 The first few community listening sessions about the City of Minneapolis' Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) action plan have been announced. The City of Minneapolis' Neighborhood and Community Relations Department will share additional dates as they are confirmed.
We invite members of the community to join these conversations and share how we can better support people with disabilities. The next session will be on Monday, June 17.
Americans with Disabilities Act community conversation
Monday, June 17, 5-6:30 p.m.
Join the meeting on Microsoft Teams.
Sign language and CART captioning provided.
You can find more information and sign up to attend a listening session on our community engagement webpage.
Read the list of listening sessions.
Other engagement
In addition to community listening sessions, we also surveyed over 200 people in 5 languages. A summary of the community survey results will be shared at each listening session and made available in the updated ADA action plan.
In late summer, community will also have the ability to review and comment on the draft update to our ADA action plan.
Contact Guthrie Byard, 612-554-3666, with any questions, accommodations or alternative format requests.
Photo courtesy of Disabled and Here.
Citizenship and immigration fair June 15
Learn about becoming a U.S. citizen and the immigration process at a resource fair June 15. All are welcome.
U.S. citizenship and immigration resource fair
1-3 p.m. Saturday, June 15
Open Door, 627 W. Broadway, Minneapolis MN. 55411
The citizenship and immigration resource fair will include:
- Legal service providers giving an overview on the citizenship application process.
- Answers to your questions about citizenship and immigration.
- Information about ways the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul are working to help residents apply for U.S. citizenship.
- Information about interest-free loans to pay for citizenship applications.
- Community resources like English classes, how to get a driver’s license and your rights as a worker.
This recurring event series is a collaboration between the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul to help residents learn about and apply for United States citizenship. Events alternate between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Learn more about applying for U.S. citizenship on the City website or contact the Minneapolis Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs directly by email or call 612-394-6018.
NCR welcomes three Urban Scholars
This June, the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department of the City of Minneapolis (NCR) welcomed three summer Urban Scholars to the team. Urban Scholars is a summer work and leadership development program for college and graduate students who want to work in the public sector. Learn more about the Urban Scholar program.
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Fatima Aden
Fatima Aden is an incoming second-year political science and urban studies student at the University of Minnesota. She is thrilled to learn more about the inner workings of the City and get to know the people behind City departments. Fatima is joining NCR to work on projects that build department communications capacity.
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Cait Lopata
Cait grew up in Michigan, but she moved to Minnesota to attend Macalester College in Saint Paul. At Macalester she studies sociology and is going into her junior year. This summer, Cait is helping to improve the City’s language access plan and services.
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Georgia Schaefer-Brown
Georgia is a senior international studies major at Dickinson College. She grew up in the Powderhorn neighborhood in south Minneapolis. Georgia is excited to engage with the greater Minneapolis community this summer. She will be working on projects that strengthen the City’s community engagement practices.
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Staff and volunteers across Minneapolis’ many neighborhood organizations bring neighbors together to strengthen and improve their communities. In north Minneapolis’ Jordan neighborhood, the Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) has united residents across languages and cultures, including through its community garden.
Over the past two years, JACC built a strong relationship with members of the Hmong community, beginning with volunteer Chee Xiong, who came to be known as the garden mother. During that time, the JACC garden underwent a significant transformation. Chee and her family did an exceptional job maintaining, improving and managing the garden. Throughout the 2023 season, JACC organized various events, including planting sessions, game nights and a harvest event.
Sadly, Chee passed away in January. In her memory, JACC renamed the Jordan Community Garden to the Chee Xiong Community Garden. Her family now carries on her legacy with the garden.
Recently Audua Pugh, executive director of JACC, and Mai Xiong, one of Chee’s family members, joined “Kuv Lub Nroog Minneapolis,” the City’s show on Hmong Radio, for an interview.
You can listen to the story in Hmong on Hmong Radio's Facebook page.
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Get involved
Jordan residents are welcome to get involved in the gardening season from May to October. Besides the garden, there are many other ways you can get involved. At JACC, you can:
- Stop by a board meeting, meet neighbors and enjoy some food.
- Volunteer for a committee about issues like community safety and emergency preparedness.
- Take a free first aid, CPR or Narcan overdose prevention training.
- Volunteer or participate in all-ages bingo or the food shelf.
- Join the board of directors.
In her Hmong Radio interview, we asked JACC’s executive director why she thinks you should consider getting involved in your neighborhood organization. Director Pugh encourages neighbors to get involved to get connected both to their community and to local leaders. Serving on a neighborhood board was how she learned about community organizing and met her local elected officials. It also is a way to make friends with people you might never meet otherwise.
Neighbors can stay up to date on news and events from JACC through their Facebook group.
Visit the Jordan Area Community Council Facebook group.
Learn more about getting involved with neighborhood organizations across Minneapolis.
 The City of Minneapolis shares important news and updates in English, Spanish, Somali, Oromo and Hmong over community radio stations and two television programs.
You can see the upcoming schedule for these shows and find past recordings on the City website.
Local resources and opportunities for immigrants and refugees
The Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs hosts weekly community office hours. Office hours provide basic information on immigration legal services, shelter resources, health care and more.
Office hours
Stop by South Minneapolis CareerForce, 777 E. Lake Street. The next open hours are on Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m. on:
Note there are no office hours on June 19 due to the Juneteenth holiday.
Learn more on the City website, email Michelle Rivero, or call 612-394-6018.
Twin Cities monthly immigration forum meets Thursday, June 13
The City of Minneapolis Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) in partnership with the City of Saint Paul Immigrant and Refugee Program hosts a monthly immigration forum to offer immigration-related updates to the community. The next meeting of this series will be on Thursday, June 13.
Twin Cities monthly immigration forum
Thurs., June 13, 4:30 - 6 p.m.
Join online over Microsoft Teams
Or call in (audio only) at +1 612-276-6670 with meeting ID 365504388#
The topics covered include:
- Federal immigration news and resources.
- City, community and advocacy organization updates.
- Other topics important to immigrant, refugee and new American communities.
Watch previous forums on the City's YouTube channel.
Find dates and links to join the meetings on the OIRA events calendar. Learn more about the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) at minneapolismn.gov/ncr/oira or contact the office directly at oira@minneapolismn.gov.
 Juneteenth
Meet Minneapolis has compiled a list of community events celebrating Juneteenth and honoring Black culture all around Minneapolis.
On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and his troops landed at Galveston, Texas, where they announced – and enforced – President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had officially taken effect two and a half years earlier. Up until that time, enslavement of African Americans was still rampant in many areas, including in Texas, which had more than 250,000 enslaved people.
See the Meet Minneapolis website for details about the events.
Twin Cities Pride Festival
From June 28 to June 30, you can join the Twin Cities Pride Festival in Loring Park for a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Stop by for food, music, activities and community resources.
Somali Independence Day
On June 29, the Minneapolis Somali community will celebrate Somali Independence Day on Lake Street. Read more about the celebration on the Somali Week website.
County, Park and Recreation Board announce summer event lineups
Hennepin County and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board have announced their 2024 summer event schedules.
Hennepin County’s free, family-friendly events include live music, Pianos on Parade, movie nights at Target Field Station, fitness classes and more. See the entire “Go Outside with Hennepin County” lineup.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board movies in the parks run June 1-Aug. 31 with 73 free outdoor movie screenings. Music in the parks offers 206 free outdoor concerts in nine park venues this summer. Read more about this year’s movies and music in the parks on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board website.
Household hazardous waste collection events
Hennepin County is hosting community collection events for County residents to safely and properly dispose of unwanted garden and household hazardous wastes.
Minneapolis events
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, June 21, and Saturday, June 22
Sullivan STEAM School, 3100 E. 28th St.
Share the flyer for Sullivan STEAM Minneapolis event
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9, and Saturday, Aug. 10
Jenny Lind Elementary School (enter off Dupont Ave), 5025 Bryant Ave. N.
Share the flyer for Jenny Lind Minneapolis event.
Visit Hennepin County’s website to learn what items will be accepted at the event, review safety guidelines, and view all 2024 events.
Community safety centers update
City Office of Community Safety staff have completed the first round of engagement with the south Minneapolis community about the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center and the Lake Street Safety Center. The information will help decide what services could be found in the community safety centers. Thank you to everyone who took the time to take part, whether it was at one of more than 30 in-person events, on the street or with the online survey.
Most of the reports from the individual engagement events can be found on the City of Minneapolis website. The page will be updated as more reports become available.
City staff are reviewing the data and will share a report on the overall findings on this information in the coming weeks.
For updates and more information, check out the City website and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
First-of-its-kind partnership helping 55 mostly minority-owned small businesses excel
A unique, small business pilot partnership between the City of Minneapolis and the Workplace Justice Lab is proving to be revolutionary for small business owners who are immigrants, Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
The Small Business High-Road Labor Standards Intervention Pilot began as an idea 18 months ago to strengthen and support these businesses and help them comply with the City’s labor laws.
Learn more on the City website.
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