June 6 - June 12, 2011 • MN Metro Vol. 37 No. 23 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • www.insightnews.com
We
Care North Side
Suluki Fardan
Elders respond to community crisis By Al McFarlane and B.P. Ford, The Editors By coincidence alone the historic and powerful lead photo image on Insight’s front page last week portrayed men of our community standing and declaring that our community assets and capabilities will be critical to relief, restoration and rebuilding of North Minneapolis following the Sunday, May 22nd tornado. These elders the next day joined the Governor, Mayor and other elected and public officials in a walking tour of the Broadway/Penn neighborhood disaster area. And while the photo accurately reflects that these businessmen, educators and civic leaders stepped up to the challenge of responding to the catastrophe, the photo presents only half of the picture of our community’s impassioned and effective excellent response. As the disaster was unfolding, elders like those shown above, (l-r)Lea Hargett, President of Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce, Kenya McKnight, Director of Operations for Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) Anika Robbins, President of Anika International Cosmetics, Chanda Smith Baker, President of Pillsbury United Communities, Valerie McKissack, President of National Association of Minority Contractors – Upper Midwest (NAMC-UM), Barbara Lightsy, Board Chair, NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, Wokie Freeman
Associate Director, and Makeda ZuluGillespie, Program Manager of Urban Research Outreach/Engagement Center (UROC), and others were marshaling thoughts and strategies that connected assets and resources in service of our community. Cora McCorvey, Executive Director of Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) the single largest landlord in North Minneapolis began assessing the storm’s impact on public housing residents, and the potential loss of homes owned by the city. Hundreds of houses rendered unlivable by the tornado would mean new pressure for public housing… public housing that already has a waiting list of 10,000. Stella Whitney West, CEO of NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center and NorthPoint board chair Barbara Lightsy, and staff looked at the same issues from the vantage point of physical and mental health needs as well as social service needs of Northside residents. MVCC’s Lea Hargett, NEON’s Kenya McKnight, Network, and NAMCUM’s Valerie McKissack surveyed members of their business associations to determine how best to bring forward unique capabilities that exist in our community, to serve our community. Likewise, Chanda Smith Baker began connecting the dozens of agencies supported by Pillsbury to harness and increase their capacity to respond to short term crisis need, and long term restorative challenges.
NORTHSIDE 8 TURN TO
The eye of the storm Moving our community from crisis to stability By Scott Gray, President and CEO, Minneapolis Urban League In a split second, on what began as a normal Sunday in Minneapolis, the harsh winds of change wrought the most shattering tornado to hit our community in some 30 years. In its wake is devastation projected to exceed $166 million as damage assessments continue to reveal ruined homes, compromised non-profit and government facilities, wrecked businesses, and destroyed infrastructures. Our loss has been tremendous, and while it is difficult to think positive and even acknowledge the extent of our loss, we all know that considering the intensity of this storm, we are lucky overall that the loss of life and damages are not more severe. This of course offers little consolation as we all watch our community struggling to find its way back to normalcy. Thousands of North Minneapolis residents, the majority uninsured renters, are faced with the prospects of rebuilding their lives. With the place they once called home in a state of disrepair, uncertainty looms large. Relocation is not easy in this situation – leaving the future unclear. Sure – there’s support out there, but how much support
does the future hold? How long will that support continue? In the face of such disruptive change, it’s only human to at first be numbed by what has happened, then become tremendously upset, searching for a way to cope. Ideally folks will tap into their resiliency, ultimately finding a way to thrive. Our community is to be applauded for swiftly rallying to lend a helping hand. Gov. Mark Dayton, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, and members of the Minneapolis City Council have demonstrated genuine compassion, responsive leadership, and have marshaled all of the resources at their disposal to support a rebound from all the upheaval caused by this natural disaster. United States (U.S.) Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, House Speaker Kurt Zellers, and state Senator Linda Higgins toured the area to see firsthand the extent of the destruction, and surely gained a keen understanding of just how tragically the storm has shattered the lives of this community’s residents. Noted as well, are the thousands of volunteers who have given their time and energy to distribute food and water, offer various kinds of comfort and assistance to those impacted, and are helping to clean up our city.
STORM TURN TO 8