We are excited to share that Nokomis East Food Shelf is celebrating one year of being open.

Nokomis East Food Distribution serves 70 families in the Nokomis East neighborhood. With a group of 20 volunteers, they convert space in the Cross-Town Covenant Church into a store where customers can shop for free food such as meat, dairy, produce and other pantry items. 

The Nokomis East Food Distribution works because of four nonprofits: Nokomis East Neighborhood Association, Good in the Hood, Trinity Lutheran Church of Minnehaha Falls, and Crosstown Covenant Church. Together they stand in the gap of food insecurity.

Would you like to volunteer? 

Would you like to receive food? Please come by Crosstown Covenant Church on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month from 2:00pm-4:00pm.

Would you like to donate goods?

They are currently seeking 50 oz jugs or less of laundry detergent. Please keep in mind when donating, people need to walk with these items in bad weather conditions, so 50 oz jugs or pods would be best.

Learn more about  Nokomis East Food Distribution 

We are excited to announce that NENA, our neighborhood 'Buy Nothing' group, and  Every Third Saturday have begun to work together to donate what is needed. In the last week, Becky, one of our board members, collected 75 t-shirts from our community members to give to veterans in need!

Every month, we will have a new ask. We are excited that NENA, Buy Nothing, and ETS are able to bring the community together to help community members in need! If you would like to participate, please join the 'buy nothing' group on Facebook!

Thank you so much to everyone who made State of Our Neighborhood a success! We had fifty community members come to our event including six elected officials. We are proud of our community and how we came together to help shape the future of our neighborhood. 

We realize not all questions were answered at the State of Our Neighborhood, so we got in touch with Council Members Johnson and Koski to answer additional questions:

1. What is going on with condemned buildings at NW corner of 34th Ave & 54th St?)

              The site of the former Book Trader, 5344 34^th Ave S, was purchased by New Life Properties in January 2023. It is our understanding that New Life Properties intends to demo the former Book trader building, and develop an apartment building/multi-use building on the site. As plans for the demolition of the former Book Trader building, and plans for the site move forward, New Life Properties, and the Council Member will be in touch with surrounding neighbors and NENA.


2. As we start to see more and more electric cars, what are the plans for people who only have on-street parking? I work from home, so charging at work isn't an option.
              The EV Spot Network is a project of the City of Minneapolis, as well as the City of Saint Paul, CHOURCAR, and Xcel Energy, and serves as a network of electric vehicle charging hubs throughout the Twin Cities and make electric vehicles publicly available through a car-sharing service. Each charging hub will be available for users to plug in the shared electric vehicles, as well as for members of the public to charge privately-owned electric vehicles. You can view a map of charging stations here. For more information on Ecel Energy’s available programs for electric vehicles, visit xcelenergy.com/EV.


3. How do you plan to fund The People’s Climate and Equity Plan to ensure that we’re truly dedicated and making traction on our climate goals?  Who is coordinating funding sources to ensure that federal and other dollars are available to support these initiatives?

The process to create a new 10 Year Climate Equity Plan for the City of Minneapolis is a very significant undertaking by the City’s Sustainability Department.  Over the past year, the City has conducted an intentional engagement process with cultural based community groups representing  Latinx, Somalia, Oromo, Hmong and Lao, Native American, African Americans, and youth. Three meetings were held throughout the summer and fall with each of these groups and will have one more meeting with them to gather feedback on the draft plan. They have also been having work group meetings on specific topics with professionals in each of the areas. These groups are developing specific goals and strategies that they will provide to a steering committee. These recommendations will be coming be sent to the steering committee in February 2023 and it will be the steering committees role to finalize and prioritize these goals and strategies. The steering committee is also digging into the funding for these climate goals.
 
The plan will move forward to the Public Health and Safety committee in late April 2023, followed by a three week public comment period before the Plan is voted on by the Minneapolis City Council.
 

4. Cedar Edgewater (Would all attending officials speak to what is going to be done to make the dangerous intersection of Cedar Ave S and Nokomis Parkway E/W safer (where a pedestrian was killed by a hit and run driver recently)? This is an issue that still is not resolved and a death.)

Council Member Emily Koski has been a part of ongoing, multi-jurisdictional conversations regarding enhancements to the transportation and traffic infrastructure within Ward 11, which includes this intersection and the intersection of Cedar Ave South and Edgewater Blvd. 
 
The Council Member hosted a Community Meeting on the Intersection of Cedar Ave South and Edgewater Blvd in October 2022, and invited Hennepin County and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, so we could discuss the work that has been done at the intersection, and receive community input about the future of the intersection.
 
In 2022, the intersection of Cedar Ave South and Edgewater Blvd received replacement pedestrian ramps, an extended median on Cedar Ave South which defined 1 southbound lane and included traffic calming measures for vehicle speeds, and a no left turn sign from Edgewater Blvd onto Cedar Ave South.
 
At the Community Meeting, we shared the proposed intersection changes to Cedar Ave South and Edgewater Blvd for 2023, which modifying the intersection of Cedar Ave South and Edgewater Blvd to right-in/right-out, providing northbound left-turn phase at Cedar Ave South and Lake Nokomis Parkway, and providing eastbound right-turn phase at Cedar Ave South and Lake Nokomis Parkway.
 
I plan to continue to work with the government entities who have jurisdiction over Cedar Ave South, Hennepin County, and East Lake Nokomis Parkway, Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, to encourage improvements to that intersection. And, I commit to engaging Ward 11 Community Members as this work moves forward.
 
If anyone has information about the fatal incident that occurred on January 12, 2023 call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or to submit information online at www.CrimeStoppersMN.org.
 

5. Metro Transit – Light Rail Safety

The Met Council provides essential services and infrastructure including Metro Transit's bus and rail system. The Metro Transit Safety & Security Action Plan summarizes the steps Metro Transit is taking to making transit feel safer and more welcoming. The plan identifies nearly 40 actions that will build upon their work to improve public safety on transit and is organized around three areas of work:
     1. Improving conditions on the system
     2. Training and supporting employees
     3. Engaging customers and partners
Read more about the plan here - https://www.metrotransit.org/public-safety
 
Contact information for Metropolitan Council Members - https://metrocouncil.org/About-Us/Who-We-Are/CouncilMembers.aspx
 

6. Traffic calming measures & Crosswalks

Traffic calming measures are changes to the streets that encourage slower and safer traffic speeds. Our traffic calming goals are in line with several City policies, including the Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries on our streets. Examples of traffic calming treatments are street pavement markings, speed humps, curb extensions, and traffic circles.
Read the Vision Zero initiative
 

7. New process for traffic calming on neighborhood streets

On August 25th, 2022, the new Neighborhood Traffic Calming process was presented to the Public Works & Infrastructure (PWI) Committee. The new process began September 15th. This new process will apply to neighborhood streets and was designed to be equitable, data-driven, and transparent. 
Watch the presentation to the PWI Committee.
In the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Report January 2023  you will find:
·       Details about the new process
·       An application form
·       An updated toolbox
·       Information about how we rank the applications, and
·       A timeline for the annual process
Crosswalks
A crosswalk must meet certain criteria such as a mid-block crossing with enhancement such as flasher beacon, school patrolled intersection or signalized intersection. Without those criteria, a crosswalk will not be installed.
 
If this crosswalk request is a safety concern? Public Works directs folks to the traffic calming process: https://www2.minneapolismn.gov/government/departments/public-works/traffic-parking-services/traffic-calming/
 

8. How can residents get accurate crime data for our respective neighborhoods? The city of Minneapolis crime data dashboard is not up to date. Numerous robberies, burglaries, and gun incidents, including police reports, and some with police involved, are not included.

Update on the Crime Dashboard from the Office of Community Safety:
The Office of Community Safety has confirmed that the Crime Dashboard is updated weekly with crime data. If there are specific concerns, please let your Council office know and we can look into it further.
 

Ron Buhta is the most optimistic and grittiest person I have ever met. He retired seventeen years ago, but laughs at himself as he “is now busier than ever”. A Vietnam veteran and self-taught artist who volunteers at Every Third Saturday (ETS) to help other veterans overcome obstacles such as PTSD, he emphasizes the importance of understanding the past, but living in the moment.  “My life is pretty good. I have a place to sleep. I have food on the table...I’m living good, I want to help other people live good too.” Ron’s story is unique in how he overcame hardship  and used it to help others overcome theirs.
 
Ron served in the Navy as soon as he “hardly graduated high school”. He served for four years (1963-1967) and was on one of the first ships that went to Vietnam at the beginning of the Vietnam War. Serving the majority of his time on two ships, he did small acts to make the ships feel like home. For example, he painted dragons on the anchor holders on one of the ships and drew Peanuts cartoons on flyers to make them more fun for the crew to read. He described how some ships have five steering wheels just in case there is an issue with one of them, and how he learned to steer all five.
 
He discussed the need to “grow up fast” while living in stressful situations traveling the world. He heard “more bombs than you can imagine” in the distance while aboard one of the ships. Some of his friends were affected by agent orange, and he keeps up to date about how the United States is helping Vietnam today. He described the need to be technically savvy on the ship as having a small error such as wrapping a rope the wrong way lead to one soldier losing his arm. He also remembered the good times. One time he (illegally) snuck onto the anchor of the moving ship just to have some time alone. He watched the sea life swim by and was really able to take in where he was. That was one thing that surprised me about Ron—no matter how harsh the situation he described, he would always also talk about a beautiful one that came out of it.
 
A self-taught artist, he began to sculpting after he came back to civilian life. He learned this skill when his 11-year-old son unexpectedly and suddenly passed away. It was the darkest time of his life. “You can sit and dwell on the negative thing, [but] where does that get you? In a depressed mood.” He then discussed how he remembers his son as always being a child and all of the good times they had—it makes him “smile and see what is left in your heart and your mind.”
 
 So how did he find this grit? A friend who is an art teacher helped him look internally to find it. “I went through some hard times, and I was given a wad of clay and I was told ‘do something with it’.” He now casts molds and has sold his art at festivals. He originally thought that when he retired, he would do more art displays, but instead finds more joy in helping others find hope. “Everybody has a creative mind.” He said reflecting on his weekly art class he helps teach at ETS, “When you’re doing something, you don’t have to be an artist, but it [creating art] makes your mind focus on something positive.” He then told me all about his fairy garden that spans his front yard and the joy it gives the children who go to the preschool across the street. He was so focused on the joy he has created today that he never dwelled on the past. He left reminding me that “Today is the day you live for.”
 
ETS has several programs to help veterans including art lessons, guitar lessons, bible study, and free clothes to those who need it.