Friday, May 22, 2009
by Flo Razowsky
Minneapolis, MN

Ona Kingbird is a Twin Cities Ojibwa elder who has taught for 36 years in Minnesota public schools and prisons. As a Red Lake tribal member and bearer of the pipe given by her father, a medicine man, she has preserved the culture of her students at Heart of the Earth school in South Minneapolis. She has provided a home for her family, including her daughter and grandkids. But today Ms. Kingbird faces homelessness due to foreclosure on her house.

AND SHE IS FIGHTING!



During a press conference today held outside her home on the 3900 block of Cedar Avenue in South Minneapolis, Ona said, "I paid a lot for this house and I have asked Wells Fargo to work with me in the situation, which they have refused to do. I'm not moving."

Ms. Kingbird, like so many others, spent years paying off a mortgage through Wells Fargo. In the wake of family crisis and communications confusion, Wells Fargo refused to work with Ms. Kingbird toward resolution and now is moving forward on foreclosure. Her house was sold in March via a Sheriff's sale back to Wells Fargo-the original mortgage holder. She has four months to raise 50 thousand dollars, get a court injunction demanding that Wells Fargo renegotiate her mortgage to an affordable rate, or else she faces eviction.

Twin Cities' neighborhoods are becoming more and more desolate as home after home goes into foreclosure and occupants are evicted. During this time of economic crisis, financial institutions like Wells Fargo have received financial stimulus packages to encourage them to work with homeowners to renegotiate affordable solutions to the growing housing crisis. So far, homeowners like Ona Kingbird have yet to see the results of this stimulus money, begging the question, where exactly is this money going?

Ona Kingbird has been getting the run-around via the routes that Wells Fargo offers their customers for assistance, resulting in failure. Instead she is turning to organizations like the MN Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (MN PPEHRC) for help. MN PPEHRC is publicly supporting and fighting alongside folks like her to demand a moratorium on foreclosures in order for mortgage companies to renegotiate affordable mortgages with affected homeowners.

By refusing to leave her home, Ona Kingbird now joins a list of six other families who are also resisting foreclosure and the destruction of their neighborhoods. PPEHRC Organizer Cheri Honkala says, "These neighbors should serve as inspiration to communities across Minnesota and the country who wish to stay in their houses rather than be destroyed by banks like Wells Fargo."





WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO TO SUPPORT ONA AND SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
Raise money from local groups, churches, and neighborhoods to help cover legal fees.

Join the MN PPEHRC's Underground Railroad Project to help get signatures on petitions to intervene in her foreclosure.

Write and call U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison, representatives of the state legislature, the mayor of Minneapolis, and other elected officials.

Demand that Wells Fargo negotiate with MN PPEHRC families losing their homes because Wells Fargo won't work with them.
For more information or to get involved, see http://mnppehrc.wordpress.com/