WE DID IT! With help from the State Legislature, EPNI reaches historic deal to buy Roof Depot

Thanks to all who’ve been involved in our broad coalition, EPNI has reached a monumental and historic deal with the City of Minneapolis to purchase the Roof Depot site!

You reached out to legislators and they heard you! In particular, we would not have crossed the finish line without the leadership, creativity and courage of Samantha Sencer-Mura and the whole Minneapolis legislative delegation who guided our bills through a complex process.

Thanks to the Minneapolis City Council members who stood by us and helped get us here: Jason Chavez, Robin Wonsley, Aisha Chughtai, Jeremiah Ellison, Andrew Johnson, and Elliott Payne.

This is an enormous step toward environmental justice in the Twin Cities. It’s a historic deal that invests in:

• A visionary model for public health and economic development in the neighborhood and in the City as a whole.

• A national model for sustainable development, green tech innovation, community investment, green jobs, etc.

• Most of all, justice - economic, environmental, and public health.

We fought hard for a decade and finally won an agreement with the city that centers the community’s needs.

Soon, we can get to work and actually build this ground-breaking and innovative project! But first, let’s take a minute to really bask in this victory. Some ideas:

• Help plan (and attend) a celebratory block party, currently being planned by a small and mighty team that would love to have your energy and skills.

• Host a backyard get together with those that you’ve worked with or met through all this!

To each and every person who’s contributed to this work over the last ten years, thank you. It’s a win both for East Phillips and for Minneapolis and we now plan to continue working closely with the community to build a great project we can all be proud of.

With appreciation,

Dean Dovolis
Board President
East Phillips Neighborhood Institute