Sky Without Limits Capital Campaign

Unny Nambudiripad

Background

Nine years ago, tenants in the Corcoran Neighborhood of Minneapolis came together to begin addressing the gross negligence and abuse of their landlord, Steven Frenz. For five long years, tenants fought Frenz in court, hosted public actions, and hundreds of community members came out in support of their cause. Tenants weren’t only fighting to hold their landlord accountable to maintain better living conditions, they had their eyes on forming a cooperative based on the principles of autonomy, justice, and dignity within a fair and democratic process.

Jazmin Mendoza is a tenant involved in the struggle. She wants a healthy and dignified place to live. However, when she moved in, she found mice and cockroaches and was told it was the residents’ problem. She was afraid she was going to be evicted or face high rents. While Jazmin doesn’t have kids, she saw other residents with kids joining in the struggle, which gave her more confidence to insist on better living conditions. And through the process, she lost her fear.

The fight with Steve Frenz culminated in 2020 when tenants were able to purchase their homes with community and government support. In May 2020, the Sky Without Limits (SWL) Cooperative, or Cielo Sin Limites, was established. The buildings are currently being stewarded by the Land Bank Twin Cities. However, tenants want to truly own their homes so they have autonomy over community decisions.

Since then, SWL has begun to demonstrate the potential for community-owned cooperatives to create better alternatives to the current housing system in our city. In SWL, we see the generous love a supportive community can provide to families who have been forced to experience indignities and instabilities for generations. We see community members caring for one another without interference from state systems that perpetuate violence against communities of color. We see tenant leaders rising to the difficult challenge of navigating the bureaucracy of housing management. And most of all, we see cooperative members creating a cohesive community by intentionally bridging identities that are so often used to divide us– breaking down barriers of language, race, and gender identity. Sky Without Limits represents the true potential of our community, in spite of all the systems of oppression working against low-income renters of color.

For Jazmin, life has been more peaceful after the struggle. She no longer worries about high rents, eviction, or building maintenance. She will work to create housing that works for everybody. Jazmin knows that buying the buildings will make her and the other residents stronger and more stable, and she’s committed to helping the cooperative grow as a community. She wants to tell her story about the struggle and cooperative formation with others–Jazmin wants SWL to be an example for other communities to follow.

Financing

The buildings are currently being stewarded by the Land Bank Twin Cities. However, tenants want to truly own their homes so they have autonomy over community decisions. 

We are raising money for the purchase of these five buildings, 69 units. We are seeking $15 million in grants, donations, foundation support, PRIs, CDFI loans and bank loans. We have already raised over $1,300,000 toward this effort!

Can you support SWL members toward true community autonomy?

Contributions can be made online or checks can be sent to: 

Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia

3715 Chicago Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55407

Make checks payable to Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia with “Sky Without Limits” on the memo line.

Thank you so much for your support of the Sky Without Limits Housing Cooperative! If you have any questions or would like more information about the project, please contact Roberto de la Riva at roberto@inquilinxsunidxs.org