1982 Simpson UMC opens doors of the church basement to increasing number of homeless people in the community.
1984 Rise in the number of people seeking shelter prompts the formation of the Transitional Housing program.
1984 Simpson hosts the first Homeless Memorial March and Service.
1990 Funding from HUD focuses the transitional housing efforts on homeless families.
1993 Simpson incorporates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
1994 Kids-First program begins working with the families in our Transitional Housing Program.
1999 The first Education Support Advocate is hired to assist children in succeeding in school, helping to break the cycle of homelessness.
1999 Simpson opens a separate shelter for women.
1999 Simpson volunteers provide meals at the shelters 365 days out of the year, staff the men’s shelter overnight, tutor kids in the Family Housing program.
1999 Shelter opens during the day to meet the needs of third shift workers. Demand decreases within a year and the day shelter is closed.
2000 Transitional Housing grows from helping 26 to 40 families.
2001 The Simpson savings program provides shelter guests the opportunity to save a portion of their income to help get into housing.
2001 Soar program for kids intensifies work with families.
2002 The Rental Assistance program is added to assist families from our Transitional Housing program.
2005 Single Adult Rental Assistance (SARA) program begins working with long-term homeless men and women. Thirty adults are housed.
2005 SSS Fund helps establish a savings program with a match for families.
2005 Administrative offices are moved to Bell House on Pillsbury Avenue in Minneapolis, purchased by Gary and Karen Kirt and Bell Mortgage for Simpson.
2006 Through the Family Roots Alliance, with Lutheran Social Services, we are serving an additional 42 long-term homeless families.
2006 Simpson is contracted to provide support services at the ZOOM House apartments in south Minneapolis.
2006 The Simpson Celebrates Community awards are established to recognize outstanding Simpson program participants, volunteers and community partners.
2006 The COHR team is formed. 61 long-term homeless men and women are placed into housing.
2007 The new Women’s Housing Partnership begins placing single adult women from our shelter into housing.
2007 Simpson acquires Passage Community Housing, a 17-unit apartment building providing transitional housing to families.
2007 We begin providing services at Elliot Park apartments to eight long-term homeless families.
2007 The Housing First program, which serves families with multiple barriers to housing, brings the number of families served to 160.
2007 The COHR partnership creates an additional team to work with long-term homeless adults using Group Residential Housing (GRH) funds. 52 additional single adults are placed into housing.
2008 Spectrum Community Mental Health, in partnership with Simpson Housing Services, is awarded a four year annual grant of $371,294 from the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The award provides supportive housing services for 50 additional long-term homeless women with mental illness in Hennepin County.
2009 Simpson celebrates a banner year of volunteerism. Volunteers provided 32,238 hours of volunteer time to Simpson. This is the equivalent of 16 full-time employees.
2009 Simpson Housing begins serving families at Third Avenue Townhomes in Minneapolis, a permanent supportive housing project for families with a disabled family member.
2009 Simpson Housing Services is selected to receive the Minnesota Nonprofit Award for Excellence in a Large Organization.
2009 Simpson Housing Services hosts the 25th annual Homeless Memorial March and Service.
2009 We serve a record number of people including: 1,972 men and 257 women in our shelters; 95 clients in Rapid Exit; 252 men and women in our single adult housing programs and collaborations; and 204 families with 516 children in our Family Housing programs and collaborations.