Nokomis East Residents, Businesses, and Partners –
We need your help to keep NENA in operation and serving our four neighborhoods. This is the time to Use Your Voice to speak up for our community!
This fall, the Minneapolis City Council is considering drastic cuts to funding for neighborhood organizations like NENA. If the proposal moves forward, NENA’s annual allocation will be cut by 40% on January 1, 2021. Over the next three years, NENA’s funding will shrink from $80K, to $60k, and then bottom out at $40k.
Our current organization budget is about $300,000. The majority of funding comes from the City’s allocation, plus we work very hard to diversify our funding sources to include additional outreach contracts with government agencies, grants from foundations, and donations from individuals and businesses. Think of all that we have accomplished together over the past five years. With these proposed cuts, NENA will no longer have the capacity to organize projects, lead programs, guide volunteers, and make a difference in the life of our community.
NENA Projects Making a Difference – How Have You Been Touched?
Home Loans l Monarch Mile l Food Distribution l Raising $10,000 for the Minnehaha Food Shelf l Community Input Sessions l Providing Tri-Lingual Materials l Organizing the Community During the Uprising l 2,500 Hours of Volunteer Time Each Year l Weekly E-News l Promoting our Businesses l Nokomis Naturescape l Garage Sale Day l Curb Appeal Grant l 10 Years of Community Organizers on Staff l Commercial Facade Improvement Grants l 12th Annual Monarch Festival l Staying In Place Grants l Somali Independence Day l Rain Gardens l Renters Rights l Nokomis Gateway Garden l New Benches at Bossen Field l Home Security Rebates l Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee l Giving Garden and 500 lbs of Donated Produce each Year l Night Before New Year’s Eve l 15 Member Volunteer Board l 34h Avenue Reconstruction l State of Neighborhood l Bike Racks l Bossen Renters Party l Neighborhood Clean-Ups l Business Marketing Grants l Green Initiatives Committee l Nokomis East Info Sharing Group l Annual Meeting and Board Elections l Information and Resource Hub l Bossen Community Mural l Lead Grants and Free Testing l Better Bus Stops and Metro Transit l Multi-Family Energy Efficiency Pilot Project l Property Owner Resources and Support l Speed Humps at Bossen Field
What can you do? The City is accepting public comment through September 30, 2020. Take a moment to send an email telling the City what NENA and our work together means to you. Actually send multiple emails – Use Your Voice!
- City Email Address: Neighborhoods2020@minneapolismn.gov
- Add our two Council Members who will make the final decision on the fate of neighborhood organizations: Ward 11 jeremy.schroeder@minneapolismn.gov and Ward 12 andrew.johnson@minneapolismn.gov
- Add nena@nokomiseast.org
Email Formatting
- Include your name, address, and ward
- 2-4 Sentences is all that is needed
- Opening Sentence “I/we support funding for the Nokomis East Neighborhood Association (NENA) at its current level. Please do not cut funding for NENA and neighborhood organizations. Make resources available to strengthen the neighborhood organizational network AND racial equity.
- I/we have found NENA to be valuable in our community through its …..
Additional Information on the City’s Neighborhoods 2020 Initiative
- Neighborhoods 2020 Project Page
- The SUN Group Letter in response to the proposed Neighborhood 2020 guidelines
