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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I'm wishing you a happy (and dry) July 4 holiday! Read below for updates from around District 3 and Hennepin County.
- Call the Minnesota Department of Human Services DHS Refugee and Immigrant Helpline for information about jobs, food, housing, legal help, and more
- See how Hennepin County's transit-oriented community projects are contributing to vibrant communities
- Learn about Hennepin County's grant to create a heat resiliency plan
- Contribute your thoughts to help shape Hennepin County Public Health’s Strategic Plan
- Check out Elevate Hennepin's partnership with The Coven to get resources to entrepreneurs and small business owners
- Review awardees for the county's Zero Waste Community and Youth Activities Grants
My best,
Melissa and Mark Hortman, and their dog, Gilbert, were laid to rest over the weekend after a service at the Basilica of St. Mary. The stories that were shared of the couple illustrated their fierce love for advocacy, community, friends, and family.
There are no words to reckon this unspeakable tragedy of political and individual violence. I will continue to remember Melissa and Mark through the stories that were shared of them, their contributions to the lives of all Minnesotans, as the tireless champion I knew Melissa to be, and her historic leadership in the Minnesota House.
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Join navigators from the DHS Refugee and Immigrant Helpline from 10-10:30 a.m. Friday, July 11, to learn more about this statewide connection to helpful information, resources and services in local communities. Please register today and share the information session with your network.
The Helpline offers a centralized access point for new arrivals and community partners to learn about available supports. Navigators who speak multiple languages connect new Minnesotans to accurate, reliable information and resources to help them find employment, housing, legal help, food assistance and more.
The July 11 session will introduce attendees to the Helpline navigators, share information about the supports available and request feedback about how the Helpline can be improved. If you would like to share your input in advance, please take a short Helpline survey.
Date: Friday, July 11 Time: 10-10:30 a.m. Location: Microsoft Teams Registration: Refugee and Immigrant Helpline Information Session
Accommodations: If you need an accommodation to participate, email Snezhana Eikum at Snezhana.Eikum@state.mn.us.
 (Above) An illustration of 2025 TOC awardee Dreamland on 38th, which will create a community hub on a vacant site located in the 38th Street Cultural District in Minneapolis.
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners authorized an investment of $2 million in Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) program funding to six development projects that help create more walkable, sustainable communities served by high-quality transit service.
This year’s slate of TOC projects will add to vibrancy of their neighborhoods and transit corridors and address community needs in several ways:
- Activating vacant sites, repositioning underutilized properties for community benefit and restoring continuous street fronts on critical corridors.
- Adding commercial space to support local small businesses, from light manufacturing space for a local maker scaling their production to affordable startup spaces for emerging entrepreneurs testing out their concepts.
- Creating economic and social hubs led by community-based organizations, providing co-working and incubator space and culturally responsive programming and services; and
- Offering more local models of “missing middle” housing, redeveloping small, difficult-to-develop lots into neighborhood-scale multifamily buildings.
This year’s six projects join the more than 160 transit-oriented development projects that have received TOC funding since 2003. Past projects include expanded and renovated campuses for community anchor institutions like Juxtaposition Arts and the Minneapolis American Indian Center, and adaptive reuse projects like the Coliseum Building on Lake Street in Minneapolis, creatively restoring and repurposing vacant buildings to reflect community pride and needs.
And they include public infrastructure investments like the Artery in downtown Hopkins, laying the foundation for more compact development and a place that prioritizes people. Each of these projects move the needle and together contribute to more transit-oriented, climate-resilient communities across Hennepin County.
Watch a short primer to learn more about how the county supports transit-oriented communities.
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June 2 was Heat Action Day, which raises awareness about the rising risks associated with extreme heat.
The county is committed to understanding and addressing the impacts of extreme heat. Last summer the county completed an urban heat island mapping study with 200 volunteer community scientists to better understand the uneven distribution of heat and related impacts. Watch our urban heat island study video (YouTube) to learn more about how the study worked and how Hennepin County will use the data and key observations.
The county was recently awarded a Climate Resiliency Planning Grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to create a heat resiliency plan for Hennepin County. The plan will identify both short- and long-term strategies to make our communities and building and natural environments resilient to extreme heat.
As we enter the summer season, be sure you are prepared to stay safe in the heat and humidity. Read our climate action article for tips on learning about and preparing for local conditions, staying safe outdoors, finding a place to stay cool, and recognizing the signs of heat-related illness.
Watch our urban heat island study video (YouTube) to learn more here.
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Hennepin County Public Health is developing its next strategic plan. This plan will guide decision making, name priorities and help the department align with community and County partners.
The plan will guide Hennepin County Public Health’s work from 2026-2028.
Learn more and share your thoughts here.
The Coven is best known as a coworking space for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking for office space, but the organization has also developed a massive library of on-demand learning resources to help entrepreneurs learn and grow.
Elevate Hennepin, through an investment from Hennepin County, is pleased to partner with The Coven to offer this digital resource, meaning any Hennepin County business owner, entrepreneur, or resident exploring a business idea can tap into The Coven’s online training, discussions, and connect with others at no cost.
See how Hennepin County partner The Coven breaks down barriers to entrepreneurship at: Exploring The Coven learning library | Elevate Hennepin
Hennepin County awarded six Community Zero Waste Grants totaling $450,000 in 2025.
African Career Education and Resources (ACER), Minneapolis: $35,000 to make the annual Shingle Creek Center Fair in Brooklyn Center a low waste event, including promoting low waste and recycling education that goes beyond the event.
Free Geek Twin Cities, Minneapolis: $110,000 to further reduce electronic waste for reuse or recycling through implementing collection events or drives and expanding business hours.
Little Earth Residents Association, Minneapolis: $125,000 to improve recycling, start organics recycling, and incorporate repair clinics at clothing swaps to further reduce clothing waste.
Lyndale Neighborhood Association, Minneapolis: $9,000 to host swap events to facilitate and promote reuse among residents. Events include Free Fest that focuses on household items and Book Fest that seeks to recirculate books. Funding will also help make the annual Wheels and Bike Rodeo be a low waste event.
Oromo Diaspora Media, Minneapolis: $95,000 to start recycling, including organics recycling, at three religious institutions that serve the Oromo community and host events.
Zone For Integrated Resources and Alliances with Nature (ZIRAN), Minnetonka: $76,000 to start recycling, including organics recycling, at three businesses that primarily serve Asian American populations. Other activities include facilitating low-waste event planning at 10 events, including Twin Cities Waste Metro Asian Fair.
Hennepin County Youth Activities Grants Program Spring 2025 grant cycle awarded more than $400,000 of Equipment and Arts & Music Grants.
Project awarded included the following projects in District 3:
Equipment
- Minneapolis Public Schools: $10,000 for district-wide balls for basketball, softball, soccer, baseball, volleyball
- Southwest High School: $10,000 for balls for football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball
Arts & Music:
- Minneapolis Public Schools: $25,000 for district-wide partnership with VocalEssence, providing youth in-school workshops and the opportunity to perform at the Young People's Concert (YPC) in the Northrop Auditorium
- Minneapolis Public Schools: $25,000 for district-wide general music kits, hand drums, boom whackers
- Minneapolis Parks & Recreation: $9,596 for pop-up parks with jewelry making, clay supplies, coloring, drawing, and painting supplies, temporary tattoos, face painting kits, drum set, karaoke player, storage for supplies at various locations
- St. Louis Park Public Schools: $25,000 for district-wide expanded arts programming including early learning music education, summer dance camps, after-school programs to middle schoolers, expanded community band programming
Contact us
Marion Greene
Commissioner, 3rd District
612-348-7883
Elie Farhat
Principal Aide
612-348-7125
Laura Hoffman
District Aide
612-348-0863
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