While crowds of football fans, Super Bowl volunteers and a bolstered police force are packing Minneapolis streets this week, one group has seemingly disappeared: the homeless.
And that's no accident.
With Sunday's kickoff fast approaching, more outreach workers are walking Nicollet Mall, where hundreds of visitors are checking out Super Bowl Live activities and free concerts.
Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis has opened up space to give the homeless a place to escape the crowds and bitter temperatures during the day. And Saturday and Sunday, single adult homeless shelters will extend opening times to include daylight hours, instead of just at night.
Two years ago, before the 2016 Super Bowl in San Francisco, extra street teams were sent to help the homeless find shelter away from a free fan village that was set up. At the time, one homeless advocate said the city wanted to create an "illusion" that there was no poverty amid the global spotlight.
But that's not the case in Minneapolis, said Gail Dorfman, adding that boosting efforts to help the homeless isn't meant to disguise an issue but rather help vulnerable people escape the crowds and heavy law enforcement presence, which can sometimes be traumatizing.
"We're not hiding our homeless population," said Dorfman, executive director of St. Stephen's Human Services. "Our motivation was just to make sure they have access to resources and a place to go."
St. Stephen's has added more outreach workers and extended its hours this week, concentrating efforts downtown, especially at Super Bowl Live on Nicollet Mall.