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Kingfield Neighborhood Association Board Meeting, June 13, 7 PM, MLK Park
Dr. Martin Luther King Legacy Council, June 14, 6:30 PM, MLK Park
Crime Prevention and Safety Committee: May 15, 6:30 PM, Graffiti Clean-up Event! Meeting location 40th & 3w at the pedestrian bridge!
Youth & Schools Committee, TBD, MLK Park
Green Committee, no meeting scheduled.
Redevelopment Committee, May 23, 7 PM, MLK Park
Event Committee, TBD, MLK Park
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Jun
7
The Phoenix Rising
Filed Under affordable housing, art, youth | Leave a Comment
Jun
2
Get to Know Nicollet Square
Filed Under affordable housing, art, youth | Leave a Comment
Dear Neighbors-
I want you to have the powerful poem that Markita wrote to share her experience as a homeless youth. Her poem demonstrates her resiliency in the face of incredible challenges, which is what we see in so many tenants at Nicollet Square, our new supportive housing and employment program for young adults transitioning from homelessness or foster care.
If you have been able to tour Nicollet Square or join us for our grand opening we hope you were touched by the stories, photos and art of the youth who call it home. They are our constant inspiration to continue our work to create more affordable, supportive housing for the 2,500 youth who don’t have a place to go home to tonight.
If you’re asking yourself what you should do to help, we want you to know that one of the most important things you can do is to encourage others to get involved. Please ask your friends and colleagues to visit Nicollet Square to gain a deeper understanding about youth homelessness and to see what ending it is all about. If you haven’t had a chance to see it yourself, now’s the time. Our next tour dates are: June 21st from 4-5 p.m. and July 1st from 8:30-9:30am. To RSVP please email Takara at THenegar@plymouthfoundation.org or call 612-871-0890. Read more
May
3
Nicollet Square Grand Opening-Thursday!
Filed Under 3700 nicollet, affordable housing, redevelopment | Leave a Comment
With Your Support, We’re Ending Homelessness Together!Nicollet Square is an innovative supportive housing and employment program for young people transitioning from foster care or long-term homelessness.
THIS Thursday, May 5, 2011
Mar
1
Advocate to End Homelessness
Filed Under affordable housing, youth | Leave a Comment
Tuesday morning, March 15th
Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation is participating in Homeless Day on the Hill on Tuesday, March 15. Join us and the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless as we bring a message to state lawmakers that together, we can end homelessness– even during difficult economic times. As a community, we will:
Advocate to preserve programs that prevent homelessness and rapidly re-house Minnesotans who become homeless.
Share the importance of ending youth homelessness through projects like Nicollet Square, PCNF’s newest housing development for former foster care and long term homeless youth.
Stand up to proposals which would cut desperately needed funding for family shelter programs like Families Moving Forward.
Depending on interest in the neighborhood, we will coordinate transportation to the event from Nicollet Square (3700 Nicollet Ave.)
Training will take place from 9:00-10:00 at Christ Lutheran Church (105 University Avenue W.). Lobby visits will take place from 10:00-2:00.
To register or if you have questions contact Allison Johnson (ajohnson@plymouthfoundation.org) by March 4 with the following information:
-Your name
-Your address
-Your legislative district (if you know it)
-Your phone number
-Your congregational affiliation (if any)
You can get more information on Nicollet Square including current volunteer opportunities here.
Jan
26
A haven for homeless youth
Filed Under affordable housing, redevelopment, youth | Leave a Comment
photo by robb long
YouthLink Project Supervisor Katie Miller (right) has an office inside Nicollet Square. She helps youth make the transition from homelessness to life in their own apartment. By Aaron Rupar, Southwest Journal Kentura’s four-year homelessness odyssey began when her mother learned that she is a lesbian. “I was living with my mom but we kinda clashed due to my sexuality. When I was 16 she kicked me out and reported me as a runaway. As I got older, sometimes I would just leave,” Kentura, 20, said, adding that she has spent the past two years couch-crashing with friends. But thanks to the new Nicollet Square housing development, she and 41 other Twin Cities youths without stable housing now have the opportunity to live in their own apartment and receive employment training and emotional support intended to help them eventually become self-sufficient citizens. The $9.5 million development, located in Kingfield at 3700 Nicollet Ave., features 42 studio apartments, offices for four full-time staff that work with tenants, a front desk manned day and night by a security guard controlling entry into the building, an exercise room, computer lab, and shared community space complete with a large flat-screen TV. |
Jan
12
Knitters Unite! Hats for the Homeless Knit 800 Hats This Winter
Filed Under board, community engagement, redevelopment, youth | Leave a Comment
A volunteer with a local organization talks about how it started and what it’s achieved in the last two years
By Barb Melom, Opinion article in the Southwest Minneapolis Patch
The project began in the fall of 2009 when one friend asked another, “Do you think we could get the knitters at church to make 50 hats to bring to the homeless shelter on Christmas Eve?” The other friend didn’t pause before she replied “Yes!”
The original goal was just 50 hats to bring along on Christmas Eve when a group of people from First Universalist Churchwould be serving the meal at Simpson Housing Shelter in Minneapolis. What happened over the course of that fall blew us away. Over 300 hand knit hats came in from all over the Twin Cities, all over our state and all over the country. In 2010, that number skyrocketed to over 800 hats hand-made and hand-delivered to over 800 men, women and children this holiday season!
In 2010, Hats for the Homeless partnered with Steven BE’s Yarn Garage to provide a cozy place for knitting parties, as well as pump up the fun of co-creating together! Read the rest.
Aug
4
Kingfield’s 2010 Summer Public Art Project is a partnership with the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC), newly located at the intersection of 38th and Chicago. The art is being created through the CAFAC SPEAK project by students at the VOA Phoenix High School. These youth are creating metal artwork for Nicollet Square, 3700 Nicollet. This project is also supported by Metropolitan Regional Arts Commission, the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation, and Hennepin County. Join us for a community celebration of this artwork and collaboration!
Artwork Unveiling and Community Celebration
Saturday August 7, 4-6 PM
3749 Chicago Avenue S, Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center
About the Artwork:
The youth at the Phoenix School spent two weeks working with spoken word artists, exploring the emotions and actions behind the concept “Home is not a place, Home is….” The poetry was passed onto another group of students who interpreted the poetry into images. Both the images and words are built into the finished artwork including the phrase above the front door inviting residents inside because “home is a place to recharge yourself.”
The lifecycle imagery of the phoenix comes from both the poetry, “home is where the bad feelings that lay beneath come to the light,” as well as from the name of the school. The phoenix is a mythical bird whose story weaves through many cultures. Besides being known as a phoenix, which comes from the Arabic culture, in China it is known as Feng-Huang, in Japan the Ho-oo, in Egypt the Benu, and by Native Americans as the Yel. The bird embodies both the male and female, the ying and the yang, and lives for up to 1000 years. It is a symbol of wisdom and its tears can heal all wounds and even restore life. When it is time for the phoenix to die it explodes into flames. An egg arises out of the ashes and the phoenix is reborn, carrying all its wisdom forward into its new life.
Like the phoenix, students at the Phoenix School are gathering wisdom and recreating their futures by pursuing their education. Like the residents living in Nicollet Square, many have experienced homelessness and are proud to help build a welcoming home for its residents to recharge themselves, and restore and renew their lives, much like the phoenix.