Read more about Minneapolis emergency rental assistance from MinnPost here.

At the height of Operation Metro Surge, the phone rang at CLUES, a Latino-led nonprofit headquartered in the Twin Cities. On the line was a father of a six-month-old child.

The child’s mother had been detained by federal agents, he said, and to make matters more complicated, she’d been breastfeeding. What was he supposed to do?

Calls like these were common for the last several months, said Liliana Letran-Garcia, president and CEO of CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio).

“I believe that all of us were trying to figure out what the next day will look like, because we were in such a crisis mode,” Letran-Garcia said.

CLUES was able to supply the family with formula, diapers and food — along with assistance to navigate legal resources to try to reunite the mother with her child.

The need to solve challenges like these hasn’t stopped, she said, but in many cases the struggles are now longer term issues like trying to help people come up with a repayment plan for a mortgage they’ve been unable to cover.

Letran-Garcia said she’s hopeful about the future and CLUES’ ability to help those who’ve been affected by Operation Metro Surge.

Related: Where is Minneapolis emergency rental assistance coming from?

Part of that help will come through rental assistance funding approved by the Minneapolis City Council earlier this year, which is being distributed through a Hennepin County program with the assistance of groups including CLUES.

It’s not a new role for the nonprofit, which has a housing department that provided services to 1,100 Minnesota families in 2025 and already has relationships with landlords it can leverage to figure out how to keep people housed.

Letran-Garcia estimated that the $300,000 they’ll soon have access to will help between 85 and 100 families. Once they determine a family qualifies, a check should be in their landlord’s hand in less than a week. CLUES expects to exhaust the funding in 2-3 months.

Knowing that the funding is coming, CLUES has been using its own rental assistance funding largely outside of Minneapolis. Letran-Garcia said that as of March 30 it had about 160 outstanding applications.

And it’s not just about paying the rent. Ideally someone struggling with unaffordable housing could be helped to find a more affordable apartment. Most families will get between 6-18 months of support and guidance from CLUES to help get them back on track.

The agency and empowerment that the organization provides is crucial — a counter to the shame that many people express in having to ask for help with their rent, or assistance feeding their family, Letran-Garcia said.

“This is not easy for our community to do,” she said, “because what they only are asking is the ability to work.”

It’s money and assistance that will change people’s lives, Letran-Garcia said, and help those who need it most. She’s seen it.

“The resilience of the spirit of the families that we are assisting is something that I just cannot even express with words,” she said.

And what’s even more inspiring to her is that those families then make efforts to give back themselves.

“Families that don’t have a lot that were able to, you know, get a check last month, but they’re working now,” Letran-Garcia said, “they’re coming back and saying, ‘How can I help? I don’t have a lot, but here’s $25.’”

Her voice breaks and tears well up in her eyes as she searches for the words.

“Even if they don’t have the means, they also want to be part of the solution.”

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