EPNI's Monthly Newsletter: May
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Welcome to EPNI's Monthly Newsletter!
Welcome to EPNI's newsletter, where you'll find stories, photos, upcoming events, calls to action, and ways to support this transformative community-led project!
Every year, spring brings our attention to the wonders of the soil and all that grows within it. We’ve been laughing with the corn as it begins to sprout, dancing with the squash as it begins to curl around itself, imagining new worlds with the amaranth as their colors grow more vibrant, and soaking up the signs of returning life.
Thank you to our friends at Tamales Y Bicicletas, Little Earth Urban Farm, East Phillips Community Garden, and Metro State for sharing growing space with us as we continue to grow our roots and await access to the Roof Depot site!
We're also so grateful that you're here!
- EPNI's seeds team: Willa, Chino, Arcadian & Eddy
APRIL RECAP
Roots of Resilience
Hosted by Britt Howell, we attended the Roots of Resilience summit, focused on land, opportunity, voice, and equity. We connected with individuals and groups from environmental and state organizations who are leading the push for food sovereignty. We also got to spread the word about what we’re building in East Phillips and join discussions on Black and Native solidarity and our rights in relation to sovereignty with the land.
Planting Seeds
April is Native Plant Month, making it a particularly meaningful time to start planting in our gardens! Working with community organizations like East Phillips Improvement Coalition, Tamales Y Bicicletas, and East Phillips Community Center, we established several beds to plant foods and medicines, including squash, corn, sage and amaranth. Keep a lookout for a community kitchen and cookout event towards the end of harvest season.
Flyering the neighborhood
We want to know what our East Phillips neighbors want to learn. So, we spent some time this month going door-to-door in the neighborhood to figure out what workshops people are craving– maybe you saw us out and about! If you live in East Phillips, let us know what you think here for a chance to win a gift card.
Earth Week
The last weekend of April, we had an Earth Week party in Cedar Field Park, followed by a concert with Minneapolis Concert Coop! We shared Indian walking tacos made by Muck Wa Roberts, heard some music from Nathaniel Harris, and screen-printed countless shirts and posters.
CALLS TO ACTION
Survey
EPNI wants to know what skills and knowledge our East Phillips neighbors want to learn. Fill out our quick survey here to help and be entered to win a gift card.
EPNI is hiring!
Spread the word!
The Development Associate will work alongside EPNI’s Development Manager and Executive Director focusing on annual planning, fundraising, and internal alignment. Learn more and apply here.
Smith Foundry
After decades of polluting the East Phillips Neighborhood, Smith Foundries and Bituminous Roadways are now closed. What do you want to see happen to these sites? Share your thoughts through EPIC’s survey: ENGLISH ESPAÑOL
UPCOMING EVENTS
May Day - A Day Without Immigrants Rally & March
May 1st , 4:30pm Rally & 5:30pm March - MN State Capitol
Immigrant rights are worker’s rights! March and rally on May Day, in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors and workers.
May Day Celebration of Life
May 4th 1-5pm at Powderhorn Park, 3400 15th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
Come find EPNI’s table during May Day festivities this year after the parade and ceremony! We’ll be at Powderhorn Park to chat with Southsiders about the East Phillips Urban Farm Project.
Mother’s Day Pow Wow at Little Earth
May 10th 11am-10pm at the Little Earth Residents Association, 2495 18th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN
An all-day celebration hosted at Little Earth.
EPNI Seed Saturday Volunteer Time
May 10 11am - 2pm at East Phillips Community Garden, 2428 17th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
Help maintain and take care of the East Phillips community garden! This is a space to learn about the happenings with EPNI and also get your hands in the dirt.
Tamales Y Bicicletas Plant Sale Saturday
May 17th 10-2pm at Tamales Y Bicicletas Urban Farm, 2820 15th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
Good food, workshops, and a big yard sale featuring Bike parts, farm equipment, vegetables and plants.
EPIC + Four Sisters Third Annual Seedling Giveaway
May 17th 11am - 3pm at Four Sisters Urban Farm, 2839 S 17th Ave, Minneapolis, MN
Find EPNI amongst festivities, free goodies, community resources, and food.
Rise & Remember Festival 2025: 5-YEAR ANGELVERSARY OF GEORGE FLOYD
May 24th-25th at George Floyd Square, 38th and Chicago, Minneapolis, MN
This event remembers George Floyd and all who we have lost to the pervasive impacts of systemic racism. Activities focus on education, empowerment, healing, celebration, and our collective pursuit for racial justice and equity.
EPNI Seed Saturday Volunteer Time
May 24th 11am - 2pm at East Phillips Community Garden, 2428 17th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
Help maintain and take care of the East Phillips community garden! This is a space to learn about the happenings with EPNI and also get your hands in the dirt.
EPNI Community Meeting
May 31st 12-4pm at Cedar Field Park 2500 Cedar Ave. Minneapolis, MN
Join EPNI for good food, art making, and conversation - more details to come!
Check out and/or subscribe to our EPNI's Calendar for updates and more events
FUNDING UPDATE
44 donors chipped in $3,550 to support a more well-rooted and just food future in East Phillips! We didn’t raise as much as we had hoped so if you want to grow the impact of EPNI’s farm team this summer, it’s not too late to donate to our Spring Fund Drive!
Our friends at Minneapolis Choir Co-op hosted a stunningly beautiful fundraising concert to wrap up our Earth Week celebration. More on that to come!
With the help of 50 volunteers and our kind hosts at Becketwood Cooperative, we sent 480 letters as part of our spring fundraising push.
We’re so grateful for all the ongoing grassroots support that fuels this project!
WINTER RECAP
As the soil rested and the seeds slept, our farm team was dreaming and planning for the season. Our farm team expanded from two farmers to six farmers! Including our community liaisons and food justice historians.
Our first order of business was ensuring what we grew was culturally relevant and desirable within the East Phillips community. If you stopped by the Little Earth front desk, the East Phillips Community Center, or Alborada market, you might have seen these yellow survey boxes:
We collected responses from neighbors all over and heard what they would love to see: tomatoes, squash, medicinal herbs, chiltepin, japanese sweet potato, cabbage, etc.
Once that was done, we got to work!
Between getting settled with the new team, surveying the community, and starting seeds, we had the opportunity to build connections with folks from all over the twin cities!
Community Connections Conference
At the Community Connections Conference in January, we had the opportunity to meet several different orgs from across the twin cities all working to reshape their corners of the world. Our Outdoor Farm Coordinator, Kieran Morris, sat on a panel with community elder Michael Chaney to discuss building connected food systems. It was so wonderful to greet new and familiar faces and invest in our growing community.
Great Lakes Indigenous Farming Conference
In early March, two members of our farm team had the privilege to be a part of transformative conversations happening at the Great Lakes Indigenous Farming Conference. In its 25th iteration, the GLIFC was hosted by the White Earth Nation in Cohasset, MN. Talks and workshops included land and water remediation through indigenous knowledge, the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition based in Wisconsin, successful food sovereignty movements of Indigenous peoples, and more. We were also able to enjoy traditional foods and activities such as White Earth clay workshops and a screening of Singing Back the Buffalo. Miigwech, GLIFC for hosting this beautiful annual gathering.
Student visits
Our team believes in a holistic approach to learning, ensuring that education is inclusive of community voices and of the real world applications of what is taught in classrooms. Much gratitude to Dr. Christie Manning and her Macalester Environmental Justice class. We chatted about the historic importance of the Est Phillips Urban Farm project, seed and land stewardship, Native-led environmental movement history in East Phillips, and wrapped up with a tour around the Roof Depot site.
What's going on in our ecosystem?
Submit to this newsletter!
Do you know of any job postings in the community? Events you’d like to share? Photos from one of EPNI’s events? Submit those here.
The Alley Newspaper is Hiring!
Part Time Community Connecter
Alley Communications, nonprofit publisher of the alley newspaper is seeking someone who has a close relationship with the Phillips Community and an interest and skillset in supporting the growth of the alley. Interested? Find out more here!
Local Newspapers
the alley: The Alley is the community newspaper of the Phillips Community in Minneapolis, serving more than 20,000 residents and many businesses, agencies, schools, and visitors to Phillips.
Southside Pride: Southside Pride is a free monthly newspaper publishing community news, religious events and a community calendar for Southside Communities.
Longfellow Nokomis Messenger: The Messenger is for profit and for a purpose – and we don’t sacrifice one for the other. As a media company, we work to highlight issues, solve real, meaningful problems, and repair existing social systems. We are working with our readers and advertisers to create a more just and responsible society that hears, helps and heals the customers and communities we serve.
Smith and Bituminous envisioning survey (ENGLISH)(ESPAÑOL)
This year Smith Foundry and Bituminous Roadways closed their doors after decades of polluting East Phillips and surrounding neighborhoods. This closure has drastically decreased pollution in East Phillips. Now, we need to organize to envision a better future for those sites. The future of these sites should be determined by the community.
Stay Healthy and Informed!
The East Phillips Health Team seeks to understand the health needs and concerns of Minneapolis residents, primarily those living in East Phillips. Learn more and find a list of related resources here!
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