English: For one-on-one assistance in English, contact Oscar Nieves Rubio at 612-517-9753.

Soomaali: Caawinaad af soomaali ah, kala xiriir Fartun Ismail at (612) 806-8607.

Español: Para obtener ayuda en español, comuníquese con Oscar Nieves Rubio al 612-517-9753 o oscar@whittieralliance.org.
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We, the neighborhoods surrounding the Wells Fargo and Kmart sites adjacent to Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue, are recruiting neighbors to help us envision a vibrant, integrated, multi-cultural and commercial area with opportunities for the community to shop, learn, engage, build skills, build wealth, and build connections.

BACKGROUND: The Wells Fargo site was burned down in June 2020, and has selected Project for Pride in Living (PPL) as the developer to sell the land to. The development of the 2-acre site will include at least 200 units of affordable housing, commercial space, and a branch bank of Wells Fargo. The Cultural Wellness Center is working with PPL to design a broad community engagement process for this site and the broader Lake & Nicollet area to meet this vision (more info at lakeandnicollet.com). They have engaged the surrounding neighborhood associations to help them identify stakeholders who are demographically and culturally representative and knowledgeable about the neighborhood and able to commit to attending all 6 sessions to help shape the outcomes.

The community engagement sessions will be:
--Held both over Zoom and in person
--90 minute sessions from 6:30-8pm on the Thursdays listed below
--Multi-lingual in English, Spanish, and Somali

The dates for the virtual community engagement sessions are:
     * June 3
     * June 17
     * July 8 (planned for in-person, on site)
     * July 22 (planned for in-person, on site)
     * August 5
     * August 19
     * Community Presentation in September: TBD


We are seeking neighbors who will commit to being visible leaders on this project by attending every session (or viewing the recording of each session, if necessary) as a representative for their neighbors and actively participate in idea shares and conversation at each session.

Stipends valued at $150.00 are available for community members to do this work. More info in the application below.

Thank you for your interest in participating!

The Kingfield, Lyndale, Whittier, Central, and West Phillips Neighborhood Associations