‘Health’ Archives
Don’t Miss Out on Medicare Benefits
By JETTA WIEDEMEIER BOWER for the Senior LinkAge Line Barbara B. lives in Minneapolis, and she got a chair for her husband that helps him stand up after sitting in it and a button to wear around his neck to call for help if he needs it. She got these things because she called the Senior Linkage Line® to ask for help with getting Medicare benefits. “There are people out there who just don’t know what’s available to them,” Barbara says. “Older people worked hard for years, and we deserve these benefits.” Janice H., also of Minneapolis, says there are a lot of people in her African American community who don’t know about Medicare. “They assume it’s not for them because they don’t quite understand it,” she says. “And they don’t realize that a lot of services and benefits are available at no cost.” As the volunteer and outreach manager for the Senior LinkAge Line, I can tell you that Barbara and Janice are right. And that’s why we work to get Medicare information out to people who could be getting the benefits they need and deserve. We can help you get your benefits. Medicare is federal health insurance that began in 1965 for people 65 and older. When you are eligible, you receive a Medicare card with a number that is unique to you. If you didn’t receive a card, or if you’ve lost your card, you can get another one on your Medicare.gov account or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). MEDICARE HAS FOUR MAIN PARTS: Part A helps pay the bill when you’re in the hospital, and it helps pay for a nurse to care for you in your home. It also helps pay for hospice care if you need it at the end of your life.Part B helps pay for doctor appointments, treatments and other care you can get without going to the hospital. It also helps cover tests to check for things that need treatment and shots that protect you from getting sick. Some treatments that help you get stronger after you’ve been sick are covered, and so is some [...]
Free Cooking Class with the Indigenous Food Lab
By MICHELLE SHAW Vern Defoe and Riva Garcia will teach Minneapolis Edible Boulevards next cooking class August 12. Please join us August 12 for our next Minneapolis Edible Boulevards cooking class at the new Indigenous Food Lab Market, located just inside Midtown Global Market. We’re super excited to partner with North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems’ Culinary Program Manager Ismael Popoca Aguilar and his fabulous cooks, Riva Garcia and Vern Defoe. Riva and Vern will teach us how to make Wild Rice Salad with Beans, Roasted Pepita and Sumac. Registration can be found on our Facebook event, or reach out via email. If you can’t attend in person, we’d love to see you on Zoom.We typically hold classes in community gardens to highlight where neighbors can find fresh produce and a space to garden in their neighborhood. In August, we’re co-hosting with the new Indigenous Food Lab Market. They have incredible offerings at the food counter that are made from all Indigenous ingredients. The shop also sells goods from Native-owned businesses so please check it out.In other news, be on the lookout for our 2023 gardens going in on the Southside with our new signs that were funded by the Joint Green Zone Task Force. Stop and say hello if you see one of our new participants out in their garden.Do you know a 9th, 10th or 11th grader who goes to South High or lives in the Corcoran neighborhood (and preferably goes to South High)? We’re hiring one student from each category to work with a youth from Minneapolis Edible Boulevards through December of 2024. The three will collaborate and work independently for four hours a month on the South High Food Forest. They will attend monthly/bi-monthly meetings, write articles, engage with neighbors at community events, develop events, and create social media content to promote the garden, youth activities, and community engagement. Any interested youth should reach out to Michelle at [...]
Dr. Fardin Oliaei, ‘Whistle Blower’ Has Same Warning, 20 Years Later
By MAXIME GROEN, Women’s Environmental Institute With recent headlines that read “I was exposed to these chemicals and… I will die with this cancer,”, ”How can I avoid eating food with ‘forever chemicals?”, and “There must be something in the water,” there’s a warning, and they all have to do with something called PFAS.Over the past 20 years, PFAS is a term that has been increasingly discussed in corporate offices, the media, Congress, and even hospital rooms.What exactly are PFAS? Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS for short, are a class of chemical compounds that were created by humans in the 1940s. PFAS has been used in the manufacturing of cookware, cosmetics, carpeting, fast food wrappers, sunscreen, fire extinguishing foam, and many more everyday products. These chemicals do not break down over time and, instead, accumulate in peoples’ bodies and the environment, giving them the nickname “forever chemicals.” However, despite evidence that links PFAS exposure to pregnancy complications and various types of cancer, PFAS are not yet considered a hazardous material by the EPA (however, a proposal to do so was issued in August 2022, for which public comment closed on June 12, 2023).While PFAS have more recently been a topic of wide discussion, researchers started noticing and documenting these harms decades ago. One of these researchers was Dr. Fardin Oliaei, and she paid the price of being a whistle blower.Why has this issue taken so long to reach national attention? Why did Amara Strand spend the final days of her life advocating for Minnesota H.F. 1000 PFAS Prevention Package, now also known as “Amara’s Law”?If we rewind to 2006, nearly 20 years ago, when the Google trend of PFAS searches was a near-flatline, we would have heard researcher Dr. Fardin Oliaei blow the whistle about PFAS contamination by 3M right here in Minnesota.At the time, Dr. Oliaei was the Senior Research Scientist and Coordinator of the [...]
Allina Health Opens New Midtown Bike Center; Anticipates More Changes For Community
By ADAM JUUL, Director, Allina Health Facilities Artists with City Mischief created the 245-foot-long mural outside the Midtown Bike Center along the Midtown Greenway. The mural celebrates sustainability, wellness, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Photo Credit: Bill Adams Photography Allina Health opened the new Midtown Bike Center along the Midtown Greenway bike path this spring and intentionally created an area to be used for retail space.“Abbott Northwestern Hospital is proud to call the Phillips neighborhood home for more than 140 years, and the bike center shows Allina Health’s commitment to investing in this community well into the future,” said Alison Pence, director, Allina Health Community Engagement, West Metro.The bike center aligns with Allina Health’s commitment to sustainability by offering a resource that allows employees to reduce their carbon footprint while also supporting employee wellbeing. Biking is good for cardiovascular health, increases muscle strength and flexibility, decreases stress and more.“We are so pleased with this space and what it’s been offering employees, and we cannot wait for more changes coming soon which we’ll be sure to share with the community,” said Pence. “While Freewheel Bike decided not to open in the Midtown Bike Center, we are working to add a tenant that will serve the entire Phillips neighborhood and people who ride the greenway.”The Midtown Bike Center catches the eye of those who walk or bike by with a nearly 245-foot-long mural on its façade. The mural which debuted in October 2022 was created by City Mischief, a Minneapolis-artist collective. The images depicted in the vibrant mural highlight Allina Health’s efforts toward sustainability, wellness, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Roof Depot Site Lack of Transparency and Call to Attend May 9 Online Hearing
By H. LYNN ADELSMAN It is easy to get lost in the details of the city’s long history of working against a healthy future for East Phillips. This is a history of the city disregarding racism as a public health threat, and ignoring its own prioritization of East Phillips as a green zone. And this comes at a cost that is often unseen but is funded by taxpayers through revenues from the University of Minnesota, the airport, and some Minneapolis suburbs who buy their water from Minneapolis. Which leads to many questions unanswered, including: What is the detailed plan for the Hiawatha Expansion site? How many cars and trucks will be allowed to travel daily in and out of East Phillips? When will the city present its plan to the community? Until now it has only been presented to the park board.What is the total cost for the project and how will it be funded? $75–100,000,000, or more?How many lobbyists and lawyers are working on the city’s plan, and who or what fund is paying their income?Why has the plan to renovate the existing East Hennepin Water Yard been suppressed and not presented to the public? Why hasn’t the public been able to see that study?Has the 2008 Karen Clark/Linda Berglin Environmental Justice Law been applied to the city’s Plan in East Phillips?Is there any limit to the city’s use of the water fund to pay for the Hiawatha Expansion? Already over $14 million has been used to purchase the site, to abate asbestos in the roof depot building, and to contract the architectural firm RSP.Was it ever considered unethical, or a conflict of interest, that the city’s project manager Bob Friddle’s former employer RSP Architects is now the architectural firm contracted for the Hiawatha expansion?Who will gain when the East Hennepin Water Yard is sold? The city has a website that talks about an updated fire station, private developers and housing. Why does the city prioritize the Ward 3 neighborhood for new housing and repurposed historic [...]
Court Hearing Held to Halt Demolition of Roof Depot Building : Ruling expected in January
By STEVE SANDBERG and H. LYNN ADELSMAN Elizabeth Royal, attorney for EPNI, addresses the crowd following Dec.15th hearing at Hennepin County District Court. Source:Terry McDaniel At 7:30 AM on Thursday December 15, with 120 listening in, lawyers for the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI), and the City of Minneapolis presented their cases at a hearing in Hennepin County District Court before Judge Edward Wahl. Oral arguments against demolition of the 5.3 acre Roof Depot building were presented by a three lawyer team led by Elizabeth Royal, who was joined by Jessica Blome, and Miles Ringsred. Mark Breslin from the City Attorney's Office, supported by our tax dollars, argued for the City. He argued that there was no risk to the community from demolition of the Roof Depot, and that an expanded maintenance yard posed no significant increase of pollution, and would bring only benefits. The community lawyers argued that what is needed is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which would look at the existing cumulative levels of pollution, then evaluate the city’s plan, which would in part increase diesel traffic, thereby increasing health disparities such as asthma, cancer and heart disease, in our community. A ruling is expected in January. The judge will either grant an injunction to delay the demolition, or deny the request for an injunction, thereby clearing the way for demolition in February. If an injunction is granted, the judge will set a bond amount that EPNI would have to post in order to proceed to trial. The City requested the judge impose a bond of $4.5 million. This is an unheard of and outrageous amount. EPNI lawyers argued that the City’s situation is of its own making. The City continues to appropriate and spend money on their maintenance facility expansion despite being fully aware of legal questions posed by the 2008 Environmental Justice Law. The City continues to reject opportunities to work [...]
