Hopkins in Minnesota, US is highly dominated by Kenyans who enjoy free accommodation in an area referred to as Section 8.
Very low-income families can receive assistance from the Section 8 choice voucher program to pay for decent, hygienic, and safe housing.
The program is not restricted to dwellings found in subsidized housing projects and can include single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments.
Local Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) manage the choice vouchers, with each family responsible for locating a suitable rental home.
The families also choose a suitable landlord to rent them under the program.
The Local Public Housing Agencies pay a housing subsidy to the landlord on behalf of the participating family. The household then pays the difference between what the landlord charges for rent and the subsidy.
A joint referred to as Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH), which is between the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Veterans Affairs (VA), provides approximately 10,000 vouchers per year to Section 8 residents.
This initiative was designed to connect VA-funded services, including health care, counselling, and case management, with HUD-funded vouchers for Section 8 housing.
Hopkins is described as a place for blacks as it is mainly dominated by people from the East African region, with Kenyans occupying the largest population.
The most famous restaurant in the area, Sambusa Halal, is owned by a Somali man. It serves all types of African dishes ugali sukuma, pilau, samosa and ginger tea.
Kenyans are also well known for their love of mitumba clothes, which is why a second clothes shop was established in the area.
Being surrounded by high-end estates, dustbins in Hopkins are filled with second-hand electronics, which some residents refurbish.
