Hennepin County Profile
Hennepin County, Minnesota sent this bulletin at 02/01/2016 01:58 PM CST
To learn more about how Hennepin County works for you, the District 3 team conducts a profile series with employees of the county who live in the district. Each month we spotlight a different person from varying departments and occupations. Find out about the day-to-day aspects of occupational fields and work environments at the county, and how each person’s work affects your life.
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Denise Engen |
Describe your work.
I’m transitioning from a previous position, community engagement planner, where I worked with cities and citizens to plan the areas around each station along the Bottineau light rail transit (LRT) line, which will serve north Minneapolis, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park by 2021. The way we plan and design our cities play a big role in our overall health – including things like access to jobs, education and healthy food. My main focus has been to make sure that plans consider the health impacts and benefits of the LRT line and that populations that are experiencing health disparities (higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, etc.) are directly engaged in the planning process.
It is hard to make healthy choices if things like parks, safe streets and sidewalks, access to transportation and access to healthy food are unavailable where you live. It is also hard for government to improve these things if we are not working directly with the people who are most affected. A grant from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota helped us to work directly with community organizations that served specific neighborhoods or populations all along the line. This was new for us and was really rewarding. In addition to this special project, I was also the coordinator of community engagement for all the station area planning activities.
I’m now working in healthy communities planning and active living, and as all metro cities and counties update their comprehensive plans over the next few years (it’s required by state law) I will be working with their staff to include health, health equity and active living considerations (such as support for safe and convenient ways to walk and bike to destinations and to have access to healthy food) into their plans. I’ll also be working on the county’s comprehensive plan.
The heart of my job then and now is to tell the story that how we build our communities influences our health -- and that considering health in all our plans and policies will help make sure our built environments have positive health impacts for all residents.
What part of your job do you find most challenging?
Considering health in transportation planning can difficult initially, because the link between them is often overlooked. Health professionals have been focusing on this link recently and city planners are beginning to understand it better. Looking at health in overall community planning quickly gets to equity issues because many of the people facing disparities in health are facing disparities on multiple levels: fewer parks, older infrastructure, older housing, access to jobs and transportation, et cetera.
Equity is a difficult discussion, but one worth having. It is also a difficult concept at a systems level. Our current systems were set up at a time where race was thought of differently, and although we work hard now to address racism where we see it, decisions made years ago are still felt as impacts of that system, but are not always seen. Considering equity as we make decisions is key to eliminating disparities.
What do you find most enjoyable?
I really enjoy working with the wide variety of people. I get to work with people from different neighborhoods, different cultures, staff from a broad range of cities, other agencies and people from throughout the county organization. I am an urban designer by training and enjoy designing spaces that work for people. Learning about the link to health has been a new and interesting area for me.
What is one thing everyone should know about the work you do?
What the county’s residents think and need matters, and I believe that their input should have an effect on the outcomes of what we do. When the people working on a project and people in the community build a common vision, needs are more widely met and the impact is greater. When you hear about a community meeting for a project in your area, stop in and give your opinion. It will inform what we do.
Denise Engen is a resident of the Fulton neighborhood, and is a Principal Planning Analyst with the Hennepin County Public Works Planning Department. Public Works engages communities by enacting sustainable solutions to advance the quality of life and livability in Hennepin County. To learn more about Bottineau LRT Community Works, click here. To learn more about Hennepin County Active Living, click here.
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