Ubah Ali joined WCCO-TV in September 2023. She makes history in Minnesota as the first Somali-American TV reporter in the Twin Cities.

In the coldest month of 2018, a massive encampment with children in tents shocked the system.

Hundreds of people including young children called the Franklin-Hiawatha homeless encampment home. It was called the Wall of Forgotten Natives.

Steve Horsfield with Simpson Housing Services operated the center and says over 100 people eventually found housing in a seven-month span in 2018.

"We were able to see positive outcomes in terms of housing placements," Horsfield said.

The estimated cost: nearly $3 million with the city helping fund majority of the funds.

Many partners say the center yielded positive outcomes, but it was costly and came with challenges.

In a statement a Minneapolis spokesperson said, "The 2018 navigation center presented numerous challenges, was costly, and yielded mixed results for the individuals served. Since then, both the City and service providers have agreed there is a better way. Utilizing lessons learned, we've worked together to implement long-term, culturally specific solutions to better address the issue of unsheltered homelessness in Minneapolis."

Horsfield says it's not a model to repeat, but one they learned valuable lessons from.

"Service rich environment is really the best tool we've got to facilitate that journey for someone experiencing homelessness," he said.

Hennepin County Senior Department Administer in Housing Stability Danielle Werder says the navigation center at the time was in response to a crisis. A time when there wasn't enough outreach teams or dedicated housing focused case management.

She says since then, the county took those lessons they learned and applied them to different services provided within the county.

"At this point in time, systems built out more robust diverse shelters people willing to come into," Werder says.

She believes the navigation center was a model that worked then, but now says the focus is on long term housing solutions.

Red Lake Nation Tribal Leader Sam Strong was a leader during this time. He says the system as a whole has come a long way but the recent violence at encampments could mean a temporary navigation center could be the safest option to save lives.

"We have discussed this with the city and we would be very interested in continuing conversations, finding a place to provide navigation for these homeless people to find safe place to live," Strong said.

County officials say unsheltered homelessness has decreased by more than 30% since 2020.

Werder says they understand more needs to be done. That is why additional shelter beds will come online in November and street outreach will continue.

Could a homeless encampment response from 2018 work now?