EPIC Community Meeting Draft Minutes
EPIC Community Meeting Minutes
June 11th 2020 6:30 – 8:50
East Phillips Park Cultural & Community Center, 2307 17th Ave S.
EPIC web address: eastphillips-epic.com
Email: epic.ssantiago@gmail.com
Office: 2433 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404
Phone: (612) -280-8418
Board Roster: Rosie Cruz, Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, Shontal Lajeunesse, Abah Mohamed, Carol Pass, Steve Sandberg, Sarah Santiago.
Board Members Present: Carol Pass, Laura Dale, Sarah Santiago, Steve Sandberg, Mary Gonsior, Cassie Holmes
Board Members Not Present: Shontal Lajeunesse, Abah Mohamed, Rosie Cruz
Members: Sarah K-S, Sonja,Weston Martin, Nikolas Winter-Simat, David Ingold, Linda Leonard, Thressa, Brad Pass, Carol, Michael Green
Guests:
6:30 Social Time
6:45 Greetings and Introductions
· How to become a member
· Privately chat Sarah your email address and she will add you to EPIC’s member email list
6:50 Approve tonight’s agenda, BP, Approved
Approve minutes from May community meeting, CP, LD, Approved
6:55 Announcements
· Community garden – discussion about a boulevard community garden available for anyone who walks by outside the EPIC Community Garden – tabled to board meeting
· This Friday 6/12 at noon come support the East Phillips Indoor Urban Farm Project - join the community demonstration at the Roof Depot site, on Longfellow Ave., between E.26 St. and E. 28th St., where a special announcement will be made. Please wear masks and do your best to observe social distancing.
· Next Board Meeting will be: Thursday, July 2nd at 7pm at the EPIC office (2433 Bloomington Avenue) or via Zoom, TBD
o Board Meetings are open to the public
· Next Community Meeting will be: July 9th at 6:30 at East Phillips Park or virtually via Zoom, TBD
· Next Executive Committee meeting is Thursday, June 18th from 7-8pm at the EPIC office or virtually via Zoom, TBD
o Executive Committee meetings are the third Thursday of every month
o Executive Committee meetings are open to the public
· Summerfest is cancelled this year
· Clean Sweep is yet to be determined
· EPIC has a new housing program! 0% interest! Fix up your home or buy a new home in East Phillips – Check your email for the brochure or go to: mncee.org/eastphillips
· Every Saturday from June 13th to August 1 from 4-6pm at 2618 16th Ave S a group of neighbors will be holding community discussions on different topics that may include processing the changes around safety and policing in our city; learning about models for keeping each other safe that other communities are using etc. June 13th will focus on “what does a safe and thriving neighborhood look like? Check out www.thebonnydoon.org for more information/updates
· If you are curious about what the future of policing will look like but are not ready to participate in a discussion the ACLU of Minnesota will be hosting an online event looking at questions like: Does “defund the police” mean that you want to abolish all police? Who will answer emergency calls if the role of police in public safety is more narrowly defined? Will crime skyrocket when there are fewer police? How can we guarantee that this alternative will be better for Black and Brown communities? Visit the ACLU-MN Facebook page Friday June 12th at 1pm to join the live watch party
· Jacob Frey and Andrea Jenkins have formed a community coalition to accelerate recovery efforts. To learn more go to: http://news.minneapolismn.gov/2020/06/08/mayor-frey-convenes-community-coalition-to-accelerate-recovery-efforts/?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=
· If you smell a foul odor around Smith foundry call 311 to report or Bituminous Roadways call 311 to report
o Write down your incident number
7:10 Reflection
Borrowed from Molly Glasgow: remember the times, places, or spaces you have felt the safest. What can we do to recreate that? What can we do to make it better? What can we do to make sure it's not limiting you? What can we do to make sure it's not compromising someone else's safety? Distinguish between comfort and safety. Take a couple minutes to reflect.
· ** (multiple people referenced) New lighting on Bloomington Ave – lighting is important
· Safe until 3:30/4pm
· When seeing police at times
· ** (multiple people referenced) When traffic is slow
· “When I know everyone is safe” – reflecting on childhood and inequalities
· Knowing people around me – neighbors and people experiencing homeless – connections
· ** (multiple people referenced) Knowing who belongs here – unsafe when she knows people are coming from outside of the neighborhood for drugs – if there were a way to signify our neighborhood and we belong here – feeling connected
· Kids running around safely on the street – suggestion to add curves to street – to make it difficult for people trying to simply pass through the area
· Needles = unsafe
· Summerfest
· National Guard at Cedar Grill
· Understanding the rules/laws/codes
· Respect
7:40 EPIC’s response to the murder of George Floyd - Sarah would like to propose that EPIC immediately stop inviting the 3rd precinct to our community meetings. See ADDENDUM for alternative ideas
· Concern about how to stay in contact with the police, getting updates
· Community member referenced the Bloomington Ave Community patrol from many years ago which changed the police’s attitude toward the community and maybe the community’s attitude toward the police
· Temporary distance with the current form of the police – re-connect later with the new forms of safety that is formed
· Idea of finding a trusted liaison in the in between time
· Knowing that Chauvin is from the 3rd precinct and could have and likely had responded to a call in East Phillips
· What are our action steps?
o Cold shoulder towards 3rd precinct isn’t powerful – a phone call or letter is
MOTION: The EPIC Board will communicate to the 3rd precinct that it desires to distance itself by temporarily pausing our invitation to the precinct to EPIC community meetings in order to engage in more conversation with community members on the topic, LL, StS, amended, approved
8:10 Proposal for discussion: door knocking – distributing information on alternative resources; meetings with more training and/or discussion; survey with safety questions (from above) – see ADDENDUM below
· Cassie volunteers to do Narcan training for no charge
o Could likely get Narcan to give to trainees
o Purple ribbons indicating that you have Narcan
o Could do it at Cedar Field
· Look at organizations where Narcan training is what they do and other trainings we were interested in – including a series of trainings
o Must follow Covid-19 guidelines
o COPE, St Stephans, Rummler Hope Network, Southside Harm Reduction
MOTION: EPIC will spend up to $1,000 as it seeks community trainings to include but not limited to de escalation, self-defense, disarming, Narcan training etc., CP, StS, approved
· How much funding does EPIC have available to compensate organizations for trainings and meetings?
· Coordinate trainings and meetings with neighboring communities?
8:34 Re-building our community
· How to support small businesses that were affected
o The Minneapolis City Attorney has approved neighborhood funds to be used for protection of businesses.
§ Items such as tape, plywood and fire extinguishers are an authorized expense in neighborhood strategies such as businesses development, corridor improvements, business improvement and general administrative funds. Items such as ammunition, baseball bats, or personal protection are not an eligible expense.
· How can we help get healthy food and prescriptions to community members without Cub and Target at Hiawatha/Lake?
· How much funding does EPIC have available to assist with community needs?
o Idea to contract with shuttle busses to get neighbors access to food and necessities
o Idea to partner with Minneapolis Foundation to support businesses
ADDENDUM:
· Some other options to discuss the important issue of safety in our community:
§ 1) Inviting alternative organizations such as Black Visions Collective, Racial Justice Network or Reclaim the Block to discuss safety in our community at our EPIC community meetings;
§ 2) Has SCOUT's Peacemaker program begun work in the larger East Phillips community? Would it be possible to connect with this program? Or are there other restorative/transformative justice efforts in East Phillips that we can invite to our meetings to discuss safety?
§ 3) Host trainings on de-escalation, self defense, disarming, medic, narcan response, first aid etc.
§ 4) Create a resource list of alternatives to calling the police (i.e. the crisis line; St. Stephen’s; national suicide hotline; 311 etc.)
§ 5) Training or community discussions on the following topics (Sarah has edited this from Molly Glasgow):
- Retrain yourself and those around you to not reflexively call or suggest calling the police if you have not done so already. Speak up every time it is suggested ESPECIALLY if you are white.
- Constantly do the work to dismantle racism and anti-blackness in ourselves and our communities. Unravel patterns of white supremacy in our minds, actions, and systems. White people especially, but everyone. Threads of white supremacy are deep and need to be constantly challenged and unlearned. Take on the work of doing this in your identity groups.
- Establish networks of community safety. Collect the people you call if and when something happens. Build trust with those around you. Be discerning. Be expansive. Balance the need for privacy and security with making space for people who may not have deeply engrained networks. Normalize leaning on each other.
- Follow the money. Divest from police and invest in community strengthening initiatives, programs and resources.
- Practice. Practice what you would do if someone needs help, if something happens, if someone is [truly] threatening you or someone else. I'm serious, practice. Figure out what you would say, do. Save the numbers you would call. Save a group text. Inventory skills. Study deescalation. Research first-aid. Learn how to disarm someone. Practice weapon safety. Know your limits. Build your strengths.
- Look to young people, look to elders for models we can follow when conflict emerges. Address conflict early. This is especially necessary in cultures where passive aggressive niceties, often embedded in racism, are deeply engrained. It may take generations to fully undo, but we can. Start now. Leave space and time for messy responses, acknowledgement, and change. Not excuses, manipulation, or invitations to allow future harm, but for true, vulnerable, accountable growth. You can repair with people and still choose not to have them in your immediate circle.
- Remember the times, places, or spaces you have felt the safest. What can we do to recreate that? What can we do to make it better? What can we do to make sure it's not limiting you? What can we do to make sure it's not compromising someone else's safety? Distinguish comfort and safety.
- Identify separate emergency services
§ 5) Prioritize healing-Sustain, develop, and uplift spaces and resources for healing. It is necessary to work to undo generations of harm. Respect resource spaces exclusively for black healing, for indigenous healing, for cultural healing, for POC healing, for queer and trans healing. Build and support spaces for men's healing. Get men the resources they need to do and lead their own work. Practice your medicines. Remember who you are. Counseling resources-there’s a list of therapists of color attached to your email.
§ Other ideas?
