News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Saturday December 20th 2025
Residents fighting for future entrepreneurs
Indoor urban farm supporters question why city is ignoring engaged community members who don”'t want public works at Roof Depot
TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) members (left to right) Steve Sandberg, Dean Dovolis and Karen Clark discuss the way their proposed indoor urban farm site will benefit local residents.
by Tesha M. Christensen
You don”'t get a second chance after a building is torn down, and that”'s why the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) says it is working so hard to save the 230,000-square-foot Roof Depot structure from the wrecking ball.
Architect Dean Dovolis doesn”'t want to look back and say, “It could have been a community development.”
Instead, he firmly believes, “This is the right place to provide a future for the community.”
Dovolis designed the first rendition of the East Phillips Indoor Urban Farm (EPIUF) in 2014 that would have used all 7.5 acres at the Roof Depot site (1860 E 28th St.).Â
Childhood
Elevated Blood Lead, Arsenic, and Per Capita Income
And then he designed the 3-acre proposal, the 2-acre proposal and the 1-acre proposal as supporters sought a compromise with the city who purchased the property out from under them in 2016 after threatening to acquire it through eminent domain if necessary.… Read the rest “Residents fighting for future entrepreneurs”
ADDICTED NO MORE
Augsburg Fairview Academy students hear real life stories from Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge participants
LUCY PREYSZ
Teens shared their stories with other students during a Know the Truth presentation at Augsburg Fairview Academy. Left to right: Anthony, Troy and Casey. We hope that if you are ever faced with a situation where drugs are involved that you remember our stories,” said Anthony.
by Lucy Preysz
Two years ago, Anthony was 40 pounds lighter and had overdosed three times in one month.
“I couldn”'t stop getting high,” he explained. “By the time I was in eighth grade I had used every prescription pill I could get my hands on. I was addicted to painkillers and took pain medication every day of eighth-grade.”
Anthony was one of three presenters who shared their stories with students at Augsburg Fairview Academy on March 13, 2019 as part of Know the Truth™, the substance-use prevention program of Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. Using a peer-to-peer format, presenters close in age to the students share their personal stories and struggles with substance use, stripping away any glamour or myths and providing students with the facts.
“We don”'t tell you what to do; our experiences speak for themselves,” Anthony said.… Read the rest “ADDICTED NO MORE”
Grant supports Native homelessness
By Lee Egerstrom
THE CIRCLe
An experimental homeless shelter along Franklin and Hiawatha avenues, known as the “navigation center,” soon after construction in December 2018.
Editor”'s note: The article was reprinted courtesy of The Circle.
The Bush Foundation has awarded the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) a two-year, $207,000 grant to explore community-based solutions to the chronic homelessness problems for Native Americans in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis-based NACDI is leading the effort but is working in tandem with the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors (MUID) umbrella organization for Native groups. It also has enlisted outside consultants on the project, the Lakewood, Colo.-based Indigenous Collaboration Inc.
This came about late in the past year when Native groups in Minneapolis, working with the city and with various state and local agencies and nonprofits, struggled with finding emergency shelter and services for the Minneapolis homeless encampment in the Franklin and Hiawatha Avenues area of south Minneapolis.
That encampment was known as The Wall of Forgotten Natives. But the 300 to 400 mostly Native people who were living in tents and sleeping bags are not being forgotten, said Robert Lilligren, president and chief executive of NACDI who this year also serves as chair of MUID.
The outdoor encampment was closed in December and 140 people from the camp were moved indoors in tents at what is called the Navigation Center.… Read the rest “Grant supports Native homelessness”
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