Tabitha Montgomery, Executive Director of the Powderhorn Neighborhood Association
BY KAY SCHROVEN
The 2024 Southside Summit kicked off on Friday evening, Nov. 8, at the historic, renovated Coliseum building (E. Lake St.) A crowd of about 100 gathered over a delectable buffet provided by Baba’s Hummus House and Mana’eesh Bakery. Many of the attendees are, have been or want to be involved in improving and revitalizing Southside neighborhoods. The opening social hour was an opportunity to meet and mingle; revisit friends, partners, neighbors, and colleagues.
Tabitha Montgomery, Executive Director of the Powderhorn Neighborhood Assoc. (PHNA) opened the Summit with an inspiring introduction and led us through the evening’s event. While she did not directly address the recent reelection of Donald John Trump, attendees were perfectly capable of reading between the lines. She spoke about “Getting Up,” starting with the description of a child falling off their bike and surely someone dishing the sage advice “Get UP!” She followed this with descriptions of various scenarios where one might fall or lose ground and the only solution is to get up and keep going, to keep the faith. (Translation: do not accept defeat.) Clearly Montgomery’s message and the message of the Summit were about unification, not divisiveness.
Joe Davis (writer, speaker, poet,) followed Montgomery with additional encouraging words. He travels near & far speaking with folks about health & wellness. He is the founder and Director of Finding Your Freedom Practice. (JoeDavispoetry.com)
This year’s focus was on “One South,” (Is this a take on Bob Marley’s “One Love”?) all about the unification of the Southside neighborhoods and an emerging initiative by seven neighborhood organizations. The goal of One South is to unlock collaboration amongst these organizations and associations to create a stronger, community centered unit with more resources and bargaining power.
Montgomery introduced a panel of four representatives – all with impressive experience and histories in our neighborhoods:
Alicia D. Crudup, Executive Director (E.D.), Kids in Kinship
Rachel Boeke, E.D. for LEAD MN (Former E.D. for Longfellow Community Council)
Brandon Long, E.D., Nokomis East Neighborhood Assoc. (NENA)
Eric Gustafson, Corcoran Neighborhood Assoc. (12 years)
Montgomery posed questions to the panel: the day-to-day issues they face, why they engage in this type of work, and what their challenges are. We heard about the challenges representing diverse populations with varied interests and the variety of issues our communities face. There were discussions about change, how inevitable it is and how many resist it. Yet, because it is inevitable we would be wise to participate in what the changes will be. That is, influence decision makers.
The issues are far reaching as any urbanite knows; affordable housing, lack of resources, low wages, land stewardship, etc. Much of the work is and will be relational (vs. transactional.) There seemed to be an understanding amongst attendees that communities need to care for themselves, with low expectations that the city will aid and assist with neighborhood issues, such as air quality. The example given was the Roof Depot site, where an extension of one year for raising needed funds has finally been granted after a long, arduous battle between the East Phillips Community and the city. If the funds can successfully be raised an urban farm is planned for the site.
One South is a grass roots effort where the movers and shakers are wearing many hats, giving of their time and skills and now reaching out to expand their circle of influence. A story was shared about one of the organizations getting a call in which they were asked “Who is your I.T. person?” There was laughter in the room. Why? Because most seemed to understand that an I.T. person is a luxury. In the grass roots, neighborhood assoc. and not-for-profit world “You just figure it out.” You might be the janitor, human resource rep, administrator and tech expert all rolled into one. You develop a wide range of skills. This is one of the pluses of doing this type of work. But too often these multi-talented individuals are lost due to low wages, creating high-turnover and instability.
In closing there was a call to action for residents of the South neighborhoods to get involved, to contribute their (sometimes hidden) talents. Community leaders spoke: “We need market and legal support. Home is bigger than your living room, it is your neighborhood, your children and grandchildren’s place – so what do we want it to be? If we do not shape it, someone else will.”
This event was organized by PPNA and sponsored by SENA, Corcoran Neighborhood Assoc. and the Longfellow Community Council.
[email protected], 612-722-4817
