Kingfield Neighborhood Association

Update and Actions to Take Regarding the MLK Park Encampment

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Thank you for your patience and care as our city and nation experience a housing crisis compounded by the recent COVID-19 global pandemic. The population of unhoused neighbors living in MLK Park encampments has grown 3x since June.

How can I help my unhoused neighbors? The best way you can help right now is to use your time and energy to advocate for dignified short, medium and long-term housing solutions in our city. We do not recommend individual citizens attempt direct engagement work with encampments. Those experiencing homelessness deserve social service solutions delivered by trained and trauma-informed providers. Please respect the autonomy of all encampments, including prioritizing your personal safety and boundaries. Consider a financial donation to trusted organizations serving our community: ZACAH, Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, The Link, and Park Avenue Center.

Housed neighbors stand in solidarity with unhoused neighbors prioritizing humanitarian aid, while acknowledging systems, events and health issues that can lead to short-term and chronic homelessness. Informal mutual aid efforts provide food and minimal ice to as many parks across the city as possible, this is not a sustainable solution. We demand our elected officials immediately address the current humanitarian housing crisis in Minneapolis. Please contact your elected officials, today! And then copy that email to Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz.

More information to be communicated through KFNA in the near future, stay tuned.

MLK Park Housing Advocates 

Southwest Parks Plan public comment period closes August 1

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The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) closed all recreation centers and program buildings on March 17 and they remain closed in response to COVID-19. Due the continued closure of all Southwest Minneapolis recreation centers, the Southwest Service Area Master Plan public comment period has been extended to August 1. 

Public comments continue to be collected online. View the draft Southwest Parks Plan and submit your comments using the links below. The plan and online survey are also posted on the project page – www.minneapolisparks.org/sw, as well as on the exteriors of all 13 recreation centers in Southwest Minneapolis. [Read more…]

What is one thing you are going to do to create the more equitable and just city that we all desire?

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“My commitment to a more just Minneapolis is working to ensure people don’t forget the importance of racial equity and the importance of this moment in time.  To that end I plan to be on the 38th street bridge every tuesday from 4:30-5:30 until the end of this year with banners and signs keeping my own commitment right in front of me and hopefully others as well.  Please join me. ”

–Becky Dankowski, KFNA Board Member

This week, KFNA Staff and Board of Directors have made commitments to one another to how we will, both as individuals and as an organization, create a more just Minneapolis.

We are calling on community members, to do the same and submit an audio recording of their commitments to action, over the following week, in response to the question above.

There are four ways for you to share your commitments:
1) Call and leave a message @ 612-234-1867
2) Record a “Voice Memo” on your phone and email it to messages@kingfield.org
3) Submit a written comment of (which will be read and recorded by a KFNA board member) to messages@kingfield.org
4) Send a written or voice message via the mobile Facebook messenger app to The Kingfield Neighborhood Association

Submission Length: Please keep your answers to 60 seconds or 200 words (if written)
Submission Deadline: Friday June 19th @ 9pm

What is one thing you are going to do to create the more equitable and just city that we all desire?

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“I am committing to working with the MLK Legacy Council and The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to continue the physical and programmatic development of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Park to further the park’s role as a reflective, active and inclusion space that honors the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the current pursuit of justice for all people.”
— Chris DesRoches, KFNA Board President.

This week, KFNA Staff and Board of Directors have made commitments to one another to how we will, both as individuals and as an organization, create a more just Minneapolis.

We are calling on community members, to do the same and submit an audio recording of their commitments to action, over the following week, in response to the question above.
There are four ways for you to share your commitments:
1) Call and leave a message @ 612-234-1867
2) Record a “Voice Memo” on your phone and email it to messages@kingfield.org
3) Submit a written comment of (which will be read and recorded by a KFNA board member) to messages@kingfield.org
4) Send a written or voice message via the mobile Facebook messenger app to The Kingfield Neighborhood Association

Submission Length: Please keep your answers to 60 seconds or 200 words (if written)

Submission Deadline: Friday June 19th @ 9pm

MPRB Virtual Park Summit Invitation

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Check out draft recommendations for Parks for All, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Comprehensive Plan, during Virtual Park Summit May 26-June 2!

During weeklong online event, public invited to review and ask questions about draft policy recommendations that will guide parks and recreation in Minneapolis for the next decade

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MRPB) is excited to announce the Parks for All Virtual Park Summit, a weeklong series of online activities, events and conversations designed to share and collect feedback on draft policy recommendations that will set MPRB priorities and policy direction for the next decade.

What is Parks for All?

“Parks for All” is the MPRB 2021 Comprehensive Plan, which will guide everything done by the organization over through the next decade. It articulates why the MPRB exists, identifies how the MPRB performs its work, and describes what the MPRB hopes to become.

Since Parks for All launched in 2019, the MPRB has collected an enormous amount of community feedback from Park Dream Boxes placed in every recreation center, online surveys, text messages, in-person events and advisory groups like the Community Advisory Committee, Youth Design Team, focus groups, seven topical Workgroups, and a Community Collaborators program.

How can I participate in the Virtual Park Summit?

Originally scheduled as a daylong, in-person event, the Park Summit shifted online to accommodate the need for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s something happening every day between Tuesday, May 26 and Tuesday, June 2, so find something that works for you and get involved!

Here’s how to participate in the Park Summit:

  1. Check out the draft policy recommendations online beginning May 26. They will be available as videos and written recommendations on the Virtual Park Summit webpage.
  2. Share your thoughts on connections, gaps and differences in an online survey or community comment board, which will be available on the Virtual Park Summit webpage when the summit opens.
  3. Attend a virtual office hours session via Zoom or Facebook Live with MPRB staff to ask questions, share thoughts or learn more about the Parks for All process. Links will be available on Virtual Park Summit webpage and Parks for All Facebook page when the summit opens.
  4. Join the Parks for All Virtual Listening Session on Tuesday, June 2, 5-7 pm to share your thoughts with other park users, the workgroups, the Community Advisory Committee, MPRB commissioners, project staff, or the Youth Design Team. The listening session will be held via Zoom and Facebook Live; links available on Virtual Park Summit webpage when the summit opens.

[Read more…]

Kingfield Restaurants

currently open for take-out
(more info available here)

  • Tap Society
  • Sunstreet Breads
  • Royal Grounds
  • Rincon 38
  • Revival
  • Patisserie 46
  • Nighthawks
  • The Lowbrow
  • Hola Arepa
  • Grand Cafe
  • Good Times Pizza
  • Five Watt Coffee
  • Young Man
  • Dave The Pie Guy
  • Curran's
  • Cocina Latina
  • Cafe Ena
  • Butter Bakery Cafe
  • Boludo Empanadas
  • Apoy