent Karen immigrants in Roseville, and what <br />17 sorts of assistance they receive in the first 90 days of arrival in this country when they are under <br />18 the guidance of the International Institute. <br />44A4 <br />20 Some of the early needs/opportunities that have been identified include the legal representation; <br />21 training for tenants on rights; “good neighbor” practices; better coordination among agencies and <br />22 non-profits; and opportunities to better link recent immigrants and the neighborhood. <br />23 The New American Forum that the police hosted in December focused on Rental Rights, Life <br />24 Safety Code Compliance and learning about education services that International Institute offers. <br />25 Based upon the meetings and outreach to the Karen Community it has been identified there needs <br />26 to be other forms of communication versus just written translated material. City staff and HRA <br />27 staff have reached out to ECHO Minnesota (a multi-language health, safety, civic engagement <br />28 and emergency readiness communication organization that serves immigrants and refugees in <br />29 Minnesota) can do to produce a rental rights and responsibilities video in Karen, Hmong, Somali, <br />30 Spanish and English. <br />44A4 <br />32 The intent would be to have the following produced for use: <br /> ECHO Financial Participation February 17, 2015 <br /> <br />