On Friday, April 12th an abandoned house in south Minneapolis was turned into an art gallery, open mic stage, and ‘community center’ for a neighborhood struggling with distressed housing issues. Two months earlier, Jessica English spoke with the neighbors in the area and asked them for their opinions, ideas, and permission to habitate the dwelling with her family. The response was positive and supportive from other residents and with the help of Occupy Homes, volunteers, and friends Jessica has been living in a ‘Home’. The evening’s events and purpose attracted many other local homeowners, renters, advocates, musicians, artists, and media partners. As a volunteer at KFAI Fresh Air community radio I was given the opportunity to participate and record the event for use in relation to many of KFAI’s programs and specifically, “The Morning Blend”. I met with and interviewed people who were in the middle of a housing emergency, long-time renters, owners, and the featured speakers. As a formerly homeless person myself it was a wonderful opportunity to help bring more awareness to this issue. The crowd was happy to see and hear some media outlets such as, TC Daily Planet, KFAI, and others are keeping the focus on this complex problem. For audio recordings from the evening please ‘stay tuned’ to your West Bank radio station, contact Rico M., and listen to The Morning Blend later this week on KFAI 90.3fm Mpls and 106.7fm St. Paul or www.kfai.org.
Comment