NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES | Venture North: A favorite Harrison destination for bikers and coffee lovers

By |

Looking for a great destination within a short bike ride of downtown Minneapolis? Head down Glenwood Avenue and in about 10 minutes you will find a bright red building with a mural on the side. As you walk into the cozy shop you will hear the beats coming from vintage records; then your eye drifts over to the left and you find the coffee bar, where among your options are a cold smoothie, hot tea, or the pour over, which is a cup of coffee made one cup at a time just for you. Then you see the bikes for sale, and now you know you are in one cool place.Venture North has a unique position in North Minneapolis; it is one of the few coffee shops on this side of the city, where bike repair and sale businesses are even more rare and they tie it all together with a youth empowerment service. The youth programs are the heart of Venture North: the staff take in youth and train them as bicycle mechanics and toss in some sales and customer relation skills as well.The empowerment programs and classes include the following: All About Bikes is the bike mechanic apprenticeship program for youth ages 15-23; Pedal Power is a special program for girls ages 10-12; Earn a Bike is a safety and basic repair school for ages 6-12, and upon completion of the program the youth get to keep the bike they fixed. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | An open letter to the faith community: A call to action

By |

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40We are a nation divided.Nothing illustrates that more than the cascading protests, rallies, and ardent cries for justice in the aftermath of the “not guilty” verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. Those outcries and the concurrent spirit of indifference on the part of many privileged Americans tell us all we need to know about how far we still have to go before we see each other the way God would expect.Indeed, the murder of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager, painfully reminds African Americans as a community that in spite of possessing the unsurpassable worth granted by Christ, black life is without value to the broader society.While many of us expected to hear words of comfort, hope, and a renewed call for love and justice in our respective houses of worship, instead most of us encountered a resounding immoral silence. Although this silence has been most pronounced and identifiable recently, it is not new. It has been a hallmark of our hasty acceptance of a supposedly post-racial nation, and has contributed to the suffering of the most vulnerable, and “the least of these” within our society.Poor people in general suffer from limited opportunity and access to basic necessities. However, poor boys and men of color – especially African Americans – not only suffer in ways that degrade their humanity, but they are systematically excluded from equitable participation within our society, are denied access to equal opportunity, and are blamed for conditions that have been constructed to disadvantage them.These young men are often feared, viewed with suspicion, criminalized, harassed, and treated with contempt. Continue Reading

OUR STORIES | Sheeko: Documenting Somali youth diaspora stories

By |

Fartun Abdi is passionate about preserving her generation’s oral histories. Abdi is a member of and researcher with the Sheeko Project, which started in 2011 to document and digitize oral stories of Somali diaspora youth. The project is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center (IHRC), campus faculty, staff, and students.“What does it mean to be Somali? Somali American? Somali diasporan? Continue Reading

OUR STORIES | Young Ethiopian American founds soccer org, gives back to Ethiopia

By |

Mikyas Woldemichael is a 22-year-old Ethiopian American who isn’t afraid to follow his dreams. The University of Minnesota student is the founder of Ra’ey Youth Soccer Organization, which support kids in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in training and improving their soccer skills.He started Ra’ey, which stands for “better vision” in Amharic, a year ago when he went to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to volunteer for Ethiopia Reads. His goal with Ra’ey is to help kids who live in poverty by getting them physically active, involved in their community, and focused on academics. “I don’t want them just hanging out on the street all day and night,” he said. It all started when Woldemichael observed how passionate the youth in his neighborhood, Haya Kilo, were about soccer. But they lacked the resources to properly train and play. All they had – as most children in Ethiopia do – were makeshift soccer balls made of plastic bags handstuffed with scraps of paper and cloth, he said.“I had some soccer balls I gave them. So they asked if I could give them money to buy them matching shirts. Continue Reading

Turning dreams into futures at Fort Snelling tennis center

By |

Now that it offers programs for kids from 3rd-12th grade, Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center Executive Director Margot Willet says Tennis2College is fully equipped to function as a “pathway of age appropriate on and off-court activities” designed to empower kids to achieve high school graduation and college enrollment.Part three of a three-part series. (Read part one and part two.) FULL DISCLOSURE: The writer does part-time communications work for Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center.In doing so, it offers one much-needed solution to a problematic trend in the United States: the well-publicized national achievement gap between well-off white students and their low-income minority peers. Minnesota has some of the largest academic performance gaps in the country—and, as the Pioneer Press reported in 2012, the gaps are persisting despite overall increases in scores around the state.After school programs like Tennis2College have been proven to make a difference in individual achievement, but they have to be done right. High quality programs share certain characteristics: they’re safe, educational, interactive, reflective, well-staffed.Willett and Associate Director Tom Miller have tried to incorporate such characteristics into Tennis2College, which serves close to 100 percent low-income students—though they’ve had to improvise on many fronts.“The fact that Tennis2College focuses on underserved youth starting at 3rd grade and works with them all the way to college is really unique,” says Tony Stingley, Director of Diversity and Inclusion for USTA Northern. “Most programs work with younger kids with tennis and/or life skills, but don’t connect the dots and track them all the way to entry into college.”“I was asking USTA Northern Executive Director Mike Goldammer if there were any other programs nationally that we could model ourselves after,” says Miller. Continue Reading

From one man’s vision to hundreds of kids headed for college

By |

Soon after picking up a tennis racquet for the first time at age 65, Twin Cities businessman Fred Wells realized that tennis could be a valuable teaching tool for players of all ages and backgrounds. He developed a vision of a community-accessible tennis facility with programs for low-income youth. Soon after, his trust funded Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center, which opened its doors in 2002.Part two of a three part series. (Read part one here and part three here.FULL DISCLOSURE: The writer does part-time communications work for Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center.Initially, the Fort Snelling tennis center was intended to be just that: a tennis center.  FWTEC would ultimately exist as a facility, albeit one with an unusual focus on community and youth development. Continue Reading

Chaos, dreams and Tennis2College at Fort Snelling tennis center

By |

It’s three o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon, and there’s something in the lobby of Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center (FWTEC) that you might not find at another tennis club: barely controlled chaos. Kids are streaming through the front doors, and the exuberant energy they tow along is almost palpable. They’re high-fiving staff and racing off to the bathroom; someone produces a bucket of footwear and people start loudly trading in high tops and boots. There’s shouting; there’s a lot of laughter.This is part one in a three-part series. Read part two here and part three here.FULL DISCLOSURE: The writer does part-time communications work for Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center.“It’s loud,” says longtime FWTEC patron and youth program volunteer Dee Dolny, “but that’s kids.”For Margot Willett, the chaos is a happy symbol of a dream turned reality—though she wouldn’t phrase it so melodramatically. Continue Reading

OPINION | Engaging youth In violence prevention

By |

As we participate in Minneapolis Youth Prevention Week (March 18th-22nd), we should acknowledge that there’s an important, untold story about reduction of violence in the Twin Cities.  As President Obama did on his recent trip here, we need to acknowledge and engage youth in helping to reduce violence in our communities. Instilling a culture of peace among youth and utilizing their ingenuity to create solutions with adult decision-makers are some of the best ways to reduce violence across generations. Recognizing that young people have 2,000 hours of discretionary time – nearly twice the time they spend in school, Minneapolis wisely has helped curb youth violence by emphasizing the central role of youth engagement and high quality out-of-school time programs.The peak hours for youth involvement in violent crime — both as perpetrators and as victims — are between 2 and 6 p.m. A California study of afterschool programs showed that violent acts decreased by more than 50% for youth involved in afterschool programs. Closer to home, we have seen a reduction in youth violence in recent years. The Minneapolis Blueprint for Action on youth violence has helped strengthen protective factors for youth, through involvement in intervention programs and connections to caring adults. This broader way of thinking about the time youth spend after school can help reach the young people who are most at risk of causing or experiencing violence. A good example is the award-winning Brotherhood Inc., a Saint Paul nonprofit that helps young African American men ages 16-24 who are involved or are at risk for involvement in gangs or the criminal justice system. Brotherhood recognizes that African American males have moved from being at-risk to being in crisis. They face the highest rates of unemployment and homelessness, and the greatest high school drop-out frequency. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Farview Hmong Soccer Players Help Sanneh Foundation at Gala 4 Goals Fundraiser

By |

Farview soccer players with Tony Sanneh, at Gala 4 Goals fundraiserOn February 2, Farview Hmong soccer players went to support the Sanneh Foundation’s Gala 4 Goals fundraiser.The Hmong soccer players went on stage to let others know how the Sanneh Foundation has helped their players and  team. Talking in front of hundreds of people at Gala 4 Goals Fundraiser10 Year old Jee Vue had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone.  She said:“My name is Jee Vue.  We play soccer for Farview Park in North Minneapolis.  We are Hmong refugees,were born in Thailand, and are still learning English.  Our families are very poor.  The Sanneh Foundation donated soccer shoes to half our soccer players.  We loved coming to the Sanneh soccer camps this summer.  With the Sanneh Foundation’s help, we won two city championships last year and  two more championships this year.  Thank you Sanneh Foundation.”Trying new foodsThe Farview soccer players also had the chance to sample new foods they couldn’t pronounce, such as Gorganzola cheese and Portabello mushrooms.Good job, girls!The Sanneh Foundation’s Gala for Goals was held at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis.  Farview Park is located in North Minneapolis.Last summer, over 50 soccer players participated in the Sanneh soccer camp at Farview ParkSanneh soccer camp at Farview ParkGet the ball away from Tony Sanneh!Having fun at Sanneh soccer campThe Sanneh Foundation donated soccer shoes to half the Farview soccer playersFree Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. The opinions expressed in the Free Speech Zone and Neighborhood Notes, as well as the opinions of bloggers, are their own and not necessarily the opinion of the TC Daily Planet. Continue Reading