Community Housing Equity Fund · Winona, Minnesota
Winona is losing its working families. CHEF is bringing them home — with housing, childcare, jobs, and benefits, all at once, all from the start.
The Problem
Mental health. Job training. Housing assistance. Childcare. Every service exists — but nobody holds the thread between all of them. The referral is where people fall through. That gap costs people their jobs, their housing, and their families.
A family gets housed but loses it in 60 days because nobody helped with childcare. One gap, everything falls.
A person completes job training but loses the job when benefits are cut and nobody navigates the income cliff.
Licensed childcare closes at 6pm. Third-shift starts at 10pm. That four-hour gap costs parents their jobs every night.
Instability leads to crisis leads to emergency services leads to instability. CHEF is designed to break the loop.
How It Works
CHEF is not a shelter or a service provider. We are the coordination layer — one case manager who holds every thread, from the day you walk in to the day you own your own place.
One intake form. One case manager assigned. Every barrier identified. You tell your story once — to one person — and CHEF takes it from there.
You have a place to sleep. Benefits applied. Food access. Childcare connected. ID obtained if needed. Everything starts at once — not one thing at a time.
SNAP and Medicaid active. Mental health linked. Transportation arranged. Weekly check-ins with your case manager. You are no longer in crisis — you are building.
CareerForce partnership. Employer introductions. Soft skills. Connections to Fastenal, Winona Health, Watlow. Your next chapter starts here.
Placed with a Winona employer. Savings match program activated — CHEF matches every dollar you save up to $500. Your case manager stays with you at 30, 60, and 90 days.
Permanent lease or homeownership. Deposit fund built. CHEF deposit guarantee letter. Alumni network. You are done with CHEF — because you don't need us anymore. That is the goal.
"Winona is losing its working families. CHEF is bringing them home."Community Housing Equity Fund · Winona, Minnesota · Est. 2026
Childcare Hub
Licensed flexible childcare designed for the hours when working parents actually need it — including the night shift. Three tracks. Every family chooses what works for them.
A licensed Family Child Care provider lives in a CHEF-leased house in Winona. Parents drop their child off before their shift. Licensed, safe, CCAP-funded. The default option for any family.
For parents who want their child to sleep in their own bed — a trained, background-checked CHEF worker comes to your home overnight. Your child never moves. You go to work. Simple.
Already have a provider you trust? CHEF navigates the CCAP application and gets childcare funding active within 7 days of intake. No forms alone. No waiting alone.
Who We Serve
CHEF does not turn people away because their situation is complicated. That is the whole point.
Housing and childcare solved at the same time, day one.
Housing placement within 48 hours of release. No readiness requirement.
Discharge planning partnership with Winona Health. You leave the hospital with a plan.
Night shift childcare so you can keep the job that keeps your housing.
Veteran-specific intake track with Winona Vet Center connection.
Substance use history, criminal record, evictions, bad credit — none of it disqualifies you.
About CHEF
CHEF was not designed in a boardroom. It was built by someone who has lived on the other side of the gap — who knows exactly what it feels like when systems fail people and nobody holds the thread.
Minnesota Nonprofit Corporation — incorporated February 2026
EIN: 41-4540291 — registered with the IRS
501(c)(3) application in process
Winona Foundation grant submitted — February 2026
Partners in development: Hiawatha Valley Mental Health, CareerForce Winona, Winona Health, Winona County Human Services
WSU and Saint Mary's practicum partnership in development
CHEF is the organization I wish had existed. Every part of this model was designed to address a gap I experienced or witnessed directly. The coordination layer. The night shift childcare. The savings match. The one door that opens everything else.
This is not a theoretical model. It is built from lived experience — and it is already moving.
— Adrean Burros, Founder & Executive Director
Contact CHEF
Whether you need help, want to refer someone, or want to support what CHEF is building in Winona — reach out. We respond within 24 hours.