Tidbits

SECIA Annual Meeting Recap

SECIA held its Annual Meeting on November 4th at Van Cleve Park. Over 50 residents attended the meeting to help SECIA elect its new Board of Directors and to direct the future of the organization.

The SECIA office will remain open and staffed until at least summer of 2011, as the community voted unanimously to allocate retuned program funds to continue the work of the staff and office. This is an important time for SECIA, as the City of Minneapolis launches its new Neighborhood and Community Relations Department (NCRD) to eventually replace Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP). Allocating the returned program funds will allow SECIA to bridge the gap between the end of NRP funding and the start of NCRD funding.

The community reelected Joan Menken, Jeremiah Peterson and Stewart Smith to the SECIA Board of Directors. We’d also like to welcome Kaying Thao, a graduate student living at Como Student Community Cooperative, and Phil Roban, a med student appointed by the Graduate and Professional Student Assoc., as our newest Board members.

We’d like to thank Inspector Schafer of the 2nd Precinct for his keynote address, as well as Hennepin Commissioner McLaughlin, and Council Members Gordon and Ostrow for their remarks. Finally a quick thank you to the U of M Student Liaison Program for providing the beverages for Annual Meeting. Here’s to a new year at SECIA!

U of M Petition Letter

The SECIA Livability Committee has authored the letter/petition below, to be sent to University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks. The letter's intent is to inform President Bruininks how dismayed we residents of SE MPLS, who are also U of M constituents (grads, employees, donors, faculty, grad and professional students, family members of the afore mentioned), are about the bad reputation that our University, and our community, has acquired due to the behavior of U-related young people when out in the community. The idea is to seek signatures from anyone who has any kind of affiliation with the U and who also lives in SE MPLS, and after we've collected these signatures, mail President Bruininks the results.

The letter is below. If you would like to sign this petition, please use this short, three-question survey, (or visit www.secomo.org, under Housing and Livability). Please be patient, as it may take a bit for the letter/petition to load, depending on your connection speed.

Dear President Bruininks: 

We write to you as concerned constituents of the University of Minnesota – graduates, Alumni Association members, donors, faculty , staff, and graduate and professional students – who are also residents of the three neighborhoods of Southeast Minneapolis, Marcy-Holmes, Prospect Park-E. River Road, and Como neighborhoods.  

With dismay, we have seen the reputation of our University, and with it the reputation of Southeast Minneapolis and its neighborhoods, tainted by the uncivil behavior of University-linked young people.  This process is not a new one; its progress has driven away many of our stable renting and home-owning neighbors for years.  However, the riots, public drunkenness, fires, intimidation, defiance of authority, and violence of the last several years in our Southeast community are making it increasingly difficult to build and maintain the community of stable residents that we feel sure the University would like to see around its Minneapolis campus. 

We see that the wider community, and even the student community, no longer chooses to live in Southeast Minneapolis.  Several of us heard the current Minnesota Student Association president and another MSA officer say that they choose other areas because of the reputation of Southeast Minneapolis.  According to various surveys and research, undertaken as part of the Impact Study (2006-07), many University employees no longer seek housing in the Southeast neighborhoods. 

We believe the University must take highly visible and continuing steps to counteract these damaging impressions.  The current community and University efforts to promote the health and environmental effects of living near one’s work will be for naught if these incidents continue to build an unsavory reputation for our neighborhoods. 

We look forward to hearing and seeing strong action by the University of Minnesota as soon as possible. 

Sincerely,

Fare for All

Fare For All is a program to help stretch your food dollar. Each month you can order from a variety of five packages of food, pay for it and pick it up the following month. Packages contain a variety of healthy, fresh, quality food items, including fruits, vegetables, frozen meats and staple items. It is open to all - there are no income-based requirements. Pick up your food and order the next month’s food every third Saturday from 9:00-10:00 AM at Southeast Christian Church. The schedule for November and December will be November 14 and December 12. For more information or to order food, call Fare For All at 763/450-3880 or visit their website at www.fareforall.org.

Van Cleve Park Programming

Fundamental Basketball - Children will develop fundamental basketball skills in a positive, encouraging atmosphere. The program will focus on skills development, team concepts, and sportsmanship. Practices start in mid-December at the team’s home park. Practice Wednesday night 6 to 7pm. Games will be held at Bottineau Park on Friday nights at 6:15 & 7:15pm from January 8-February 12. Ages 7 to 9 years old $ 20.00 – register at Van Cleve.

Skating Season - December 19th-February 15, 2010 weather permitting - Warming Room hours: Monday-Friday 3-9pm, Saturday 10am to 8pm Sunday: noon-5pm

Senior Group - Senior get-together on Thursday mornings at Van Cleve Park. Cards, conversation, meals, and activities. Call Pat Olson, Senior Coordinator for info. and schedule. 612-370-4926 Every Thursday morning, 9:30 to 11:00am.

311 and 911 Reporting Tool

The Student Neighborhood Liaisons, in conjunction with SECIA, are asking residents to report their calls (emails) to 311 and 911 through a new survey tool located on the SECIA website under the Housing and Livability section. This information will allow the Liaisons to collect data on emerging trends in the neighborhood, enabling them to respond to the needs of their blocks. SECIA has also used this data to work with the 2nd Precinct and Council-member Gordon’s office to address specific problems in the community, such as house parties. Your feedback has encouraged the City to concentrate more attention to 15th Ave SE, especially during U of M Gopher football games. This doesn’t mean that the issues on 15th have been resolved, but the City is more actively addressing the issues of safety, loud parties and parking because residents have taken the time to report their issues. We need you to continue to call the authorities. So the next time you interact with 311 or 911, let SECIA know, and we’ll follow-up to make sure you’re being heard.

2010 Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour Wants Your Home!

The 2010 Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour is looking for homeowners and home improvement professionals who would like to put their homes on the Tour. Nomination/applications are due Thursday, January 21, 2010, and early submissions are encouraged. The Tour, in its 23rd year, will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 24 and 25, 2010.

Past participating homeowners have said they “liked the incentive” to get their home improvement projects done in time for the tour, though it is not necessary to have remodeled the whole house. “It was nice to get all the compliments from strangers to reinforce what I’d heard from friends and family,” said one homeowner.

“Contractors often help staff the homes, and homeowners ask their families and friends to contribute a few hours,” said Margo Ashmore, Tour coordinator. “A good support network hosting the home makes it fun. Talk it up at fall and winter gatherings. Community leaders also should start now, identifying individuals or clusters of well-kept and remodeled homes to ask to participate.”

Contractors and other vendors may nominate homes they have worked on, and are encouraged to call for more information. Green, energy efficient, and historically sensitive remodels and expansions get special notice. Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) manages the tour as a celebration of city living that encourages homeowners to improve existing homes. Many organizations and businesses sponsor the tour.

For more information, call Tour Coordinator Margo Ashmore at 612-673-5103 or email her at link@nrp.org. The application can be downloaded from www.MSPHomeTour.com under “nominate.”

Holiday Light Recycling

The SECIA staff noticed that the options for recycling broken incandescent light strings were inconvenient to SE Minneapolis residents. To remedy this, the SECIA office signed on to be a drop-off location for broken holiday lights. Light recycling fits right into the Como Green Village waste reduction efforts.

The light recycling is sponsored by the Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM) and it’s appropriate that there is a drop off in SE Como because the lights are disassembled right in the neighborhood! PPL Industry's job training facility on 15th Ave SE eventually receives the broken light strings and employees there take apart the strings. Each element of the light string is directed to its own recycling process, for example the bulbs are recycled into tiles, asphalt and fiberglass, and the metal in the cords is captured in another process.

To recycle your unusable light strings, just bring them to SECIA's office from now until January 10th. It is recommended that you call ahead to make sure a staff person will be there. Some evening hours are available.

Since early December, 15,000 pounds of light strings have been diverted from landfill or the garbage burner through this program.

Como People of the Past: The University vs. the Railroad

As World War II ended, the federal government offered universities around the country free Quonset huts, trailers, and other temporary shelters to house returning veterans who would use the G. I. Bill to finance a college education. The land-grant University of Minnesota expected a huge influx of G.I.s in 1945 and 1946, and began to search for temporary housing sites. One of the areas they selected was east of 27th Ave. SE, both north and south of Como Ave. Some of that land was vacant, some was not. But the University, with the state’s power of eminent domain, could take any property it wanted.

The four blocks of Hallowell’s Addition (Como Ave. to East Hennepin Ave., between 27th and 29th Aves. SE) were platted as residential in the 1880s but in 1945 were still un-built. A railroad had bought the land cheaply in 1895, in the midst of a national financial Panic, but had left it vacant. A Minneapolis real estate broker, ostensibly helping the University find land for G. I. housing, told the railroad that the University was interested in Hallowell’s Addition and that campus officials believed they could get it cheap. After all, with no sales activity for five decades, the land didn’t have an updated market valuation.

Here the wily University of Minnesota met its match in the wilier Railroad Company.

In eminent domain cases the “taker” must pay a fair market price. A vice-president of the railroad held a secret meeting, in his private rail car at the company’s St. Paul yards, with a wealthy acquaintance from California who, by chance, was visiting friends in Minneapolis. Without prying eyes—and without recording the transaction with the County, as it turns out—the Californian bought Hallowell’s Addition from the railroad, at a pretty price. When the University then approached the railroad with an offer to buy that land at turn-of-the-century prices, the railroad told them of its recent sale, and the amount paid, and directed them to the Californian if they wanted the land.

With its quick ruse, the railroad created, and forced the University to pay, a 1945 market price for those four blocks, and thus made a tidy profit. It seems that both the Californian and the real estate broker also benefited from the deal. But, like the transfer of title to Hallowell’s Addition, those details remain unclear.

Extra DWI Enforcement for the Holidays

In an effort to combat the serious threat of impaired driving on Minneapolis roads, the Minneapolis Police Department and Minneapolis Park Police will conduct extra DWI patrols as part of a Minnesota wide crackdown throughout December. The timing of the effort is relevant as December is among the deadliest months for alcohol-related crashes and DWI arrests.

The enforcement campaign includes participation from 400 Minnesota law enforcement agencies, all deploying extra officers to work overtime hours targeting impaired drivers. A DWI arrest typically results in loss of license for at least 90 days and cost up to $20,000 when factoring in increased insurance costs, legal and other fees. There are more than one-half million Minnesotans with a DWI on record; translating to one in eight Minnesota drivers.

“Avoiding a DWI arrest simply comes down to having a plan for a safe and sober ride,” says Sgt. Scott Olson. “There’s no excuse for driving impaired and putting lives at risk on our roads.”

Each year, alcohol-related crashes account for up to 200 traffic deaths and nearly 400 serious injuries. These crashes and fatalities have been declining in recent years, and the Minneapolis Police Department says enhanced DWI enforcement campaigns have been a major factor in Minnesota’s continuing trend of lower alcohol-related traffic deaths. In 2008, there were 163 deaths, a record low, with 24 in Hennepin County. Despite the drop in alcohol-related deaths, drinking and driving crashes still account for more than one-third of all traffic deaths annually, which is typical for each year.

The Minneapolis Police Department says a major factor for a large percentage of alcohol-related deaths is seat belt use. Each year around 75 percent of the impaired drivers killed in crashes are not belted. According to Sgt. Olson, the state’s primary seat belt law will help officers stop impaired drivers before they do harm to others or themselves.

During 2006–2008 in Hennepin County, there were 51 alcohol-related deaths of which 19 of the persons killed were unbelted.  Statewide during this same period there were 394 alcohol-related deaths of which 256 were unbelted.

“Partnering seat belt and DWI enforcement is a strategy that will deliver the greatest results for traffic safety,” says Sgt. Olson. “The primary law serves as a tremendous tool to stop impaired drivers because the facts show impaired motorists are also not buckled up.”

The primary seat belt law became effective in June 2009. Drivers and passengers in any seat, even in the back, must be belted or in the correct child restraint. Law enforcement will stop and ticket motorists and passengers for belt violations. Seatbelt fines are more than $100.

In the last three years on Minnesota roads, alcohol-related crashes accounted for 519 traffic deaths and 1,159 serious injuries. During this same period, 116,515 motorists were arrested for DWI. In Hennepin County from 2006–2008, there were 51 impaired driving deaths, 124 serious injuries and 23,891 DWI arrests. The local economic impact of alcohol-related fatalities was estimated at $69,840,000. 

The DWI enforcement is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered by the MN Department of Public Safety. The campaign is a component of the state’s cornerstone traffic safety platform, Toward Zero Deaths (TZD). TZD uses a multidisciplinary approach to reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries through enhanced enforcement, improved engineering, educational outreach and efficient emergency trauma response.

For more information, contact Sgt. Scott Olson from the Minneapolis Police Traffic Unit at 612-673-3443.

SEMCOL Annual Report

Learning Dreams Project

SE Minneapolis Council On Learning (SEMCOL) has maintained its interest and support of the Learning Dreams (LD) work of fostering an appreciation of learning and education in the homes of at-risk children in Southeast Minneapolis. In 2008-2009, 80 families participated in the Learning Dreams program. A RoadMap of Learning was utilized to record the learning needs, services, and path of each LD family. The daily log and contact log provide a record of accountability to program funders. To increase the ability of LD to serve families, a process for recruiting and training volunteers to work with families is being designed. A training manual for volunteers as well as an on-line reporting of work with families have been developed. The LD director will move forward with recruiting and training volunteers. Hennepin County reauthorized support of LD through December 2009, with continued support being sought. The Phillipps Foundation has provided on-going support and will continue to do so if matching grants are secured.

Southeast Reads Project

The Southeast READS project supports the guiding philosophy of SEMCOL in its efforts to establish a culture of learning in homes and in the community. Southeast READS projects have focused on encouraging reading in families by collecting and distributing hundreds of books to children in the schools and community centers. In recent years, getting books to children has had a greater urgency because of the limited hours that the Southeast Library is open and the discontinuation of bookmobile services to the neighborhoods.

During the past year, SEMCOL collected new and gently used children’s books with the help of University Baptist Church, University Lutheran Church of Hope, Pease Academy, Pi Beta Psi Sorority, community members, and participants in the Restorative Justice program. More than 800 books were contributed to after-school and summer programs at Pratt School and Van Cleve Park.

On-line Learning Resource Directory

The goal of the On-Line Directory is to provide a web directory of learning opportunities and services for people of all ages who live or work in Southeast Minneapolis. The work on the directory has been done by CURA funded graduate interns from the University of Minnesota. Over the past year, the interns have collected information for many learning opportunities throughout Southeast and built an on-line directory for Southeast learning opportunities. The development of the On-Line Directory took several iterations to move it to its current format. The current format has been simplified to enhance management and usability. Visitors can search for learning information by organization, category and activity. The On-Line Directory now serves as the current public SEMCOL site.

Compiled by Jennifer Franko, Co-President

Southeast Minneapolis Council on Learning

U of M Student Neighborhood Liaison Updates

Caroling in Como

On the 12th of December, Liaisons are pairing up with the University of Minnesota’s A Capella singing group and SE Como residents to meet on Saturday at 5:45pm in Crescent Moon Restaurant to stay warm before everyone arrives. Also we could come meet residents on the way caroling!

We will be singing the fun traditional carols for our neighbors: Carol of the bells, We wish you a merry Christmas, Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Let it Snow and Winter Wonderland! All residents welcome and encouraged to come bring holiday spirit to SE Como. Coffee, Hot Apple Cedar and other treats will be provided! You can bring your own coffee/tea mug to keep your hands warm while singing too! If you have specific song requests or want us to come to sing on your block, please send us an email or call before Friday 11th. Contact our Liaison-Isaac-at 651-308-4140 or email him at fitz0311@umn.edu

Como Cookbook

The SE Como Community Cookbook has been completed, thanks to the work of Como residents and the U of M Liaisons. Contributors will receive a free cookbook, so if you contributed a recipe to the book, please contact the liaisons. The cookbooks are selling for $15, and the liaisons are donating all profits from the cookbook to SECIA. This is one way the University would like to support the SE Como neighborhood, by encouraging community stories to be shared through this Cookbook as well as financially supporting SECIA.

So please help support the neighborhood by purchasing a SE Como Community Cookbook for the holidays. They make great gifts and are perfect for your own home! The recipes are varied, from appetizers to desserts, and they have all been submitted by SE Como residents. Cookbooks can be purchased at SECIA, or you order them through SECIA and the Liaisons can drop them off at your house. The liaisons also want to encourage students to help support their community and they will be offering a Student discount of $7 for the cookbook. Contact liaison Elora, at 651-353-8672 or email turne311@umn.edu for more info.

Winter Community Event Planning

The Liaisons won a grant from the University of Minnesota to host winter and holiday events! So we are looking to partner with residents to hold community events. We are open to create ideas-from hosting a knitting party, ornament decorating, pot-luck dinner to Snow Sculpting. Share your ideas with us so we can use the grant funds to partner with the community and foster neighborhood relations! Contact your Block Liaison or email Jasmine at blan0255@umn.edu.

Last Liaison Coffee Hours for the Semester December 6th, Sunday from 3-4pm at Muddsuckers! We will be thinking of ways to plan winter events for the neighborhood and treat attending residents to a free beverage of their choice! Contact your Block Liaison or email Jasmine at blan0255@umn.edu.

Fire Prevention and Safety

Come and learn about fire and safety prevention from Cassidy Anderson with the Minneapolis Fire Department and the Liaisons. Event will be help with free food and refreshments at Van Cleve Thursday, January 28th with the time yet to be decided. Look for our Liaison flyers and emails that will share more information about our event. Contact Adam Arling at arlin009@umn.edu or call at 612-396-6091.

Adopt a Family

ADOPT A FAMILY this Christmas to help donate items to two Student Parent families at the University of Minnesota. We are looking for learning games, toys, clothing, baby supplies and gift cards for:

Family #1: Mom with 5 yr old girl

Family #2: Mom, Dad, 3 yr old girl, 2 yr old boy, and baby due in February.

A donation of any amount is appreciated to help these student families in need. Bring your unwrapped item or cash donation to the Gift Wrapping and Thank You party on Dec. 10, 2009, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the Van Cleve Park Multipurpose Room. Items will be accepted thru Dec. 14, 2009. Donations are tax deductible. Email Kendre Turonie at neighbor@umn.edu or call her at 612-625-8939 to find out more information on sizes, items needed and other donation options.

Food Shelf in Need

Glendale Food Shelf Needs Donations this winter! The need is up, donations are down. Female hygiene items are especially needed as well as laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid. Glendale Food Shelf is at 92 St. Mary’s Ave, SE. Phone number is 612-342-1954. Hours for donations are 9-3 Monday-Friday and 2-6. Donations can be left at Prospect Park United Methodist Church.