by Mike Knaak
editor@thenewsleaders.com
The St. Joseph City Council at its Jan. 21 meeting approved a letter from Mayor Rick Schultz supporting a St. Cloud school district grant application to help homeless students.
The letter supports the Homework Starts with Home program run by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.
In his letter, the mayor wrote that the St. Cloud school district identified 24 homeless students who attend Kennedy Community School in St. Joseph.
Schultz wrote in a memo to the City Council that he attended a program coordinated by the school district and the city of St. Cloud’s Community Development director to learn about the grant. If approved, the grant could fund expenses such as rent assistance and counseling.
In supporting the grant application, Schultz wrote “permanent housing fosters healthy families and communities addressing a basic human need and allows for students to focus on learning to obtain a quality education, be productive and self-sufficient.”
The letter of support does not call for any financial assistance from the city.