News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Monday December 22nd 2025
Backyard Initiative What We Learned
What We Learned
The Backyard Initiative (BYI) is a partnership between residents of South Minneapolis and Allina Health. The Cultural Wellness Center, as lead agency, is the organizer and facilitator of this partnership. The goal of the BYI is to improve the health of residents living in the seven neighborhoods of the area called the Backyard. The BYI improves community health through the work of Community Health Action Teams (CHATs), which are formed and operated by residents in the Backyard. An evaluation conducted in 2016 showed that the Backyard Initiative activities were increasing four health indicators:
- Social support: The many kinds of support that a community member
receives from and gives to other community members. - Social cohesion: The sense of community and belonging.
- Health education: The degree to which community members have the
capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic information and
services needed to make appropriate decisions regarding their health. - Health empowerment: The ability and motivation to take care of
oneself””to attain the knowledge, skill, and confidence to do what it
takes to get healthy and/or stay healthy.
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POEM FOR HOPE
By THOMAS SMITH
I wake, mind and spirit clouded by the news.
Which news? Oh, you know ”” a finger here,
a toe there, the orange mutilations.
The gray sky says that things have been both
better and worse. How did the woman
interviewed
on NPR put it ”” Americans have
developed a preference for certainty
over hope. That”'s the current we swim against.
Damp as it is, the air is surprisingly
clear. Suddenly I”'m not walking alone.
A small hawk, a Cooper”'s, alights on
a low branch, not flying off as I
come nearer, letting me have a good look.
I”'ve never seen a Cooper”'s hawk in this
place, much less at close range. I pull my
breath inward, beholding in sharp detail
the small shapely head with its hooked beak
and burning eye, its wings and tail that so
elegantly charge with life the space around
them. Friends, the greatest realists are those
who, uncertain about their certainty,
keep a door open to hope. This is still
a beautiful planet. You know how geese
before migrating will all at once start
into motion and with a great discordant
orchestral cry rise en mass from the water.
The day is coming when we”'ll do that too.… Read the rest “POEM FOR HOPE”
Transit – The need for speed
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON
There are two pieces of good transit news in the Twin Cities this month: one directly impacts the Phillips Community, and the other mostly benefits those who commute to the southern suburbs.
In the July issue of The Alley, I mentioned that Route 2 (Franklin Avenue) was going to be made faster due to a decrease in the number of stops. That plan went into effect on the 13th of October. I am sure that some people won”'t like this because they may have to do some extra walking, but for those who are able and willing to do it, the time savings will probably be worth it.
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Keep citizen journalism alive!
