Mary Hanson views show as conduit between experts and public

Nation’s longest running, independently produced cable show producer calls South Minneapolis home

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Standish-Ericsson resident and television producer Mary Hanson has been giving a voice to others for over 36 years.
“The Mary Hanson Show” is the longest running independently produced cable show in the United States. It has also been on public television since 1995.
The award-winning show focusing on health and social issues started on a whim.
At age 35, Hanson, a social work consultant attended training at the University of Minnesota. As the speaker ended and the lights went up, Hanson was dismayed to see that the brilliant speaker had an audience of about only 15 people. “I thought, ‘what a shame,’” recalled Hanson, now 73. “He should have had a packed house.”
Photo left: Mary Hanson (right) interviews Reatha Clark King in August 2016 for an episode about “Race Relations.” Clark King grew up picking cotton. She earned her PhD and then worked as President of Metro State and V.P. at General Mills. She also was involved in research that was used with the space program, a popular topic right now due to the recently released movie, “Hidden Figures,” about other African American women who were a big part of the space program. (Photo courtesy of Tracy Walsh)
Mulling over the problem on her drive to work, Hanson passed by the KCHK-AM radio station she went past every day. “I didn’t think about it for one minute. I careened into the parking lot,” she remembered, walked in and asked to speak to the station manager.
He listened to her idea and then told her that he’d been looking for a way to connect with the community. She could do it–if she could find a sponsor.
Back at the nursing home where she worked, Hanson asked the administrator if he’d sponsor her radio show. He, too, had been wanting to do something for the community.
And just like that, Hanson had a show. Her next step was to buy a good tape recorder.
She’s always found it serendipitous that both of the men she talked to that day had been looking for a way to build community and give back.
Three good questions
Hanson’s show, first with the radio station and later with the fledgling cable companies, has always provided a forum for thoughtful, in-depth conversation.
She started with a five-minute show, learning that you can ask three good questions in that time frame. Soon her station manager gave her 10 minutes and kept upping it until she had a half hour show. She has found that for most topics, a half hour gives her enough time to go into depth on the issue. For those that need more, she breaks the topic up into a series, such as the 10-show series on understanding depression and suicide. Hanson pointed out that it is rare these days to get a news show that focuses on one topic for a half hour.
As a trained social worker, Hanson already knew how to ask families hard questions, so it came easily during the show. She has explored psychosocial topics such as blended families and anxiety, while branching out to medical concerns such as Alzheimer’s, infertility, and cancer treatments. Plus she features environmental topics and interviews local leaders.
From the start, she wasn’t afraid to call experts, authors, and other well-known people for interviews. They all said yes.
For her pilot cable show in 1980, Hanson scheduled Tom Wright, a marriage and family therapist, and professor, whom she had interviewed previously for her radio show, and picked a comfortable topic. That way Hanson knew that if she got too nervous and dropped the ball, Wright could carry it.
Photo right: Mary Hanson (right) recently interviewed Dudley Riggs, the Founder of Brave New Workshop and man who helped launch the comedy careers of Al Franken, Jim Belushi and other. His new book, “Flying Funny: My Life Without a Net,” coming out in April will be the topic of a show this spring. (Photo submitted)
As time went on, she started spending more time on the Mary Hanson Show and less as a social worker. However, she still works one day a week as a social worker consultant at Catholic ElderCare, leading support groups and bringing in speakers for families—many of which she’s interviewed for the show.
Making a difference
One of the toughest parts of the job is finding underwriters and soliciting grants. Because she’s not on anyone’s staff, she is responsible for securing funding for her show. In addition to large companies such as Blue Cross and the Hennepin County Mental Health Association, individual donors help keep her show on the air.
“I’d rather be doing something that makes a difference than working a job where I could have a large salary,” stated Hanson.
Photo left: Over the years, Mary Hanson (right) has interviewed thousands of leaders and experts, including Kelly Drummer, the President and CEO of Tiwahe Foundation which preserves American Indian culture and supports American Indians with micro-grants. The Foundation office is located in south Minneapolis behind Savers. (Photo submitted)
The various awards and honors she’s received over the years have been a shot in the arm when she’s feeling on her own. One of the most special awards she received was the Hennepin County Mental Health Association’s C.A.R.E. award in 1985 for excellent educational work.
Hanson strives to present a range of topics that appeal to a variety of people, and she’s received comments from viewers that span Paul Wellstone’s public relations staff to the clerk at Super America.
Up next
For Mary, the hard part isn’t finding topics for the show…it’s narrowing them down.
“In Minneapolis and St. Paul, we have this great bunch of people. You could interview someone every day and not run out,” said Hanson.
The leadership interviews stretch her, as she feels that her strength is helping present complicated topics in a way that viewers can understand them. But she believes it is important to record the stories of leaders so they are part of the historical record. Of the 150 she’s interviewed, about 28 have died. “I’m so thankful I had the chance to get them on film,” said Hanson.
She’s working on how to package past shows together by theme to have available in libraries, schools, and history centers.
Work on translating the depression awareness series into Spanish is wrapping up. It will appear on cable and TPT in the United States and possibly Mexico. Hanson would like to do more on this topic, delving into the experience of teens and veterans with depression.
Hanson’s next mini-series will be on sex trafficking, a topic she’s working on with the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota.
Over the years, Hanson has observed some shifts on social and health issues. An interview she conducted with two men dying of AIDS in the 1980s is embedded in her memory. Back then it was a terminal condition. Today, the future is brighter.
But unfortunately, others are the same, such as child abuse and sexual abuse, and need more uncovering. Last fall, she interviewed Josie Johnson, a nationally known civil rights activist who was also the first African American woman on the Board of Regents at the U of M. When it comes to race relations, “she thinks things are actually worse now,” remarked Hanson.
Over the years, Hanson has interviewed thousands of people, including many who live near her 100-year-old South Minneapolis home, such as Lisa Larges, Outreach Coordinator for the Minnesota State Services for the Blind, and Jack Reuler, founder and Artistic Director of the Mixed Blood Theatre. Other South Minneapolis interviewees include: attorney Joanie Moberg; Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin; Kelly Drummer, Tiwahe Foundation; US Congressman Keith Ellison; DFL Minnesota Representative Frank Hornstein; former US Representative Martin Sabo (now deceased); Tina Feigal, author, parent educator; Cam and Paul Rogers, talking about raising a child with disabilities; Camille Hanson on “An American Artist Abroad”; Roosevelt High School students talking about “The Teen Years” with author, Gisela Konopka, PHD; and stay-at-home dads Steve Richards and Josh Moberg.
Purpose in life and work
Hanson is 73, but she doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon. This is the work that gives her purpose.
“For me, the idea of being a conduit to bring the ideas, vision, knowledge and resources from the guests to the broader population has always motivated me,” remarked Hanson.
“There’s also the personal reward of working with people who are brilliant and dedicated to what they’re doing,” she added. It makes for an enriching experience for not just Hanson, but also her crew of volunteers.
With the 20 hours of research and preparation that she puts in, each show feels like taking a mini college course. “It’s an exciting benefit,” said Hanson.
The Mary Hanson show just completed its 20th season on TPT 2.2 and can be viewed on public television 26 to 30 weeks a year. It is on cable year round, appearing on Channel 6, the Metro Cable Network, which interconnects the 14 cable systems in the seven-county area, as well as the St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), the Minneapolis Television Network (MTN), and the Duluth/Superior cable system (PACT). Each show that she does is broadcast at least four times on public television and 17 times on cable. For schedules, browse www.maryhansonshow.com.
Upcoming shows
On the schedule for Mary Hanson this next year are:
• Betty McCollum, US Congresswoman, 4th district. This environmental advocate is underappreciated in the state, according to Hanson.
• Larry Long, South Minneapolis troubadour, singer, educator who has focused his music on social justice.
• Dudley Riggs, founder of Brave New Workshop, who has written a book about his experience growing up in the circus
• James Jordan, MD, Former Medical Director of the Hamm Psychiatric Clinic
• Alzheimers in the Community, which will run as a sequel to the TPT documentary on Alzheimers
More at www.maryhansonshow.com.

Article appeared in the January 2017 Longfellow Nokomis Messenger.

When illness hit Blue Moon owner, neighborhood offered support

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Blue Moon coffee shop (3822 E. Lake St.) owner Lisa Berg (photo right) is almost done paying off her medical bills, thanks to neighborhood residents and friends who donated $20,000 through Go Fund Me.
“That was a godsend,” stated Berg. “It blew me away.”
After insurance, Berg was left with $40,000 in bills from her hospitalization and subsequent rehabilitation. “I’m a pretty low-income person, so it was a jolt,” admitted 58-year-old Berg. She dug into her life savings, but still came up short.
That’s where the Go Fund Me came in.
As she wrote on the fundraising page: “Your help will go directly to pay the bills. It means so much to me because although asking for help feels difficult, I have to.”
She had to relearn everything
Two winters ago, Berg was fighting what she thought was just a cold that hung on and on. “I just thought I had a bug,” recalled Berg, but she was so very tired. One day her sister and niece visited and could tell that things weren’t right. They called an ambulance.
At Regions, Berg was diagnosed with influenza that led to kidney failure. Following her hospital stay, she spent five weeks at Walker Methodist Health Center.
“I had to learn everything again,” said Berg. “How to walk. How to count change. Sitting up in bed. Dressing myself.”
She praises both the staff at Regions and Walker Methodist for their care and hopes to be able to get to Walker Methodist soon to thank staff personally, although she’s waiting until she doesn’t have to maneuver through the snow. “It was kinda hard—they really work you,” remarked Berg. “But the staff there is outstanding.” Her wonderful occupational therapist started crying when she took her first steps.
Berg left the rehabilitation facility in a walker and returned to her second-story apartment in St. Paul. It was six months before she could make it down the stairs. Each day she practiced stepping down one step and then up. Down and up. Then she added another. Then she could make it down five steps. Finally, she made it down all 17 steps and sat on a bench. To celebrate, she posted on Facebook. “I’m outside!” she wrote.
Through her recovery, Facebook has been a solid source of support. Berg has appreciated the encouragement over each small accomplishment. “Sometimes I’d just cry out of gratitude,” recalled Berg.
She hasn’t been able to make it into her coffee shop much, but when she does, it’s been wonderful. “It’s so nice to go in there and see people,” said Berg. “I just like being there.”
She doesn’t drink coffee at home but indulges in her favorite when she’s there: a little espresso in a dark roast topped with brown sugar cubes.
“Having been fortunate enough to be in good health my whole life, I’m working hard to view parts of the past year as a fleeting illness, a recuperation, and a strength-building exercise,” wrote Berg in a Go Fund Me update to supporters. “And, of course, sometimes I feel sad about it and tired of it. But the coolest things for me are the healing and the good care I experienced and the love of all of you.
Whether or not you are supporting me financially, you are all supporting me in your words and good thoughts.”
22 years as Blue Moon
Berg started working in the food industry when she was in graduate school earning a degree in chemical dependency. She began baking bread and croissants at night in the Gelte’s kosher bakery on Hennepin Ave. in 1984, and then transferred to a day position baking pastries and tortes. Eventually, she rose to manager. Her time at Gelte’s was life-changing, and Berg points to owner Dennis Gelte as a role model for how to run a business and manage staff.
“He taught me how to be gracious and kind and also mindful of the business at the same time,” said Berg.
She left in 1992 to help a friend at Cafe Weird and the offshoot, Weird Kitchen Catering, cooking simple but delicious vegetarian dishes.
Then Cindy Kangas approached her about opening a coffee shop off E. Lake St. in a building owned by John Kolstad. Cindy managed the construction while Berg focused on financing. They gutted the space to the exterior wall, tore down the suspended ceiling, and pushed out the back wall to add a bathroom.
The Blue Moon opened on Oct. 23, 1994. “It was quite an adventure,” said Berg. For several years, Kangas and Berg operated a second coffee shop on Franklin, but divided the business when Berg realized she didn’t like splitting her focus.
Berg has always strived to provide a quality coffee beverage that is consistent no matter who is making it. She does this in part to recognize that people pay a lot of money for their beverages. Plus, others spend their whole lives picking coffee beans and getting them to coffee shops like hers. “That’s a big deal,” said Berg. “So I want to be a good caretaker for their work.”
Gina Palandri was one of the first baristas at the Blue Moon. “Lisa has provided jobs for people (like myself), provided a great, safe space for all the community, supported other local businesses, and provided neighbors with coffee and lattes,” she remarked.
Berg has worked hard to create a space where everyone is welcome, including the LGBT community. She’s never wanted to be surrounded by people who agree with her all the time and finds the diversity stimulating.
Her staff has echoed the customer base and is an “eclectic bunch of people.”
They’ve pitched in to keep the place running during her illness. The coffee shop has continued to stay open 365 days a year, just like always. It wasn’t closed for even a day due to her illness because of the staff.
“I’m very fond of all of them,” said Berg. “I hope I convey to them my gratitude every day.”

Article appeared in the January 2017 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.

What would happen to Lake Hiawatha if dams in creek were removed?

Park Board, City enter phase two of investigation and hope to find preferred solution to water issues at golf course

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
If the level of Lake Hiawatha were lowered, would that keep the golf course playable and stop water from entering nearby basements?
Perhaps.
While dredging the lake wouldn’t help lower the level of the lake, planners are studying what would happen if the existing weirs at 28th St. and Hiawatha Ave. were lowered and the creek dredged between the two. (A weir is a low dam built across a river or stream to raise the level of water upstream or regulate its flow.) The outlet of the lake would also need to be modified.
A plus side to a lower lake is that it would offer more flood storage in the area. When there is a large storm and the area around Lake Hiawatha floods, that’s flood storage, pointed out a Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board FAQ on the issue. The bigger the area, the more flood storage there is. A lower lake level would not only provide more flood storage but also might lower flood elevations. The exact impact is not yet known because it hasn’t been studied.
Recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) adjusted its 100-year flood zone maps, affecting some properties in South Minneapolis. Nearly the entire golf course itself is within the FEMA 100-year floodplain. The level of the golf course could be raised by filling in the low areas.
Photo right: The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) and city of Minneapolis are working closely on a solution to the water issues around Lake Hiawatha and the golf course. Park Commissioner Steffanie Musich (at left), Minneapolis Director of Surface Water and Sewers Katrina Kessler, and MPRB Assistant Superintendent of Planning Michael Schroeder answered questions together at the public meeting on Tues., Nov. 29, 2016. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
While that might reduce the need for pumping groundwater, it would also reduce the flood storage, which increases the chances of roads, buildings and houses flooding.
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Assistant Superintendent of Planning Michael Schroeder stressed that neither the park board nor the city have the authority to make any alterations to Lake Hiawatha or Minnehaha Creek. Permits and approvals would be needed from regulatory agencies that include the Department of Natural Resources, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, FEMA, and the Army Corp of Engineers.
“This is a big problem, and this will take a big solution,” said Schroeder during a public meeting on Nov. 29.
Phase one: water being pumped in a big circle
During the first investigative phase, planners gathered data to understand the scope of the problem.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has been evaluating what to do at the golf course since the large amount of pumping was discovered last fall while planners were working to restore the golf course with $100 million from FEMA.
Photo left: Jeanne LaBore lives near the golf course. She commented that the planning so far seems predicated on the notion that a golf course will be maintained. She questioned the cost of that and suggested that remediation for the homes, such as the installation of sump pumps, might be cheaper. “What’s the best use of that land?” LaBore asked. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
The volume of water being pumped from Hiawatha Golf Course is far greater than allowed by a permit issued by the DNR in 1993 for 36.5 million gallons.
The golf course is currently pumping 263 million gallons of groundwater annually, the amount of water used by a small town in a year, said Schroeder.
Of that, 105 million gallons a year are being pumped in a little circle, seeping from the ponds into Lake Hiawatha and back into the ponds. Of the rest, 17 percent is stormwater run-off, and 50 percent is shallow groundwater. Tests determining this were done from Dec. 31, 2015, to Jan. 4, 2016.
If pumping were to stop, most of the course would be underwater, and it would be shut down.
Planners also realized that turning off the pumps might flood 9-18 homes nearby in the area of 19th Ave. and 44th St. They began meeting with homeowners in June to better understand how deep their basements are and the water issues they face. They also question whether homes farther upstream might also be affected.
Analysts estimate that some nearby basements are at an elevation of 811.3, which falls below the 812 elevation of the lake. The street is at an elevation of 816.3, while the ponds are at 808.6.
Illustration left: This graph shows the elevations of the land and water of Lake Hiawatha. The dark blue shows existing open water, while the light blue shows the area that falls below the 812.8 elevation of the lake, and would be under water if the pumping were to stop altogether. The white area shows the portion of the golf course that is at 813.8. (Photo submitted)
The elevation of nearby Lake Nokomis, which is separated from the creek, is 816. Planners acknowledge that anything done at Lake Hiawatha will affect Lake Nokomis, and plan to take that into account, as well.
Phase two: what’s next
MPRB is now ready to move on to phase two and pinpoint the best answer for the long-term future of the park land.
“We’re going to move through this process deliberately,” promised Schroeder.
He did stress that the property would remain parkland even if the golf course goes away.
MPRB is working closely with the city. “We know that the park board can’t solve this on our own. We’re going to find a solution together,” said Schroeder.
The solution will not just deal with the golf course, but also the trash flow and ecology of the creek.
“This is a very broad and complex issue, and we want to find a good answer to it,” said Schroeder.
Investigations will evaluate what will happen if the park board continues pumping, reduces pumping, or stops pumping.
“If we’re going to do this for another 100 years, we want someone to say it is good for 100 years,” said Schroeder.
Della Young of Young Environmental Consulting Group has been hired to provide expertise, and another technical consultant is expected to be hired.
A preferred scenario with a clear direction forward and costs will be identified by July 2017.
Jeanne LaBore lives near the golf course. She commented that the planning so far seems predicated on the notion that a golf course will be maintained. She questioned the cost of that and suggested that remediation for the homes, such as the installation of sump pumps, might be cheaper.
“What’s the best use of that land?” LaBore asked.
“We think it’s really important that before you get to that preferred concept, you address the ethics of trying to keep a wetland a golf course,” said resident Connie Peppin.
According to Schroeder, the next community meeting will be in March in order to get more input from residents.
How will the trash issue be solved?
The trash that flows directly into the lake without a filter from a stormwater pipe on the northwest side continues to remain an issue for residents. One attendee encouraged the city to put the stormwater somewhere else, not in the lake.
There are only so many options for stormwater, pointed out Minneapolis Director of Surface Water and Sewers Katrina Kessler. There are hundreds of storm drains in the city. “Ultimately, we are responsible to what is flowing off our properties,” she said. She urged residents to consider other alternatives to salt sidewalks this winter to keep that from entering the watershed.
Roxanne Stuhr remarked that much of the trash pulled out of Lake Hiawatha by volunteers has been styrofoam, and she suggested that the city ban these types of containers.
Another resident suggested that the city begin sweeping streets more frequently. Kessler responded,
“We are looking at that.” The parkways adjacent to lakes and creeks are already swept on a bi-weekly basis in the summer.
“This is a problem that takes many hands to solve,” said Kessler, who pointed out that they’re trying to attack it from multiple facets.
The Friends of Lake Hiawatha are encouraging residents to take part in the city’s Adopt-A-Drain program to keep trash from entering the lake. Volunteers commit to clearing leaves and trash from a drain regularly.
The city piloted a floating curtain in an attempt to catch trash entering the lake from the large storm drain last summer. The curtain netted only four pounds of trash. Compare that to the 2,400 pounds kept out of the city’s drains through the Adopt-A-Drain program, said Kessler.
Seventy residents have adopted over 120 drains in the Standish Erickson neighborhood, with 29 of those draining to Lake Hiawatha.

Article appeared in the December 2016 Longfellow Nokomis Messenger.

Wishing for a large grocery store on south side of Longfellow?

Developers eyeing city-identified ‘town square retail site’ near 46th and Hiawatha for grocery store and apartments

By TESHA A. CHRISTENSEN
Are you going out of the neighborhood to grocery shop? You’re not alone.
“Third-party grocery consultants estimate that 85% of the available food dollars leave the Longfellow neighborhood—resulting in more traffic and road miles traveled,” according to Drew Johnson of Oppidan Investment Company.
In fact, parts of south Minneapolis are classified as a food desert by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) because of low access to grocery stores.
Photo left: A grocery store and 140 to 160 apartments may be constructed at Snelling and E. 46th in 2017. The investment in phase one will be $38-$44 million. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
Oppidan hopes to change that by building a new grocery store near the 46th and Hiawatha intersection.
Construction may begin soon.
“Despite grocery options along Lake St., across the river, or further west of Highway 55, a market analysis reveals the area as a ‘food desert,’ so having a grocery store there would serve the community well,” said Ward 12 Council Member Andrew Johnson. “What will be important, though, is which particular grocer moves in. For it to be most beneficial to the community, I believe it has to offer something differentiated from what we already have nearby.”
5.7-acre site
Oppidan owns the 5.7-acre site with a 75,000-square-foot warehouse that Creative Kidstuff leases for its corporate office at 3939 E. 46th St. A landscaping company uses the southern portion of the site near the Dairy Queen and Nawadaha Blvd. The long, triangular-shaped parcel abuts a railroad track that is no longer used.
Illustration right: Oppidan’s plan for the site fits with the city’s transit-oriented development strategy for the area, which places a town square retail site at Snelling and 46th Ave. E.
Oppidan has been working on plans for a mixed-use project in the northern part of the site, with the grocery store fronting 46th St. Snelling Ave. will be extended south into the development and likely curve over to the area between Burger King and the mall.
“This store will bring grocery goods and services not currently offered in the trade area, and what consumers have come to expect in a grocery store: hot food bar with seating areas, grab and go options, large fresh bakery and large deli, floral, and organic offerings, as well as standard ‘center isle’ items,” said D. Johnson.
Early phase one concept plans show between 140 to 160 apartments, and around 50,000 square feet of retail, the majority for the grocery store. The investment in phase one will be $38-$44 million.
D. Johnson pointed out that the plan for the site fits with the city’s transit-oriented development strategy for the area, which places a town square retail site there.
Development challenges include barriers to development such as the high-voltage lattice towers, the cost of new public streets, and managing traffic on 46th and Hiawatha. Additionally, there will be environmental clean-up from some of the former uses at the site, including a coal/fuel company, a lumberyard, a gas station, and diesel storage.
Oppidan was drawn to the parcel because of its large size and location with great transit connections.
“Done right, this project will offer positive features to both new and existing residents/neighbors: additional housing options in a market that has an extremely low vacancy rate, multi-modal access to grocery, cleaning-up impacted soils from historical uses, treating stormwater before it leaves the site, and public trails and plaza areas connecting to other redevelopments in the area,” said D. Johnson.
“Despite being located across the street from Minnehaha Falls, a block from the 46th St. light rail station, and on a bus-rapid-transit line, the property today is mostly a giant asphalt lot… they even pile wood chips out back!” said council member Johnson. “I believe there are much better uses for such an excellent location.”
The sheer size of the property may be its biggest challenge. “This makes a strong vision and good urban design essential, as it is all too easy for most developers to pursue the biggest, easiest, and cheapest project possible to maximize profit and move on. I have seen firsthand Oppidan’s willingness thus far to focus on the details and make the redevelopment of this property a good fit for the neighborhood,” said A. Johnson. “They are also planning ahead for the future so that this site could be combined with others nearby to make a little village for shopping, living, and entertainment that’s integrated with green space and paths to the park and transit.”
When A. Johnson first saw the plan, he suggested some revisions to activate the public realm on 46th St. with commercial spaces and pedestrian-friendly features.
“They broke up the long and bulky building into two separate buildings, and they made some other tweaks to fit better with the site and neighborhood,” observed A. Johnson.
“Moving forward, the city will play a pretty big role in helping make any development of this site a success, as there are some public infrastructure changes to consider, such as extending Snelling Ave. and converting the abandoned railroad tracks into a connection with Minnehaha Park,” added council member Johnson.
Min Hi Line: a linear park
The Min Hi Line Coalition envisions a linear park traversing the space now unused by railroad tracks, of which the area within the grocery store development is the southernmost link to Minnehaha Park.
Since 2001, the city’s master planning guiding documents have also promoted the old rail right-of-way being turned into a linear park. A bike/walk trail in this area would create a protected connection between the Midtown Greenway and Minnehaha Pkwy, and complete the Longfellow Grand Rounds, as noted in the Minneapolis Bicycle Master Plan.
The Min Hi Line Coalition (www.minhiline.org) aims to incorporate park space with public art, trails, streets, historical markers and storm water management. Successful precedents from across the country, such as the Atlanta Beltline, New York High Line, and Minneapolis Midtown Greenway serve as models and guide the work.
Share your comments
The developer’s next step is to engage with community stakeholders.
Learn more on Tues., Jan. 3 at the Longfellow Community Council’s Neighborhood Development and Transportation Committee meeting at the Longfellow Recreation Center (3435 36th Ave. S.), at 7:30 p.m.

Appeared in the December 2016 Longfellow Nokomis Messenger.

Homeless grandparents will soon call Frey Flats home

Alliance Housing pulling together funds to construct apartments along E. Lake for single, homeless adults over 55 

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
“Would you want your parents or grandparents homeless?” asked Alliance Housing Inc. (AHI) Executive Director Barbara Jeanetta. “It is nearly impossible for anyone to accomplish much positive in their lives without stable housing.”
To help ease the problem of homelessness in those over 55, AHI is constructing a four-story apartment building with 41 studios to house homeless single adults age 55 and over. Frey Flats will be built on the vacant lot at 3001 E. Lake St.

Photo right: (From left), Alliance Housing Inc. Executive Director Barbara Jeanetta and Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper talk with Alliance Housing rooming house residents Richard Love, Michael Huffman and Tracy Muse on Tues., Nov. 15, in Minneapolis. Piper announced this year’s Live Well at Home grants while visiting an Alliance Housing Incorporated building in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood that serves primarily older Minnesotans with low incomes. Alliance Housing is receiving $700,000 to help build a new 41-unit affordable housing project in the Longfellow neighborhood to serve older homeless adults, a population that is on the rise across Minnesota. In 2015, the number of homeless adults age 55 and older was 843, an 8 percent increase from 2012, according to Wilder Research’s most recent one-night statewide study of homeless people. (Photo submitted)
Homelessness in adults over 55 is the only growing area of the homeless population in Hennepin County. The problem is expected to get worse as the number of Baby Boomers over 55 grows in the next decade.
Statewide, the 2012 single night Wilder Survey counted 777 men and women aged 55 and older, which is a 47% increase in their numbers over the 2009 Wilder Survey. In 2015, the number of homeless adults age 55 and older was 843, an 8 percent increase from 2012.
What people don’t understand
Jeanetta has found that most people don’t understand the level of chronic homelessness among adults over 55.
“Many of these adults have never had a place of their own or certainly not for many years,” said Jeanetta. “There is a high level of alcoholism and mental illness. Housing has proven to mitigate the problems from both.”
AHI plans to have a capable, experienced service provider on staff through Touchstone Mental Health that can address the health, well-being and behavior of tenants.
There are good examples of how stable housing and a supportive community environment are a foundation for a more positive lifestyle and opportunity to make other positive change. The lack of it leads to other chaos.
A 2012 report sponsored by the Family Housing Fund, “Financial Implications of Public Interventions on Behalf of a Chronically Homeless Family” documented significant savings of public dollars in emergency medical care, foster care, substance abuse treatment, and incarceration when people have stable and supportive housing.
Also, these elder adults are easy victims of assault, theft and other crime that further sets back opportunities for stability.
A shelter bed at Hennepin County cost $30 a day. A hospital stay at Hennepin County Medical Center for alcohol/drug use treatment is a minimum of $4,169 a day. A night is jail is $378 per day.
A room at an Alliance Housing facility costs $9-15 a day.
More than a bed
Optimistically, AHI will begin construction on Frey Flats in 2018.
“To keep rents affordable to very low-income persons, we raise money from public sources that don’t have to be repaid (city, county, state),” explained Jeanetta.
Currently, AHI has raised $1.2 million from the Department of Health Services and the city of Minneapolis. AHI has a $500,000 request pending with the Federal Home Loan Bank and will ask the State Housing Agency for about $8 million in the summer of 2017. AHI also needs housing infrastructure bonds that will need to be authorized by the State Legislature in the 2017 session.
While the design has not been finalized, it will include community, office and service space with a traditional storefront look.
The building will have elevators, a sizable community room, an office for rental and tenant services, a laundry, and storage areas. The efficiency units will all be furnished.
Outside there will be an area for grilling and a small area to raise vegetables and flowers.
AHI intends to operate the building with a live-in caretaker and a secure front desk. Very often, persons moving out of homelessness lose their housing because they cannot keep their old friends and associates out of their new place, explained Jeanetta. Having eyes on the property or a secure front desk help residents maintain their housing stability and ease the pressure of unwanted guests. AHI’s rooming house at 2011 Pillsbury has a live-in caretaker that compliments its property manager and has an excellent reputation with neighbors and the Minneapolis police.
AHI is seeking a service partner to assist residents with maintaining housing stability, managing health and well-being, and accessing community services. Conversations are underway with St. Stephens Human Services, Catholic Charities, Jewish Children and Family Services, and Longfellow Seward Healthy Seniors.
Alliance’s caretaker and the building design and amenities will support a connected community of residents. Often it is difficult for homeless individuals to transition away from and replace their “community of the streets.” Community space for passive and organized activities will help residents recognize and support their neighbors.
AHI creates long-term solutions
AHI was born out of the vision of St. Stephens’ Catholic Church volunteers and emergency shelter staff and residents who wanted to create tangible, long-term housing solutions for homeless families and individuals.
The nonprofit (not religious affiliated) organization was incorporated in 1991 and took advantage of vacant and available properties at low cost in South Minneapolis. Alliance continues to honor its history by developing housing solutions for homeless, poor and other individuals shut out of market opportunities.
Alliance’s programs and activities include affordable housing development and management and supportive housing programming for families. Its 450 units of housing serve a continuum of single adults to families.
Hiawatha Commons (2740 Minnehaha Ave.) in Longfellow is four-story, brick apartment building located a short walk from the Hiawatha Light Rail station on Lake St. This transit-oriented, mixed-income project was designed for low-wage workers who work in the neighborhood or at the airport, Mall of America and Downtown. The building was opened in 2006 and its 80 units stay leased consistently.
Meet Tom McDaniels

AHI’s housing development and property management fills a critical niche in Minneapolis’ affordable housing marketplace. Units fall among the most affordable in the city at 15-35% below market rents.
Alliance rents to tenants that other landlords turn down because of their low income or poor rental and criminal histories, like 75-year-old Tom McDaniels (photo left submitted). He had spent three years living in his car, after five years of camping out in the Minnesota cold, because a 30-year-old felony staining his record made finding affordable housing nearly impossible. Having spent many years in prison, McDaniels only has seven years of work experience, which provide him with just enough in social security and other benefits to make ends meet. On top of rent, McDaniels has regular medical expenses that come along with the health conditions he is faced with as he ages.
In January 2015, McDaniels moved into an AHI rooming house at 2011 Pillsbury Ave. He no longer has to worry about where he’s sleeping that night.
Alliance’s work makes it possible for individuals and families to create homes for themselves, regardless of income and background by developing and managing housing that is inclusive, affordable, relational, and flexible, according to Jeanetta.
Site on good transit corridor
AHI discussed the Frey Flats concept with Longfellow’s Community Development and Environment Committee in January 2016. Residents who attended the meeting were generally supportive and had questions related to design and use of green features.
AHI had hoped to construct this 55 plus building in the Phillips neighborhood, but wasn’t able to secure funding.
“We were searching for a site along a good transit corridor,” explained Jeanetta. “This site was available and within a reasonable price range. Longfellow has been very welcoming all along the process.”

Article appeared in the December 2016 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.

Brian Beatty featured in the Midway Como Monitor

Article linked here:

https://redbirdchapbooks.com/content/brian-beatty-featured-midway-como-monitor

Como writer, jokester, ‘bearder’ amazed at good fortune

Two volumes of Brian Beatty’s poetry being published—‘Coyotes I Couldn’t See’ and ‘Brazil, Indiana’

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
2016 was a big year for Como poet and performer Brian Beatty. He had two poetry collections accepted for publication, “Coyotes I Couldn’t See” and “Brazil, Indiana.”
“I’m pretty amazed at my good fortune right now,” remarked Beatty (photo right).
“At 46 years old, I was late to get something book-length published. This interest in my work motivates me to keep knocking out poems.”
Natural creative outlet
Beatty was writing poems in high school English classes when he should have been reading Mark Twain or F. Scott Fitzgerald. “Initially I was inspired by the song lyrics of my favorite bands, but I quickly realized, with the help of a great teacher, that song lyrics and poetry weren’t the same thing—mostly because I was no Bob Dylan,” recalled Beatty.
In college, he studied fiction writing because that seemed more practical. “At the time, you could still sell short stories to magazines,” stated Beatty. He sold one to Seventeen magazine during his senior year of undergrad.
His first published poem worth anything was about a homeless man who tucked the money he panhandled into his boot. It appeared in a university literary magazine, across the page from a poem by Charles Bukowski. “I was pretty pleased (and smug) about that at the time,” said Beatty.
In 1994, he earned a master of fine arts degree in fiction writing from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and then quit writing for about a year.
“I’d pushed too hard too soon,” he explained.
He questions university MFA programs, worrying that the university’s ownership of literature has done something to poetry and fiction traditions. “Not enough of writing these days is about what happens outside of academia,” said Beatty.
When he eventually returned to a computer keyboard, it was with ideas for poems instead of short stories. “I’ve stayed at it since then because I’ve never found a creative outlet that feels as natural to me,” said Beatty.
‘Odd, endearing, adored by hipsters and Wobegonians’
Over the last 25 years, Beatty has written for over 20 publications. Among them are Arts Indiana, The Bark, City Pages, Elephant Journal, The Evergreen Review, Glasgow Review of Books (Scotland), Lake Country Journal, Publishers Weekly, The Quarterly, The Rake, The Sycamore Review, The Writer, Urthona (New Zealand) and Yankee Pot Roast.
The bearded jokester has appeared on more than 15 stages, such as the Bedlam Theatre, Brave New Workshop, MPR’s Fitzgerald Theater, 2010 and 2011 Minnesota Fringe Festivals, The Playwrights’ Center, The Ritz Theater, The Soap Factory, Trylon Microcinema, The Turf Club, and the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis.
For two years Beatty hosted “You Are Hear,” a monthly literary podcast, for mnartists.org, a joint project of the Walker Art Center and the McKnight Foundation.
Comedian Maria Bamford considers Beatty one of her favorite Minneapolis comics. “Odd, endearing, adored by hipsters and Wobegonians alike,” she said.
Read, steal, and avoid cliches
Beatty grew up in Brazil, Indiana and moved to south Minneapolis in 1999. He wound up in St. Paul’s Como neighborhood in 2015.
He’s a big fan of Lake Como and all that the park offers.
“My favorite thing about the Como neighborhood is how residential it is,” remarked Beatty.
“Neighbors wave across the street and chat in the alley. I love that I don’t see cranes when I look toward the horizon.”
He has started reading at Barbaric Yawp, Chris Title’s monthly reading series at Underground Music Café at Hoyt and Hamline.
Beatty recommends that aspiring poets read as much as they can and steal what they find valuable.
“Read and steal—and be as clear as you can about what you’re trying to communicate without falling into horrible cliché,” stated Beatty, who also writes marketing and advertising copy for business clients.
Comedy and poetry
Beatty’s writing process involves plopping down in his living room chair with his laptop and hoping for the best, usually first thing in the morning after the coffee is started. “When nothing’s working, I crack open a book and read until I stumble upon something that inspires me,” said Beatty.
“I typically start with a single image or phrase and follow that wherever it takes me. Most of the time, I wind up telling tiny stories or jokes in my poems.”
His first poetry collection, “DUCK!” was a 100-page humor collection he self-published in 2009.
Ravenna Press in Washington published a small pamphlet-length collection called, “Earliest Bird Calls.” It includes a couple of poems that wound up in revised versions in the Coyotes collection.
“Coyotes I Couldn’t See” (photo left of cover), was printed recently by St. Paul-based Red Bird Chapbooks (redbirdchapbooks.com). This limited edition collection includes lyric and narrative poems written and published over a two-year period. The chapbook is loosely arranged to chronicle a year’s sequence of seasons. Included poems originally appeared in print and digital publications in the U.S., Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland, as well as in digital broadsides on the website of the Walker Art Center and in Motionpoems’ 2014 “Arrivals and Departures” public art project at Union Depot in downtown St. Paul.
“Brian Beatty’s poems conjure complete lives—houses, yards, people, ghosts, dogs, squirrels and invisible coyotes—out of just a few stanzas,” praised Minnesota musician Charlie Parr. “This collection reads like music, creating worlds that look like everyday life complete with the terrible uncertainty, the delicate and wavering balance, the long, long drop into the bottomless.”
Book tribute to grandmother
Beatty’s second collection, titled “Brazil, Indiana” (cover photo left), will be published in late 2016 or early 2017 by California-based Kelsay Books/Aldrich Press.
The 100-page sequence of short, 12-line lyrics pays tribute to the people and places of the poet’s rural, small town childhood years.
“It’s one long poem in the manner of John Berryman’s Dream Songs,” explained Beatty. “The book poured out in a handful of months. It started as a tribute to my late grandmother, who was my last connection to my hometown until her death last year.”
Excerpts from the sequence first appeared in numerous publications, including Clementine Poetry Journal, Dressing Room Poetry Journal, The Glasgow Review of Books (Scotland), Midwestern Gothic, The Moth (Ireland), Right Hand Pointing, Third Wednesday and Yellow Chair Review.
Twin Cities-based annual Poetry City, U.S.A. published the first of the Brazil, Indiana excerpts.
“The highlight of my poetry ‘career,’ such as it is, would have to be publishing six excerpts from the Brazil book in an Irish literary magazine. Otherwise, I sat next to the poet Robert Bly at a local documentary premiere once,” said Beatty.
Check Beatty’s web site (brianbeattympls.com) for book signing events.
“For all the jabber about nobody reading poetry these days, I’m fortunate to live in a place where there’s an audience for the work I do,” said Beatty. “It means the world to me.”

Article appeared in the December 2016 Monitor Saint Paul.