 With
the goals of bringing the neighborhood together and operating a 100 percent
self-sustainable restaurant featuring Indian cuisine from locally sourced food,
Ruhel Islam opened Gandhi Mahal at 3009 27th Avenue South in
2008. To understand Ruhel’s vision, you need to look no further than the
colorful decal installation across the front window of the restaurant and adjoining
community room. The picture is a depiction of how Ruhel envisions the
community gathering together to share local food and traditions, to be
one. As a matter of fact, “mahal” means gathering place. The mural
was installed in 2014 as part of an overall façade improvement to the
restaurant through the City of Minneapolis Great Streets program administered
through the Lake Street Council.
The
restaurant receives its fresh produce from scattered neighborhood resident and
community gardens and farmers markets, as well as directly from a garden
growing in the restaurant’s basement. In addition to growing lettuce,
tomatoes and herbs, Ruhel worked with the DNR to set up a tilapia tank that
allows him to grow and harvest an estimated 100 tilapia every 90 days right in
his own restaurant. Now that this project is complete, the restaurant is about
80 percent sustainable and zero waste (e.g. organics are composted, oil is recycled, etc.). Next, Ruhel would like to turn the
roof into a garden to increase their sustainability. "Step-by-step it is all possible," he says.
Gandhi Mahal Website
 On July 29, the City of Minneapolis STEP-UP Program offered a guided tour to
four of this summer’s worksites in order for program funders, partners, and
elected officials to meet STEP-UP interns and employers. The interns presented
what their summer job experience has been like by giving tours, demonstrating
work duties, and participating in presentations and question and answer
sessions. They shared what it’s been
like working at their respective jobs; the personal and professional skills
they have gained, and their future plans.
The tour featured the following STEP-UP employers and
interns:
- UCARE interns work in various departments
including Provider Relations and Contracting, Marketing/Sales, and Clinical
Services
- North Community YMCA interns are classroom
assistants in the K-6 program
- Redeemer Center for Life interns perform as day
camp counselors, baristas, community gardeners, and bike mechanics
- Hennepin County interns work in Human Services
Public Health, Taxpayer Services, Human Resources, Public Works Management
Support, NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, and various libraries
STEP-UP Website
 City
Food Studio, a commercial kitchen located at 3722 Chicago Avenue, began filling up quickly by word of mouth alone after opening this past January. The model is
simple, each tenant leases the kitchen for a few hours, a few days a week,
keeping it busy and smelling delicious. Currently, there are about 20
tenants, all of whom are start-up businesses, sharing the space ranging from catering companies to food truck owners
to farmer’s market vendors to food producers who sell to co-ops.
Journey
Gosselin, the kitchen’s owner, knew the building needed some work but felt the
neighborhood was a good fit for a “art studio for food.” The Metropolitan
Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD) helped him navigate the development
process, including connecting him to resources at the City of Minneapolis. The
City provided a 2% loan for $71,790 and later a $10,000 Homegrown loan to
help with the building purchase, improvements, equipment, working capital and
other start-up costs in conjunction with funding from MCCD and Vision Bank.
Through the City’s Great Streets program a matching grant of $6,284 was also
given to help with the purchase of new doors and windows.
Now that
the kitchen is up and running, Journey plans to focus on his own on food
production by launching Underground Dairy later this month. He will begin producing
several types of cheese in the kitchen’s dairy room. He adds that there
is room to take on another four to five tenants and looks forward to being a
good community partner.
City Food Studio
NEWS for Youth Work Professionals, a dynamic and popular
newsletter for youth and those who work with youth, is published weekly by City
of Minneapolis Employment and Training.
The newsletter features local, state, and national news for
and about youth workers and youth. It includes announcements, upcoming events, training
opportunities, youth worker profiles, and employment and volunteer
opportunities.
More than 900 subscribers from approximately 110 youth
serving non-profits, schools, government agencies and churches currently
receive the newsletter. Mary Kay Lowe, of
Headway Emotional Services, states “The newsletters are a valuable resource for
those of us who have the opportunity to work with 'at-risk' kids and
adolescents.”
NEWS for Youth
Work Professionals
Goodwill Easter Seals is launching a new unique store
concept designed for students and other young urban shoppers this August at the
Venue at Dinkytown. Located at 1322 5th St SE Minneapolis, MN
55414, the shop will be called Gina + Will.
Goodwill Easter Seals are planning a casual, urban interior for the
store that encourages hanging out and shopping with friends. Spacious
racks will feature an eclectic selection of premium denim, Ts, jackets and
other casual wear. Trendy and classic pieces will be priced well below department
stores and chains. Student-focused brands include 7 for all Mankind, Free
People, Lucky Brand, Maison Jules and True Religion.
Goodwill Easter Seals is a partner of Minneapolis Employment
and Training. They provide Minneapolis
Works adult employment services, services for dislocated workers who have lost
their jobs through no fault of their own, and access to RENEW Minneapolis
training certification programs for residents of Minneapolis.
Learn more about
Goodwill Easter Seals programs
Minnesota’s minimum-wage rate increases to $8 an hour beginning Aug. 1, 2014. It’s the state’s first wage increase in nearly a decade.
In the next two years, the new law will increase the minimum wage again in August 2015 and again in August 2016 when the top rate goes to $9.50 an hour. In January 2018, the rate will be indexed to inflation based on economic conditions.
To help employers understand the new requirements, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has created two new fact sheets.
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