The Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts and Annual Block Party @ St. Paul”'s Lutheran 28th and 15th Avenue

Gardening, Art, Growth and Laughter

BY TALIA HANSEL AND AUBREY DONISCH

The Young Leaders Program of The Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts @ St. Paul”'s Lutheran has come to an end for the summer of 2017. The past six weeks have been full of gardening, art, growth and laughter.

The Young Leaders brought the community together at St. Paul”'s annual Block Party””they brought their A-Game and their water conservation knowledge to share. By performing a dance about water, the Young Leaders moved the community in a new way by showing gestures of what water means to them and why Water is Life (Agua es Vida).

A central piece of our work was planting native plants in boulevard gardens.  These plants serve two purposes: first, they help attract pollinators. Second, because their roots are deep, they hold more soil, which in turn, helps hold and clean more storm water runoff from the sidewalk.  Everything bit of storm water that runs into the storm sewers in our neighborhood goes directly to the Mississippi River, without being treated.

Young Leaders also traveled all over the city to meet with community artists and activists from locations like the All My Relations Gallery to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization to Walker Art Center (and everywhere in-between).… Read the rest “The Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts and Annual Block Party @ St. Paul”'s Lutheran 28th and 15th Avenue”

4 Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle

By the Phillips Wellness 50+ Team

It”'s challenging to know what to do to stay healthy. Advice from experts seems to change from month to month, and it”'s hard to keep track of what”'s most important.

That”'s why the Phillips Wellness 50+ group strives to take on four simple-to-remember behaviors:

• Getting 150 minutes of physical activity each week (that”'s 30 minutes a day for five days each week).
• Eating five servings fruits and vegetables a day. Think of a serving as about a half of a cup.
• Drinking little or no alcohol (no more than an average of one drink a day for women; two per day for men).
• Eliminate smoking and other tobacco products.

Doing these four things can produce important benefits, including:

• Better functional health (being able to do everyday things) that allows for good quality of life and independence.
• Lower incidence of stroke, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions.
• Decreased depression, stress and other emotional health issues.
• Lower overall mortality.

Phillips Wellness 50+ is an initiative to increase health and well-being, by and for people in the Phillips neighborhood.

We invite you to join us for a weekly group walk. Meet us in the lobbies of Ebenezer Park Apartments and Ebenezer Tower every Tuesday night at 5:45 PM.… Read the rest “4 Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle”

12 Local Auto Shops Help Reduce Hazardous Air Pollutants

Maddie Norgaard, showing the safer brake cleaner with Le Le, lead mechanic and manager of Nicollet Auto Services.

Helping Minnesota businesses develop and implement industry-tailored solutions that prevent pollution at the source, maximize efficient use of resources, and reduce energy use and costs to improve public health and the environment. mntapP@umn.edu

BY MADDIE NORGAARD

The results are in from this summer”'s Phillips Community Air Quality Improvement Project!

In total, 12 automotive repair shops chose to switch to safer cleaning and degreasing products resulting in approximately 3,000 pounds of air emissions reduced per year. Working in partnership with Hope Community Inc., the Lake Street Council, and the Franklin Area Business Association, a Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) intern helped auto shops assess the relative safety of their current products, and then identified safer alternatives available at local retail stores. Participating shops were given free samples of safer alternative products and a starter case to encourage adoption. MnTAP recommended safer products that have no Hazardous Air Pollutants, are low in Volatile Organic Compounds, and minimize Minnesota Chemicals of Concern.

Thank you to all the auto shops making a significant contribution toward better air quality in South Minneapolis:

Alliance Auto

Clausen Service Center

Duke”'s Cars and Towing

Green Garage

Intermaco Auto Body

K&J Auto Repair

Nicollet Auto Services

Lake Street Tire

Red and White Taxi

Rongos Auto Service

Starr Auto Service

Valvoline Oil Change

Air Emission Reductions (per year)-

450 lbs.… Read the rest “12 Local Auto Shops Help Reduce Hazardous Air Pollutants”