Nonprofit Leader: Pastor Kyle Hanson, CEO and Executive Director, Agate Housing and Services

Article by Becky Fillinger 

Pastor Kyle HansonAfter a nationwide search, Agate Housing and Services has selected Pastor Kyle Hanson as their new CEO and Executive Director. We talked to Kyle about his priorities, challenges, and ways we can all help him in his new role.

Q:  Congratulations on your appointment as CEO/Executive Director of Agate Housing and Services. A first question – why was the newly merged organization named Agate? 

A:  After the merger of St. Stephen’s Human Services and House of Charity in 2021, the organization partnered with Neka Creative to create a new brand, the more important part of that being a new name. A group of staff and other individuals with lived experience with homelessness and housing insecurity worked together to choose the new name. All staff submitted name suggestions and the group started with a list of hundreds of names. They finally chose Agate because the agate stone is synonymous with Minnesota, just as our organization is. Agates are created from intense pressure just as the inspiring stories and successes of our clients are created through pressure and adversity. Each one is unique and valuable.

Q:  You have 22 years of experience working with the unhoused, which gives you tremendous credentials in this area. You start your position on July 18 – do you have a list of holdover, immediate priorities to address?   

A:  Entering a new organization takes some time to get to know employees, culture, history and the current lay of the land. My 30-day priority is to get to know the employees and clients by holding deep listening sessions. Beyond that I will need to begin advocacy work with partners, legislators, donors and foundations. We are currently focused on the re-opening of our Food Centre, which will happen this fall.

The mission of Agate is bold: to end homelessness and relieve hunger through action and advocacy. While we have made progress on these goals, the current economy puts many families at risk. Rising food costs and increasing rents are particularly difficult for families that are already struggling. The 2022 Hennepin point in time count showed that on any given night 2,191 people were staying in shelters and transitional housing programs and 487 people were living unsheltered in Hennepin County. These numbers have declined in recent years, but so much more needs to be done to assure that every person has a stable place to call home.

The Food Centre has been closed since the January fire, but will re-open later this year.

Q:  Do you have a dream list of organizations you would like to partner with – other organizations working with food insecurity or homelessness?   

A:  In the last year, Agate has had the opportunity to partner with some really incredible organizations. After the fire at our Food Centre in January, our community really came together to ensure our neighbors were fed. Most notably, Loaves and Fishes, Catholic Charities and Avivo. We are lucky to be neighbors with so many passionate organizations and can’t wait to work together more in the future.

Agate will need to continue to expand partnerships to meet the increasing needs of our community, I will be working with advocacy groups at the city, county and state levels to increase funding for permanent supportive low-income housing, human services and food programming. Public/Private partnerships are imperative if we are going to continue to serve our neighbors in need.

Street Outreach - this team provides on-the-spot services to ensure safety and survival for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

Q:  Agate is facing an impending loss of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan and Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. This funding has allowed many Minnesota organizations, including Agate, to change and improve emergency shelters across the state. It may be an obvious question, but do you see this as a major first priority to address? 

A:  Ensuring the survival of Agate shelters is absolutely a priority. We know the importance of 24-hour shelters, just in terms of the stability it provides for individuals who are working so hard to find jobs or permanent housing. As we move closer to the loss of that funding, we are working to maintain and improve our response to Minnesota’s homelessness crisis. We continue to work closely with Hennepin County and our fellow providers to ensure the continuation of the services expanded during COVID. 

Q:  Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell is calling for more investment in housing, as a state report shows about a quarter of those released from prison enter into homelessness. The Legislature passed a law in 2021 which requires the DOC to track the information. Do you have ideas on how to work with the newly released who are facing homelessness?

A:  We already know that many individuals get declined for things like housing or employment because of their criminal history. We do our best with the programs we have, from outreach, to shelter to affordable housing, but across the state, there are gaps in those programs and there just isn’t enough. We’ll be watching what the DOC does with their new statistics and looking at the mitigation plan they are submitting to the Legislature later this year and moving forward from there. Ultimately, it takes the community to step up with available housing, resources, jobs and support for those coming out of incarceration.

Q:  How can we help you in your new role at Agate? Do you need volunteers? How may we stay current with your news?

A:  Because of the temporary closure of the Food Centre after the January fire, our volunteering opportunities are greatly reduced. However, we would love community support to get the Food Centre up and running again. We are gearing up for a fundraiser in July to rebuild that facility and restock the food shelf and would welcome any donations or help with spreading the news!

As always, financial support of our organization is key to our success. We depend on the generosity of our community to help those most vulnerable among us. We will have new volunteer opportunities in the fall as our newly renovated Food Centre reopens. Readers can get to know us better by following us on social media, and following our work.

As soon as volunteering opportunities are back, they’ll be listed on our volunteer website: agatemn.volunteerhub.com

We’d love to stay connected with you and continue to work together to help our neighbors and community. You can keep an eye on our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), or join our mailing list to get our monthly email newsletter.