Lake Street Council Archives » Tunheim

Lake Street Council: One Year Later

Lani Jordan — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 14:15:17 +0000

One year ago, more than 400 Lake Street businesses were damaged or destroyed in the civil unrest that erupted in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. During this time, the Tunheim team was privileged to support Lake Street Council as it grappled with communication challenges including hundreds of local, national and international media requests and the launch of a massive recovery effort. Lani Jordan recently caught up with Lake Street Council Executive Director Allison Sharkey to see how the community is faring one year later.

What does Lake Street look and feel like today in comparison to a year ago?

Lake Street is starting to get its vibe back. This week I was at our office inside the Midtown Global Market, and in front of the market, the patio at Eastlake Brewery was hopping.

The rubble from last year has been cleaned up. Looking out from those patio seats, however, in one direction you’ll see a new building under construction and in the other you’ll see a grassy lot that used to be a store. What you probably won’t realize is that behind each of those grassy lots, community organizations and entrepreneurs are figuring out how to rebuild. Some of the projects being dreamed up are quite exciting, from a theater connected to a restaurant, to a co-working space for Black creative entrepreneurs.

Lake Street Council was the recipient of an astonishing $11 million dollars in contributions from individuals and organizations around the world. How have you distributed that money given the great need?

Our community was so blessed to received support from over 70,000 contributors. First, we set up a committee of community representatives to determine funding priorities. We invested $7 million in emergency relief grants that allowed businesses to make repairs, replace equipment and inventory, and reopen. Another $1 million has been invested in grants and forgivable loans to help owners plan how to redevelop their properties in line with community values, and to keep property in local hands. The remainder has been allocated to fund redevelopment projects, attract customers and other critical needs.

How did Lake Street Council have to change its focus in the aftermath of last year’s civil unrest?

When the first damage happened a year ago, we put up a fundraiser page, thinking we could raise a few thousand dollars to support businesses. We were shocked when We Love Lake Street went viral, pulling in $11 million in a matter of weeks. We previously had four staff and a budget of $500,000 a year! We immediately had to learn – through trial and error – how to be a disaster relief organization, how to be a foundation and how to be a community spokesperson in national media. We were so fortunate to have the support of prominent local companies like Tunheim who volunteered their expertise in areas like PR, financial management, and construction.

Did the Chauvin guilty verdict mean a collective sigh of relief on Lake Street and allow you to move forward with more optimism?

Absolutely. Our community has a LOT of hard work to do to eliminate the disparities that plague Minneapolis, but the verdict certainly did relieve a lot of the tension we all felt and allowed us to turn our focus to bringing customers back.

What are Lake Street business owners’ greatest needs today?

Customers! Sales are still down due to COVID-19, changes in work patterns, and people’s uncertainly about whether Lake Street is open for business. We are helping business owners update and maximize their online presence so that people know they are open. But we also need everyone to commit to supporting small businesses on Lake Street, as well as the businesses that you love closer to home. Without all of us, they may not be here next year.

A year ago, you said your vision was that Lake Street would remain a home for immigrant and minority-owned businesses, as well as a place where people can come to start a business, experience the vitality of life and be embraced by a warm and welcoming community. Do you remain on track to achieve that?

The community was initially really concerned that demolished properties would be sold to investors from outside the community that would build higher-end buildings our local businesses couldn’t afford to rent. That hasn’t happened so far. Most owners, many of whom are immigrants, really want to rebuild and provide space for local entrepreneurs. A big challenge, however, is that it’s really expensive to build a new building. To recoup your costs, you’ve either got to charge high rents, or lower your construction expense. We are working to reduce the cost of rebuilding through subsidized financing from federal and state agencies. So far, however, no federal or state funds have been allocated for rebuilding. We need to see a commitment of support by the end of the summer to stay on track.

How has the last year changed you personally?

When COVID first hit, it was nerve-racking, but also rewarding, to spend so much time at home with my kids, baking and gardening and doing puzzles. Then the civil unrest hit and my responsibilities were suddenly so great – I haven’t baked a loaf of bread with the kids since!

One upside is that I have really developed as a leader this year. That includes new skills and confidence in everything from financial management, to coaching employees, to public speaking (thanks to Tunheim for the training!).

Most of all, I am in complete awe of our business owners. They have been through incredible stress. But they haven’t given up. They keep showing up, determined to support their employees and customers. We need to be there for them, too.

Allison Sharkey, Lake Street Council Executive Director

The post Lake Street Council: One Year Later appeared first on Tunheim.

Tunheim Celebrates Pride Month With The Arise Project

Tunheim — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 15:23:41 +0000

June is Pride Month! And this year, our team was able to make a donation to a special organization, Twin Cities United Way’s Arise Project. To learn more about their message last summer, Tunheim sat down with Claire Psarouthakis, Giving Communities Manager for Greater Twin Cities United Way. Tunheim stands with our LGBTQ+ community, team members and clients now and always.

Claire Psarouthakis, Giving Communities Manager for Greater Twin Cities United Way

For someone who isn’t familiar with the organization, what is the Arise Project?

Arise Project is one of Greater Twin Cities United Way’s Giving Communities and was established to bring people together to help support LGBTQ youth facing homelessness in the Twin Cities. Arise Project allows donors to follow their money into our doors, get involved, learn more about the needs of the youth we are serving, and then help make decisions about how we use these innovative grant dollars to create the greatest impact. Arise Project is the only major funder of LGBTQ youth homelessness in the State of Minnesota and we are celebrating our 10^th birthday this year!

How does Arise Project address the needs of the LGBTQ community?

Arise works with our community partners to help fund programs that are specifically targeted at LGBTQ youth. In the past this has meant funding LGBTQ host home programs, support groups, staff trainings, and bringing on case managers. We also support many youth centered leadership programs such as a Queer Peer Outreach Worker at Lutheran Social Services, and Youth Advisory Boards at both The Link and Bridge for Youth. We work with our supported organization partners around addressing the unique needs they are seeing on the ground, as well as the Community Impact staff at United Way to understand a broader view of the youth housing ecosystem.

Arise Project’s efforts are more important than ever. How has the organization’s efforts shifted following the recent events of racial injustice and inequity?

Arise knows that the fight for LGBTQ civil rights was started, and continues to be led, by queer people of color (QPOC.) We suspect anecdotally that when we talk about 40% of youth facing homelessness identifying as LGBTQ (Wilder Foundation) that, that intersects with a disproportionate number of those youth coming from communities of color. Arise Project supports organizations that not only recognize that intersectionality, but are actively engaging with it in their work, to come up with the most innovative solutions for our community. We want to make sure that the next generation of Marsha P Johnsons and Sylvia Riveras, can focus on something other than where they are going to sleep at night, and believe that the entire community is made better for those efforts.

In what ways can people get involved with Arise Project? Whether it be through monetary donations or volunteer opportunities.

We are ALWAYS looking for more members! Join us for one of our upcoming virtual events where we will be highlighting organizations that we support and the work they are doing. We are also creating educational opportunities for the community so that individuals can understand questions like, “why do LGBTQ youth need ‘special’ support?” We would love for people to consider giving a membership qualifying donation ($40/month or $500/year), and to join our Steering Committee. Steering Committee members help us plan our calendar of events, and also work through a grant decision cycle every two years to determine where Arise Project funding will go throughout the community.

Happy Pride Month! What is Arise Project doing this month to celebrate?

On June 23^rd we hosted the Tretter Collection from the University of Minnesota, which gave an overview on LGBTQ history in Minnesota and debut their new podcast on trans justice. Arise Project will also be fundraising during Give OUT Day, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community, on June 30th. We invite you to check out our Give OUT Day page and to support our work to ensure stability for the programs that we fund in this tumultuous time. Like many organizations we are unable to host our traditional events this year (our annual Pre-Pride Parade gathering Arise + Shine, and our educational panel event Arise Together) because of COVID-19. We hope that Minnesotans will step up and support organizations like Arise Project even though we are unable to gather physically with our queer and allied supporters.

The post Tunheim Celebrates Pride Month With The Arise Project appeared first on Tunheim.

What’s Next for Lake Street Council?

Lani Jordan — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 17:28:02 +0000

We asked Allison Sharkey, executive director of Minneapolis’ Lake Street Council, how her organization has responded in the aftermath of civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd. Over two evenings, an estimated 250 Lake Street corridor businesses were damaged and 33 destroyed, many of which belonged to low-income entrepreneurs, individuals who are Black, Indigenous or People of Color, by immigrant business owners and by others who have overcome tremendous difficulties to support their families and communities. Tunheim is proud to be a pro-bono partner of Lake Street Council providing communications and social media support. Lake Street Council believes that Black Lives Matter and joins its neighbors and fellow Minnesotans to support the change that addresses racial inequities and social justice.

Executive director of Minneapolis’ Lake Street Council, Allison Sharkey

What is Lake Street Council’s role? How have your priorities changed since the recent events this past month?

We’re a nonprofit that’s here to ensure the economic vitality and prosperity of this very special community and the businesses and organizations along Lake Street from Lake Bde Mka Ska to the Mississippi River. We work to uplift the existing business community while raising awareness among potential shoppers and new business investors.

As a result of the events of late May and early June, our priorities have shifted dramatically to helping our great community quickly recover as much as possible. This was a tremendous blow, coming on the heels of COVID-19 restrictions which had already put many businesses at risk. We’re trying to provide them with as much support as we can. While some had insurance, many were underinsured or lacked money to pay their deductibles.

You had a very successful crowdfunding campaign. How much have you raised?

We launched an online campaign thinking we might raise a couple hundred thousand dollars for business that were recently damaged in our community. We’re now at more than $6.2 million from over 62,000 individual donors – generous people not only from the Twin Cities, but across the country and around the world. More than 30 companies and organizations also contributed. In addition, we’ve had a tremendous outpouring of volunteers who’ve helped with cleanup and other needs.

How will that money get to businesses and organizations in need?

Last week we announced plans for a first round of up to $3 million in grants from our We Love Lake Street Recovery Fund. This is an initial rapid-response investment to help our Lake Street businesses and nonprofits start to move forward. Eligible businesses and nonprofit organizations can apply for grants of up to $25,000, with average grants of $10,000. While $3 million seems like a lot of money, given the tremendous need, our priorities for the include extent of damage, lack of or minimal insurance coverage; small businesses, independently owned businesses, locally owned businesses and nonprofits that serve the community.

We’ve brought in an oversight committee of local leaders with strong ties to Lake Street’s diverse business committee to review the applications and hope the first grants will be in applicants’ hands in about 10 days. After this first round, the oversight committee will identify additional priorities for subsequent grants. Lake Street Council will work to address the corridor’s broader economic needs through additional partnerships and fundraising.

What role has communication played over the last few weeks?

The communication demand has been pretty intense for our small Lake Street Council team. I think it would be hard for any organization to fully prepare for what we’ve been through. We lost our own office during this time. We needed to prioritize communication to local businesses and plan for Lake Street’s recovery. The help we got from Tunheim allowed us to respond to nearly six dozen media requests – every one of our Twin Cities outlets, national newspapers and networks, and even the BBC – with consistent messages.

Can you share your vision for Lake Street’s future?

The Lake Street community has an enormous challenge ahead, but we are optimistic and excited about the future. We believe Lake Street will always be a home for immigrant and minority-owned businesses, as well as a place where people can come to start a business, experience the vitality of life and be embraced by a warm and welcoming community. We are committed to the principals of greater equity, diversity and inclusion in our culturally rich and caring community.

If people still want to help, how do they get involved? Are you still accepting contributions?

The need is great and we’re grateful for all contributions we’ve received. We would welcome additional gifts at https://www.welovelakestreet.com/. You can also contact us at: donate@lakestreetcouncil.org. Volunteers can contact us at volunteer@lakestreetcouncil.org.

The post What’s Next for Lake Street Council? appeared first on Tunheim.