MINNEAPOLIS — A new chapter begins for the dozens of people living in a temporary center for the homeless in Minneapolis.
The "navigation center" is closed after providing shelter during the winter after an encampment of tents popped up on Hiawatha Avenue.
Of the hundreds of people at the encampment, city leaders say 176 transitioned into the navigation center.
Alexa Thunderhawk is one of them and is also among the 84 who found permanent housing through the program.
"It is like a new beginning for me," Thunderhawk says.
After living on the streets for nine years, battling addictions to heroin and meth, Thunderhawk is about to move into her first apartment.
“I’ve been homeless since I was 18. I’m 29 now. This will be my first place of my own,” Thunderhawk says.
“I've never had anything like this before and it's. I'm thankful."
She expects to be in her new apartment by the end of the week and is in the process of getting a new job in housekeeping at a local hotel.
"I think I can do it this time, sober up," she says.
But the problem isn't over for many others who came to the shelter.
City and community leaders say the 52% success rate, of individuals who found permanent housing through the navigation center, is much higher than the typical 15% success rate at typical shelters.
However, when the center closed Monday, 25 people were still there, looking for a home.
"They're already getting tents ready and stuff. I mean, what else can they do?" Thunderhawk says.
Some she says didn't get the help they need, others weren't ready for it, but through new partnerships and lessons learned, she and city leaders hope they won't be forgotten.
"We need to know that people still care about us, like we're still human beings," Thunderhawk says.
Various groups are now working with the city to come up with a permanent solution moving forward.