Displaced Drake Hotel tenants given Jan. 22 deadline to move out of temporary shelter

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The Drake Hotel is completely demolished in Minneapolis after a Christmas Day fire destroyed much of it.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis, Hennepin County and other stakeholders are transitioning into the next phase of disaster response following the devastating Drake Hotel fire.

Plans are now in place to close the Red Cross Emergency Shelter in the coming weeks as displaced tenants search for affordable housing options.

That shelter has been running around the clock inside First Covenant Church in downtown Minneapolis for Drake Hotel tenants, but it will shut down Jan. 22.

There are still several dozen people overnighting there, so the clock is ticking to find more stable housing for those who lost what little they had in the Christmas Day blaze.

“We are doing the best we can with the resources we have,” said Jodi Wentland, of Hennepin County administration.

In addition to the situation at First Covenant, there were about 29 families receiving county subsidies that have been staying at a Bloomington hotel. They will soon be on the move again, too.

The county announced they will need to transition to a new hotel, closer to the community support network and available services or move into shelters in the days ahead.

Some families have made the transition already.

All of this comes as the Drake Hotel demolition enters its final phase. Crews have now completely leveled the structure.

In the last 24 hours, Pillsbury United Communities announced it would distribute $250,000. That money is earmarked to fund short-term and long-term housing solutions for displaced tenants, including assistance in locating housing, filling out paperwork and then actually providing money for application fees and down payments.

“Our goal, if we did find housing, we would pay the entire amount on housing,” said Victoria Jones, a former Drake Hotel tenant about what she would do with the money. “Really, that’s our only downfall. We have transportation. The kids are in school. Now, we need somewhere to stay.”

Many of these residents are facing a lot of hurdles and they’re not just financial. All of them are trying to find stable housing in what is being described as a crisis situation.