2020 to May 2021 Report of Activities
Kingfield Neighborhood Association (KFNA)
Although 2020 started normally with an office relocation to 3537 Nicollet Avenue and a successful Kingfield Empty Bowls event raising funds for our community partner Nicollet Square. Then COVID-19 was ushered into Minnesota in March 2020 and many of our spring and summer event plans were scrapped. Instead of this traditional outreach, KFNA connected to our community and addressed issues in the following ways:
- Rebuilding the Kingfield Block Contact network. Supported this network throughout the year by engaging these neighbors in community building events like Light It Up Kingfield, the Holiday Cookie Swap, and 100 Days of Community, as well as leadership opportunities.
- Hand distributing letters to all neighbors multiple times to make sure they had the information and the resources, connections, and help they needed throughout the first months of the pandemic.
- Stepping in when state and city agencies couldn’t, to bring together bilingual volunteers and organize the collection of Census 2020 data from low-income, non-English speaking community members.
- Organizing and promoting grocery distribution events to families in need held by our community partner, Sagrado de Corazon.
- Hosting an outdoor safety meeting to connect neighbors and disseminate verified safety information in the days following the murder of George Floyd.
- Funding The Theatre of Public Policy’s workshops on talking about race, racism, white supremacy and holding space for these difficult, important conversations.
- Employing youth as artists and visible caretakers in our community, when teen job-training programs were cancelled due to COVID-19.
- Supporting and connecting our resident-leaders in working with our unhoused neighbors in MLK Park to make sure everyone is treated with respect and has housing this winter to transition into.
- Digging deeper into the issues of homelessness in our community by financially supporting and seeking out affordable housing partners and options.
- Organizing neighbors to talk about and advocate for smart and atheistically pleasing design for Kingfield housing developments. Moved these presentations to a new Kingfield YouTube channel for greater access by all neighbors.
- Registering neighbors to vote and making sure everyone has a voting plan.
- Moving our monthly board meetings online, sharing the monthly meeting recordings via YouTube, and broadening participation with small-groups focused on racial-justice topics.
- Working to continue some adored events in a modified fashion like hosting a virtual Kingfield Empty Bowls fundraiser and an extended season of PorchFests with ‘On Thursdays We Sing!’
- Continuing to be the connector that allows all members of our community to be heard and have a way to reach out and organize.
KFNA is still following the CDC guidelines for safe practices for returning to work, events, and activities. Thus KFNA is returning to organizing, hosting, and attending outdoor events beginning May 2021. You can find us at the Kingfield Farmers Market many Sundays and Kingfield PorchFest, the Kingfield Community Garden Tour, and National Night Out will be returning to our event schedule for June, July and August this summer!