Update from Ward 5 Saint Paul

St. Paul Ward 5 UpdateGeorge Flloyd

The city has been overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the visceral pain of losing George Floyd, but also overwhelmed with the generosity of our community members. While there are signs of unity through neighborhood distribution centers, there are also signs of organized groups here to cause chaos and to destroy what we are working to build together. 

There are many ways to get involved in this moment of progress. You can donate, volunteer, work on your anti-racism work, talk to your family about racism and connect with your neighbors about community safety. This list, is not complete, please consider it a starting place. 


BLC Hamline Midwya

Bethlehem Lutheran Church Hamline Midway, 436 Roy Street North Saint Paul, MN 55104

Food REsources

For additional details on donation needs or volunteer shifts, please click the links below: 


Opportunities to Fund efforts

Midway United

Neighborhood Safety

Community Safety Tips

Image designed by Micah Bazant with the Ella Baker Center in July 2013, for Night Out for Safety & Democracy, their community alternative to the police-sponsored event National Night Out.

Don’t Recreate Policing With Our Community Watch

Quick tips for non-Black neighbors

The best way to protect your neighborhood is to invest in community building directly with neighbors.  Community watches often recreate the violent police state we are attempting to uproot, especially if we don’t organize thoughtfully. Here are a few tips to build community and an effective community watch. 

  • Doorknock your block and introduce yourself. 

Go to every house. The goal is to be known to all of your neighbors, not just those who were invited to organize.

  • Provide your contact info and your house number.

Make sure your block is well connected. If giving out your contact info to known neighbors makes you nervous, please question why you want to do community watch. If neighbors of color don’t share back, don’t be suspicious. You haven’t earned their trust. Ask if they have folks nearby to connect with and trust their answer. 

  • Be present and visible as a neighbor. 

If you have a porch, a stoop, or a big street-facing window, try to be visible several times per hour. Keep your lights on. Bad actors are less likely to come into a neighborhood that is present and active. Keep eyes on houses that are unable to do this themselves.

  • Disarm folks by engaging them. 

If you see someone you don’t recognize, say something simple like “Hey - you good?” Engage rather than attempting to scare, threaten, or make assumptions by reporting them. They might just be trying to get home. 

  • Document what you observe, but only report when something actually happens. 

The goal of community watch is to promote safety, not to recreate police surveillance and targeting. That first step is visibility and presence. The second is sharing information. 

Only report when and what has actually happened that poses a credible threat. Try to only share information that you’ve witnessed, or name the source if it’s second-hand. Try not to create panic by making judgments of what “seems suspicious.”

  • Send direct, plain language updates in one message. 

Provide only the factual information in a useful way: “Red Chevy truck, plates XXX-123, slowly headed south on Nicollet from 24th Street, 3 white men inside flashing automatic rifles. 12:31AM” That’s it. That’s the update. 


ANti-Racism Resources

Sesame Street Stand Up to Racism

Tips for business insurance claims

The Department of Commerce’s Consumer Services Center (CSC) helps consumers with questions, concerns, or complaints involving insurance claims. The CSC can help consumers understand their rights, work with their insurer to settle a claim, and help Minnesotans make informed insurance decisions.

 The CSC can be reached by phone at (651) 539-1600 or by email at consumer.protection@state.mn.us

http://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/business-insurance-claim-tips-hm.pdf -Hmong

http://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/business-insurance-claim-tips-so.pdf -Somali

http://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/business-insurance-claim-tips-sp.pdf -Spanish 

http://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/residential-insurance-claim-tips-hm.pdf -Hmong

http://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/residential-insurance-claim-tips-so.pdf - Somali

http://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/residential-insurance-claim-tips-sp.pdf - Spanish 


A hopeful thought

Thank you to local artist Chloe Rizzo for help organizing artwork on some of the boarded up businesses along Rice Street. 

Real Life Coffee and Yoga

Wash your hands, stay at home and don't forget to find ways to connect with one another. We are in this together. 

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Resources


Wear a Mask

Twin Cities Mental Health Support: List of licensed therapists

The Science Museum is making the Omnitheater movies available online: Omnitheater Videos

Adopt a Drain: Adopt a Drain HERE

Saint Paul Multi-Language Line for COVID-19 Info: 651-266-6000 or LanguageResources@ci.stpaul.mn.us 

Saint Paul Public Library COVID-19 Updates: https://sppl.org/staying-in/

Ramsey County Mental Health Services: RamCo Mental Health Resources

Ramsey County Health is also providing guidance and resources regarding the coronavirus: Ramsey County COVID-19

Minnesota Department of Health's web resources: Department of Health: guidance for all Minnesotans

WARD 5 remains open to serve our community. 

Please email: Ward5@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Call: 651.266.8650

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