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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
A resounding welcome to new residents of District 3! The county has finished its redistricting process, prompted every ten years by the census. New districts will be in effect when we go to the ballot box in August (Primary) and November (General), and are officially in place in January 2023.
The neighborhoods of Downtown West, Downtown East, Page, and Bryn Mawr have all been drawn into District 3 — welcome to all. I look forward to serving you on the Hennepin County Board. I also bid a fond farewell to neighbors in the Armatage community, the southern half of Kenny, and the western half of Elliot Park. Although I will no longer serve as your official representative on the county board, my office can make sure you connect with the right person.
It has been my privilege to serve all residents who have called District 3 home, and it will continue to be an honor to represent new neighbors, and the vast majority of the district whose representation will go unchanged.
Read on to learn more about this month's highlights in resource allocations, improving our environment, and connecting with community.
My best,
As noted in the introduction above, I welcome Downtown West, Downtown East, Page, and Bryn Mawr neighborhoods to District 3, and my gratitude goes out to Armatage (and southern Kenny and western Elliot Park) for all the collaboration over the last years. I look forward to continuing the work with all neighborhoods in the district, and, as always, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office with any questions – no matter where your residence.
NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center unveiled the completion of the first phase in its campus expansion project at a special open house ceremony on April 14. The ceremony celebrated the inclusion of Northside-based, minority-owned small-business contractors in the $90 million project, which was made possible by special procurement agreements through Hennepin County.
KMS Construction led the first phase of construction, which included a remodel of NorthPoint’s lower-level finance department and staff respite area.
KMS Construction is one of several local small businesses NorthPoint and Hennepin County were able to include in the campus expansion project using smaller, specialized contracts. KMS worked in partnership with JE Dunn Construction, the project’s main contractor and an industry leader in healthcare construction.
This project is really an example of equity in all facets of the county’s work. We’re incredibly excited to have partnered with Northside, local, minority-owned contractors to execute on this project.
Learn more here.
$5M to convert hotels into affordable housing
Hennepin County will convert two more hotels into permanent affordable housing. The board allocated $5 million on Tuesday to acquire the properties and rehabilitate them.
It’s anticipated that the new housing will open in late 2022 or early 2023. The units will be affordable to households earning under 30% area median income.
This is a continuation of a hotels-to-housing strategy that has already been very effective. This investment is part of the county’s larger $46 million affordable housing investment to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hennepin County is focusing on housing in communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
$3M for healthy, culturally appropriate food distribution
Hennepin County is designating an additional $3 million to organizations that distribute perishable, nonperishable, and culturally appropriate food.
Families and community partners continue to face hardships due to the economic impacts of COVID-19 and inflation.
In 2020 and 2021, Hennepin County directed $5.8 million to support food security.
Hennepin County foresters will be planting 67 trees at Lakewood Cemetery on Monday, May 23.
The Lakewood Cemetery tree planting will be carried out by county foresters working in collaboration with an adult probation crew assembled by the Department of Corrections and Community Rehabilitation (DOCCR) as part of the pilot TFL youth and adult Green Jobs Pathway tree planting project. The trees will then be watered by a crew staffed by opportunity youth once the school year finishes. The connection with Lakewood was made via the Healthy Tree Canopy grant program. The county awarded them a grant to conduct a tree inventory a few years ago and that led to this opportunity, which at least in part would be replacing ash trees.
To enhance the county’s tree canopy and make it resilient to threats from climate change, development, pests, and disease, country foresters grow about 1,000 trees in a gravel-bed nursery each year and then partner with other county departments, cities, schools and nonprofit organizations to transplant the trees to a variety of sites throughout the county. This greening program has been in place a number of years – let me know if you have questions, I’d be excited to share more.
Hennepin County has a new GIS story map to highlight successful tree and natural resource grant-funded projects. The story map connects places to project stories in a compelling and interactive format.
The new GIS story map provides ideas and inspiration for future projects. Applications for good steward natural resource grants will be available in fall 2022. Eventually, the site will expand to include more stories about the county’s environmental grant-funded programs.
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The 2021-2022 school year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the pairing of Hale and Field elementary schools in South Minneapolis.
This pairing paved the way for subsequent desegregation efforts across Minneapolis. The exhibit pays tribute to the parents and educators who fought for desegregation and discusses the legal precedents and landmark rulings that lead up to the 1971 pairing. It examines both community support and opposition; and discusses the racial boundaries in South Minneapolis. Lastly, Separate Not Equal analyses the measurable educational outcomes of the pairing and encourages visitors to reflect on what this means for the state of today's school systems.
Separate Not Equal is a community-based public history project supported by the Heritage Studies and Public History program of the University of Minnesota and Minnesota Transform, a Mellon Foundation Higher Education Initiative.
Hosted by Hennepin County Engagement Services, this wellness panel and choice of healing circles are offered as part of an ongoing series to support the health and wellbeing of our community.
- Panelists Seng Xiong, Nancy Bordeaux and Renee Butters will talk about cultural traditions/practices for wellness.
- Six healers will draw upon their lived experience and expertise to guide separate healing circles to provide support and guidance for navigating our world.
Register here.
For more information, visit: Community engagement | Hennepin County
For ASL interpretation, please contact EngagementServices@hennepin.us
If you are looking for ways to volunteer in your community, consider becoming a Master Recycler/Composter! The summer Master Recycler/Composter class will be held every Wednesday at 6 to 8 p.m. from May 18 through June 22.
The application is open now and will close at 11:59 p.m. on May 6, 2022. Applicants will be notified whether they are accepted into the class by the end of the day on May 11, 2022.
Learn more about the program and fill out your application.
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Contact us
Marion Greene
Commissioner, 3rd District
612-348-7883
Elie Farhat
Principal Aide
612-348-7125
Laura Hoffman
District Aide
612-348-0863
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