Volunteers help seniors live independently in the St. Paul Midway neighborhood

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Jo Ann Olsen said volunteering for Hamline Midway Elders was her husband’s final request before he died.“When my husband was dying, he says to me: ‘One of the things I want you to do, when you have everything settled, I want you to go to the Hamline Midway Elders,’” Olsen said. “And that’s how I started volunteering here, and I’m glad that I did it.”Part of the Living At Home Network and based in Hamline Methodist Church in St. Paul, Hamline Midway Elders was founded in 2001 with the mission of providing services to help seniors live independently in their own homes.This organization is small — a two-person staff, Service and Volunteer Director Monica Gallagher and Program Director Tom Fitzpatrick — and uses 40 to 50 volunteers. Volunteers include people 40 to 60 years of age living in the community as well as college students, including students from nearby Hamline University. (Hamline’s students provide more than volunteer time: one class organized a fundraiser, presenting Fitzpatrick with a check for $1,345 in donations at a conference last month.)Community Sketchbook focuses on the economic and social challenges facing communities, especially low-income communities and communities of color, and how people are trying to address them. Continue Reading

Families Moving Forward-Southwest: Program opening observations

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For the past three years, I have been one of many volunteers working to bring an emergency shelter program for families experiencing homelessness to Scott and Carver counties. Our goal was realized two weeks ago, on Mother’s Day, 2014, with the opening of Families Moving Forward-Southwest. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to see this program in action immediately through volunteering at the program center during the first week. Continue Reading

A way for Minneapolis to reach half a million population

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Minneapolis’ population recently reached 400,000 for the first time since the mid-1970′s. That’s not a surprise if you’re a Minneapolis resident, because it’s hard to miss the building boom going on in some parts of the city, like downtown and along the Hiawatha light rail line. The city government’s goal is to increase the population to 500,000, which it reached for a few years at its peak around 1950. Minneapolis has a infrastructure designed to handle a larger population, but costs are being spread among fewer people. So a larger population spreads the costs out more. Being a political person, I can’t help doing some math and noticing that getting to half a million might mean another one and a half State Senate districts, or three State house districts, either measure meaning more representation in the legislature. Obviously that depends on how long it takes to reach that figure, and what growth happens in the state overall, but in general, more people means more political clout. Continue Reading

Big thinking about change

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Today’s short and sweet blog post simply draws attention to some compelling articles I’ve read lately about creative people thinking big about changing their world. Continue Reading

The stigma of homelessness is tough, but not insurmountable

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You are 19 years old, spending a night in the bathroom of a local McDonald’s with your infant son.There is nowhere else to go. No friend with an empty couch. No shelter bed. No home.ThreeSixty Editor’s note: For privacy reasons, ThreeSixty Journalism is only using the first name of a teenage source in this story.It’s summer and the streets are hot and bluntly dangerous. You are not only looking out for yourself but your baby boy, as well. Continue Reading