Full Prepared Remarks: Roundtable with HUD Sectary Turner & ND Senator Hoeven, August 7th, 2025
Thank you, Senator Hoeven and Secretary Turner, for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Chandler Esslinger, and I serve as the Executive Director of the FM Coalition to End Homelessness. We work across North Dakota and western Minnesota to align efforts between housing providers, healthcare systems, nonprofits, law enforcement, and local leaders, building a coordinated, cost-effective response to homelessness.
In this role, as homelessness has climbed in recent years, I often find myself holding the tension between several equally important realities: the passion of the advocates who have dedicated their lives to walking alongside our most vulnerable neighbors, the understandable frustration elected officials and business leaders have about seeing the same people deteriorate year after year without resolution, and, most importantly, the desperation of individuals themselves, who are doing their best to survive in systems that too often fail to meet them with the support they need to recover and move forward.
Right now in Fargo-Moorhead, we estimate there are about 100 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Based on data collected in partnership with the City of Fargo, our outreach teams, emergency services, and many others we know that about 20 of those individuals are the highest users of public and emergency services. We refer to this group as experiencing high-visibility homelessness. Their ongoing presence in public spaces, often in visible crisis, has increased concern, urgency, and demand for solutions across the political and community spectrum.
That demand -- and the urgency that comes with it -- is why the FM Coalition and the United Way of Cass-Clay launched United to End Homelessness, a focused, cross-sector initiative to address the needs of the most visible and highest-need individuals in our community. Through this work we’ve already raised private funding to expand our system’s capacity and will begin serving and housing these top 20 high-visibility individuals by the end of this month, using a proven housing stability model endorsed by our partner agencies.
I also want to recognize the life-saving role shelters play in our system. Partners here today, like the New Life Center and the YWCA, who are Steering Committee members of the United to End Homelessness Initiative. The New Life Center offers recovery supports, job-readiness services, and spiritual care to the single adult men they serve. And the YWCA, whose mission is rooted in ending homelessness and supporting women and children fleeing domestic violence. They’ve seen firsthand that without access to housing and supportive services, even the best shelter services cannot always prevent individuals and families from cycling in and out of crisis.
To truly honor their work, and keep making progress we need:
Supportive services that help people stay housed;
Flexible, targeted rental assistance that protects people during early recovery from homelessness;
Expanded prevention efforts that intervene before someone becomes homeless;
And expanded access to attainable housing for low-income workers, seniors, and families.
Its no secret the federal government is under immense pressure to respond to these same dynamics across the country. These issues are not unique to us, but I want to emphasize that this is a solvable and housable problem when paired with the right interventions and supports.
North Dakota is a place that solves problems. We know our community has what it takes to end homelessness, we just need the right tools to scale what works. With strong federal partnership, we can reduce the burden on emergency systems, restore dignity to our neighbors, and build a stronger, more stable future for everyone.
Thank you again for your time and your leadership.