In this edition of Minneapolis Promise Zone Updates:
- Economic Development Working Group Attends City Council Public Hearing
- Minneapolis Promise Zone Advocates for More Affordable Housing
- Minneapolis Promise Zone Engages with Community on Affordable Produce
- Attend a Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America Workshop
- Requests for Proposals Available to Engage Northside Residents
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News, Events, and Jobs
- About the Minneapolis Promise Zone
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Economic Development Working Group Attends City Council Public Hearing
On November 29th the co-chair Jamez Staples and members of the Economic Development Working Group, Rob Hanson (West Broadway Business and Area Coalition), Queen (One Family One Community), and Me'Lea Connelly (Blexit) spoke at City Council's public hearing to amend the 2018 budget.
Some concerns raised were the way that the City intended to allocate the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The intention of the Minneapolis Promise Zone (MPZ) was to bring more federal funding to North Minneapolis. Since CDBG dollars are acquired through the federal government, the MPZ implores the City Council to consider directing some of those funds towards North Minneapolis. Members of the Economic Development Working Group discussed efforts they would like to be funded by the City. Some of these suggestions were the construction of a shelter in North Minneapolis, implementation of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) section 108 loan program, Clean Energy Franchise Fee, and more systems set in place for homelessness prevention.
Engaging with the systems which integrally shape resident's every day lives, especially those living in the MPZ, is extremely important. The MPZ would like to thank everyone who attended the public hearing on behalf of the MPZ Economic Working Group. If you would like to be involved in similar actions you can contact Sam Calahan.
- To watch the public hearing click here.
 Minneapolis Promise Zone Advocates for More Affordable Housing at Upper Harbor Terminal Development Meeting
The Minneapolis Promise Zone manager along with two of the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) attended the Upper Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Housing Meeting on November 30th. The goal of the meeting was to gather
input from the community, residents, and organizations on the housing and small
business components as well as the eventual impact of the development project. There was a panel consisting of Tim Baylor from Pinnacle Management, Angie Skildum from the City
of Minneapolis, Cora McCorvey, former CEO of MPHA, and Sarah Larson from Landon
Group. The panel was facilitated by Shauen Pearce-Lassiter from Greater
Minneapolis.
The panelists’ discussion centered around two topics:
affordable housing trends in Minneapolis and potential tools to create and
encourage affordable housing. The first topic of discussion centered around how there is a large renter population in the city of Minneapolis (especially in the North Minneapolis Promise Zone), and their income has steadily declined while the cost of housing
has increased. The second topic of discussion addressed this challenge, as well as how racial disparities persist due to the legacy and complacency toward inequitable policies.
Potential tools for creating affordable housing discussed
included the city’s affordable trust fund, which subsidizes costs associated with development to
incentivize affordable housing, as well as private activity bonds (tax-exempt
housing residency bonds). Challenges discussed included overcoming
organizational and institutional challenges such as: avoiding subtle red-lining by over-incentivizing affordable housing, and raising land values. Replicating programs
from other states/cities was also discussed, like Atlanta’s tax freeze for
areas experiencing or undergoing gentrification. Residents of North Minneapolis can keep updated on upcoming Upper Harbor Terminal meetings to hold the city accountable for developing equitably in North Minneapolis.
 Minneapolis Promise Zone Engages with Community on How to Make Produce More Affordable
On November 27, 2017, Northside Fresh hosted the Northside Fresh Bucks FINI Visioning Session at Breaking Bread Café. In attendance were staff from the City of Minneapolis, Appetite for Change, Project Sweetie Pie, cohorts from the University of Minnesota, and proactive local Northside farmers. Local partners and residents in the meeting came together to determine what type of nutrition incentives will best serve Northside residents.
One of the strategies deliberated was the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive, (FINI). FINI is a Grant Program that supports projects that increase the purchase of fresh produce among low-income consumers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP, using federal funds, provides incentives to reduce the cost of food for qualifying low income consumers. This expands the customer’s ability to purchase healthy, local food. The group voted on most effective methods to incentivize consumers to buy healthy food. Some examples were a percentage off, a discount off of every $10 dollars spent, and cents off per dollars spent. The group decided that the most effective way to make food more affordable for low-income populations was to take off cents per every dollar spent.
Attendees working on projects surrounding food also discussed the application process for United States Government Department of Agriculture (USDA) federal grants.Fortunately any organization that falls within the Minneapolis Promise Zone (MPZ) boundaries is able to get preference points for their application, increasing the likelihood of being selected. If interested contact Julianne Leerssen for further inquiries.
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 Attend a Home Ownership Workshop Hosted by Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America
The first step in NACA’s "Ten Steps To Home Ownership" is to sign up for a free NACA workshop near you. At the four-hour workshop you will learn the details about the NACA program and the home buying or refinancing process.
NACA provides at least two workshops a month for each office. Unlike other programs, NACA’s workshops and individual counseling are free. These workshops typically address between 100 and 600 people. The workshops usually take place on a Saturday for four hours. They provide detailed information for a participant to become NACA Qualified or mortgage-ready.
A highlight of the workshop is the testimony of NACA homeowners. They are the best at explaining the program and the fact that it is actually as good as it sounds and even better. Many have interest rates at three percent or less by using the NACA interest rate buy-down.
The NACA staff utilize a power point presentation at the workshop. This provides an outline for the presentation, which is supplemented by the staff and the questions of the participants.
You must attend a workshop before you can participate in the NACA program.
The next upcoming workshop in North Minneapolis is on:
Sat, January 6: 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
River Lutheran Church, 2200 N. Fremont Avenue, Minneapolis
To Register
Request
for Proposals Available to Engage Northside Residents on Ongoing Issues
Community Action
Partnership of Hennepin County (CAP-HC) is partnering with the City of
Minneapolis to contract with a trusted leader or organization from the North
Minneapolis community to engage North Minneapolis residents, primarily from the
Hawthorne, McKinley, Sheridan, Bottineau and Marshall Terrace neighborhoods, in
coming up with recommendations on a variety of ongoing issues including but not
limited to:
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How to spend the Northern Metals settlements dollars
($200,000 per year for 3 years, within the stipulations of the consent
decree)
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A Work Plan/Action Plan for the Northside Green Zone to
further the goals below and utilize additional resources (e.g. VW
settlement dollars, existing City programs/resources, state, local and
federal grants, etc.)
The contract will be
available through an open Request for Proposals process. Applications are
due by 8 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 12 to kmongoven@caphennepin.org.
Access the RFP.
There will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 19 from 9-11 a.m. at
North Regional Library.
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News
Events
Thinking About Business Workshop
Sat, December 9: 9 a.m.- noon
NEON, 1007 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis
Home Alone: Exploring Racial Disparities in Housing Policy
Tues, December 12: 2-5 p.m.
Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave. N., Minneapolis
North Market Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting
Wed, December 13: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
4414 Humboldt Ave N., Minneapolis
Your Voice Makes a Difference- Serve on a MN State Board or Commission
Mon, December 13: 6-8 p.m.
Brookdale Library, 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy, Brooklyn Center
Expert Panel on Immigrant and Refugee Trauma
Thu, December 14: 9 a.m.-noon
Minneapolis Central Library Pohlad Room, 300 Nicollet Mall
Alternative Frameworks for Understanding and Addressing Systemic Inequity
Fri, December 15: 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
EMERGE, 1834 Emerson Ave N., Minneapolis
Jobs
Plymouth Christian Youth Center
Youth Worker
More Information
Tree Trust JobPrep
Young Adult Employment Training Opportunities
More
Information
CliftonLarson Allen
Plans to hire 50 college interns
More Information
SciTechsperience
STEM internships
More Information
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Promise Zone
Preference Points
If a discretionary funding opportunity indicates Promise Zone
(PZ) preference points are available, please visit http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/promisezone/WCMSP-190631
for additional information on forms and contacts to request preference point
certification from the City of Minneapolis Promise Zone. Please submit your preference point request at least two weeks prior to the application deadline for Promise Zone certification approval consideration.
If a funding
opportunity does not indicate PZ preference points, you are still encouraged to
contact the Promise Zone Manager, Julianne Leerssen
(612-225-7721), about potential partnership opportunities to strengthen your
application.
About the Minneapolis Promise Zone
Promise Zones are federally designated, high poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, and leverage private investment. The Minneapolis Promise Zone (MPZ) plan is a comprehensive, community-driven revitalization strategy that builds on and aligns numerous initiatives to address the persistent unemployment, crime, housing blight, and poor educational outcomes that affect that area.
Contact information: Juli Leerssen, (612) 225-7721
For more information, please visit www.minneapolismn.gov/promisezone
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