“The Need was F*cking Endless”: A Study of the Minneapolis Sanctuary Movement

Bethany Jo Murray & MarySue V. Heilemann

In May 2020, Minneapolis became the epicenter of a global movement challenging entrenched anti-Blackness and police violence after the murder of George Floyd, leading to demands to defund police departments and redistribute police officers’ mental health-related responsibilities to social workers. These events foregrounded dialogue about anti-carceral social work, a nascent area of social work. While empirical studies related to anti-carceral social work are lacking, this study addresses the gap by focusing on an episode in the Minneapolis Sanctuary Movement, a community-led effort to shelter hundreds of unhoused residents displaced by the National Guard during mass protests in 2020. Using constructivist grounded theory, intensive interviews with 17 organizers and volunteers were conducted centered on crisis relief efforts to create a shelter in a hotel in Minneapolis and challenges that surfaced. Results led to development of a grounded theory: Supporting Unhoused Residents in Minneapolis 2020: A Complex Path of Disillusionment.

Journal of Community Practice, Volume 32, 2024- Issue 4