NRP Success Stories - Ward 5 - Some of the Success Stories from Ward 5

• Harrison Community Center – Residents of Harrison, through the neighborhood association, collaborated with the Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to raise public and private funds for construction of a replacement Level 5 school and a single building to house the programs of all three partners.  The school/park/neighborhood facility is three-times the size of the original facilities used by the partners and the joint use allowed unification of the park and more green and play space for residents.  The new building will be the home for the Harrison Neighborhood Association for the next 20 years. The Harrison Neighborhood Association allocated $300,000 of its NRP dollars for the project and conducted a capital campaign that raised an additional $400,000 from private sources.

• Tool Lending Program - Many Harrison residents have wanted to improve their homes, but have lacked the necessary tools and equipment. NRP funds provided the needed support for a tool-lending program that lets Harrison residents borrow tools at no cost from Broadway Rental.  More than 150 tool vouchers were provided in 2004.

• Glenwood Lyndale Clinic - NRP provided funds to renovate the site that houses the clinic and for outreach efforts that encourage and support the participation of immigrants. Initiated by the Sumner Olson Residents Council, this clinic provides culturally sensitive health services to residents in surrounding neighborhoods – especially to mothers and children of immigrant families.  The clinic receives more than 10,000 patient visits per year from more than 1,600 users. 

• Home Improvement Programs - Nearly $8 million in NRP funds (including program income) has been invested in Jordan’s housing stock through revolving loans, purchase / rehab loans and subsidies and major housing redevelopment efforts.  Even though home improvement programs have become commonplace in NRP, the programs in Jordan are among the best.  Jordan’s NRP funds have been used to improve over 400 properties. The program is structured so that it helps those who need it most; the annual income for recipient’s has averaged under $30,000.

• Community Garden – When crime rates recently began climbing, residents invested a small portion of their NRP crime and safety funds in improving a vacant lot bordering a troubled corridor.  The garden they established has become a neighborhood gathering spot and a symbol of hope.  

• Jordan Park Inprovements - Jordan contributed $100,000 to partner with the Park Board in making significant improvements to Jordan Park last year. 

• North Regional Library - The neighborhood also contributed some of its NRP funds to the recent renovation of North Regional Library.  

• West of Penn Development Project – Residents in the Near North and Willard Hay neighborhoods invested $175,000 in NRP funds to convert two formerly blighted buildings into 11 artist studio spaces and two community galleries.

• Minneapolis Urban League’s Glover-Sudduth Center for Urban Affairs and Economic Development – This $6 million facility brought a treasured community institution home to the formerly vacant corner of Plymouth and Penn Avenues. The Glover-Sudduth Center contains a new employment and training center that provides unemployed and underemployed community residents with marketable and upgraded job skills and serves as a business incubator for six small businesses.

• Single Family Housing Rehab Program - The Near North/Willard Hay NRP housing committee invested nearly $1.5 million of NRP funds to acquire approximately 35 vacant properties throughout the neighborhood, renovate them, and resell them to new homeowners.  When residents from the Near North and Willard-Hay neighborhoods developed their housing plan, one of their primary goals was to return vacant properties to homeownership. Besides costing the city thousands of dollars in lost tax revenue, vacant properties depress the value of neighboring properties and discourage private investment and economic development.

• New Housing Construction –Near North/Willard-Hay invested $39,104 in the construction of four new houses to help keep them affordable to low income buyers.

• Home Improvement Loans –Northside Neighborhood Housing Services has used $1.2 million dollars of Near North Willard Hay NRP funds to make $5 million in home improvement loans to neighborhood residents. The 325 loans, which average about $15,000 per home, have generated approximately $3.3 million in exterior improvements to single family homes, $1.5 million in interior improvements to single family homes, and $200,000 in improvements to multi-family properties.

Glenwood Lyndale Community Clinic – NRP provided funds to renovate the site that houses the clinic and for outreach efforts that encourage and support the participation of immigrants. Initiated by the Sumner Olson Residents Council, this clinic provides culturally sensitive health services to residents in surrounding neighborhoods – especially to mothers and children of immigrant families.  The clinic receives more than 10,000 patient visits per year from 1,646 users. The Clinic’s impact on the provision of health services to the new immigrant communities has been recognized with national awards from the American Hospital Association and SmithKline Beecham.