HUD Cancels $425K Grant to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid

On March 12, 2025, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (Legal Aid) announced that its long-time grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had been cancelled. Legal Aid was informed in late February that their $425K grant—used to help tenants facing discrimination and sexual harassment by landlords—would no longer be available, leaving countless Minnesotans without the support needed to litigate their rights under the Fair Housing Act.

Although the federal grant is just one funding source, and only a part of Legal Aid’s overall budget, it funded the entire fair housing program. Over the past 30 consecutive years, Legal Aid has provided protection for clients facing discrimination due to their religion, race, disability, section 8 housing status, and more, with this grant. In 2019, with the Department of Justice, they won a landmark sexual harassment case resulting in $736,000 in damages to victims and a $14,000 civil penalty to the United States.

In a recent Minnesota Reformer article, Julia Zwak, managing attorney of the housing unit, said that Legal Aid will pay for its fair housing work for as long as possible using other funding sources and donations. “It’s a fundamental justice issue that we see as important,” Zwak said.

Read more in Federal housing agency cancels $425k grant to Minnesota group that sues discriminatory landlords and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid contends with $425K loss of HUD funds.