‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Southside Roots: Student Led and Community Grown
Illustration: Jake Ryan By OLIVE GRABE and LUCY JARMAN Do you live in the East Phillips, Corcoran, or Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis? Are you interested in workshops and resources centered around keeping food cultural, local, and healthy? If so, you should check out Southside Roots. We are led by South High students and co-led by Michelle Shaw of Minneapolis Edible Boulevards. We prioritize making food healthy and accessible, and connecting with youth and families to make sure everyone has the opportunity to explore urban agriculture. Our program is based around food justice, gardening, outdoor education, and community building. So far our team has planted an edible mushroom bed, three fruit trees, and a community boulevard garden at South High School, and helped plant edible boulevard gardens in our students’ own communities throughout Minneapolis. We have also co-hosted a seed sowing event together with Corcoran Neighborhood Organization and Minneapolis Edible [...]
Conversation with Kali Pliego, Crime Prevention Specialist Extraordinaire
By MARY ELLEN KALUZA and KALI PLIEGO I met Kali for the first time in 2020 after a series of break-ins. I didn’t know what to expect from a “Crime Prevention Specialist”. I was wary, having heard, “Why don’t you move?” too many times over the years. But Kali was kind, empathetic, helpful and enjoyable to talk with. She has also been a generous contributor to the alley in recent years in her position. I thought we all needed to know Kali better, hence this email interview. Credit: Katie Jennings Mary Ellen Kaluza: Your job title is Crime Prevention Specialist. Tell us what a Crime Prevention Specialist does?Kali Pliego: Crime Prevention Specialist is a public education role, with a focus of the education being how to not be a victim of crime. There are so many ways this is borne out through our work. The most common services are updating neighborhood groups on crime trends, giving personal safety presentations, conducting home or business security checks, etc. We [...]
City’s Health Department Awards First Round of Opioid Settlement Funding to Combat Crisis in Underserved Communities and Youth
Press Release March 12, 2024 (MINNEAPOLIS) – The City of Minneapolis is losing community members to the opioid epidemic at an alarming rate. To help combat this crisis, the City is expected to receive approximately $18M in opioid settlement funds over the next 18 years from national settlements reached with opioid distributors and manufacturers. The City has awarded the first round of opioid settlement money to community-based, culturally specific organizations combating the opioid crisis, with a focus on underserved communities and youth.The awardees of the Community Opioid Response & Engagement (CORE) funding will focus their work on treatment, long-term recovery, and prevention to reduce disparities in the number of overdose-related deaths and emergency room visits. Awardees The awardees represent the diverse needs of the Minneapolis population and will increase access to and options for opioid treatment. Their focus will carry out the outlined CORE funding [...]
