 I’m happy to share that four District 6 cities were officially awarded funding for the Hennepin County Youth Activities Grants program this Tuesday. These Spring 2023 Equipment and Playground Grants were received and evaluated by The Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC), with MASC ultimately making a recommendation to award 20 equipment grants and 10 playground grants. Of the Playground grants awarded, the District 6 cities of Hopkins, Eden Prairie, Tonka Bay, and Mound will all be receiving up to $47,000 for playgrounds in their communities.
Recently I was able to visit Glen Lake Elementary school to share the good news with some of their students in person. The 5th and 6th graders I met with are an incredible group of students who have done substantial work to raise money and awareness for an accessible playground at Glen Lake—these students have met regularly with the playground equipment and design company and have worked hard to find cost-saving solutions to meet their goal. On their own, they have worked through many avenues of fundraising to ultimately raise approximately $747,000. It was my pleasure to share with them that they would be receiving an additional $47,000 from the Hennepin County Playground grant award to help meet their goal. I’m thrilled to see the hard work of advocacy, fundraising, and coordination from these students as they continue to push towards their budget goal.
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 This week I attended Heading Home Hennepin’s quarterly Executive Committee meeting. Heading Home Hennepin is a committee made up of elected officials, key city and county staff, and community partners who are working together to develop policy solutions to ensure everyone in Hennepin County has access to safe and affordable housing options.
At Wednesday’s meeting I heard updates on veteran and chronic homelessness, many homelessness and housing highlights from the legislative session, and a report on the impact of 24/7 Shelter models. Homelessness is a challenging policy area but our work across governments and with community partners is producing real results for our communities. I’m grateful to all the staff who work in this realm.
Again, I was struck by the importance of this historical legislative session and specifically the edition of a .25 cent metro-area sales tax. This tax will generate about $150 million per year, with Hennepin’s share being roughly $35 million of these dollars. This new funding stream will be vital in Hennepin’s continued efforts on affordable housing and addressing homelessness.
 Thanks to Mayor Walsh and the Orono City Council for welcoming me to their Monday meeting to provide an annual Hennepin County update on the ways we’re partnering to better serve residents. Lots of interest and great questions about our embedded social worker partnership with lake area police departments, housing, county roads, and other topics of mutual interest.
 Grants are available for K-12 schools to start or improve programs to reduce waste and keep recycling and organic materials, including food and non-recyclable paper, out of the trash. Grant flyer with program overview (PDF).
Funding can be for staff time for project implementation as well as to purchase equipment and supplies including recycling and organics recycling containers, sorting stations, reusable food service ware, and bulk condiment dispensers.
Schools can apply for grants of up to $15,000 until Wednesday, November 15, or until the annual program budget is exhausted, whichever occurs first.
Learn more and apply.
By: Natalie Cierzan, Sun Sailor
June 26, 2023
"The three-day long Wayzata Art Experience returned to Lake Street June 23-25, giving residents and visitors an opportunity to peruse fine art of all types of varieties, participate in free activities like a family activity zone and sailboat rides, chill out with beer, wine and food trucks as well as take in the beauty of the lake."
Access the full story here.
By: Alex Kautzman, Sun Sailor
June 22, 2023
"The City of Edina announced last month that there will be no free bags of compost for residents to pick up this year. However, they could return in the future if more residents participate in the organics recycling program."
Access the full story here.
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners consists of one commissioner from each of seven districts. I am proud to represent Deephaven, north Eden Prairie, Edina, Excelsior, Greenwood, Hopkins, Long Lake, Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, northern Mound, Orono, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Wayzata and Woodland.
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Chris LaTondresse
Commissioner
6th District
612-348-7886
Ella Eliason
District Director
612-348-6885
Kyle Olson
Policy Director
612-348-3168
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