Neighborhood Vitality

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The Elliot Park Neighborhood Vitality Committee meets jointly with the Land Use Committee the 2nd Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:00pm, at the Elliot Park Rec Center 

ALL are welcome to join the Elliot Park Neighborhood Vitality Committee (NVC), newly established in 2024, to connect with your neighbors and collaborate on a variety of projects making Elliot Park a better place to live & work. Current projects and priorities include the Elliot Park Spring 2024 tree planting project, neighborhood safety & care, environmental justice, food access, trash pick up, and more. Bring your ideas for neighborhood projects and community events! Check out 2024 Neighborhood Vitality Committee meeting notes HERE.

Passed motions from the Neighborhood Vitality Committee are forwarded to the EPNI Board of Directors for consideration. The Vitality Committee is currently co-led by the Committee Co-Chairs, Board Vice President Toya López and Resident Sophie Le.

Make your voice heard by getting involved with the reestablished Neighborhood Vitality Committee. Interested in joining Neighborhood Vitality committee leadership, have questions or want to learn more? Contact us at [email protected] or call or text us at (612) 234-2280.

Current Projects & Events:

Elliot Park Tree Canopy Project & Spring 2024 Tree Planting Events:

  • CANCELED! RAIN DATE RESCHEDULE TBD: Arbor Day Tree Planting Event, Friday April 26th, 9:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-4:00pm, Franklin Steele Park, 1600 Portland Ave. S.:  RSVP HERE!

  • Neighborhood Day Celebration & Tree Planting Event, Saturday, May 11th, 9:00am-12:00pm, Elliot Park Rec Center, 1000 E. 14th St.:  RSVP HERE!

 

See what we have been up to! Here are some recently supported projects:

Earth Day Elliot Park Neighborhood Cleanup: Saturday, April 20, 9:30am-12:00pm, Elliot Park Rec Center -- THANK YOU to 65+ volunteers who showed up for a chilly Earth Day Spring Cleanup to make it a success! 

 

Elliot Park Public Safety Forum

Food Solutions Project

 Bringing fresh, healthy, and affordable food to the Elliot Park neighborhood.

Background

Although the Elliot Park neighborhood is densely populated, supports a large number of employees, and hosts a university, the community offers only three restaurants (one remains open during the pandemic), two convenience shops, and no grocery stores. The nearest downtown grocery stores cater to high-end clientele and/or downtown business workers with fast-casual options. To obtain affordable groceries, residents must travel to other parts of the city which requires a bus ride with at least one transfer for households without a car. This is especially difficult for low-income families, senior citizens, and residents with disabilities. 

We believe that everyone should have access to healthy foods, regardless of income or zip code. For decades, developers have told us that Elliot Park is a “risky market” for retailers and that it’s unlikely to see commercial growth (including food) unless household incomes increase. We will no longer accept the prevailing excuses nor statistics. We believe access to food is a basic human right and we work together each day to create a vibrant community where healthy foods are easily accessible, readily available, and affordable for everyone.

Food Solutions Team

Between 2018 and 2021, the Food Solutions Team worked together to bring fresh, healthy, and affordable food to the Elliot Park neighborhood. 

Together during the 2018-2021 timeframe, the Team has:

  1. Secured two grants from the Headwaters Foundation for Justice to explore the food access issue, identify possible solutions, and test solutions
  2. Hosted a low-cost food market during the summer of 2020 in partnership with The Food Group
  3. Partnered with House of Charity to deliver weekly food bags to 150 families in three Elliot Park buildings
  4. Identified a storefront market as the preferred long-term solution to address food access challenges

What's Next?

Elliot Park neighbors continue to identify improved food access and the goal of bringing a grocery store and to Elliot Park as a major priority of the neighborhood. As both the Neighborhood Vitality and Land Use & Transportation committees are being reestablished in 2024, these groups will revisit the past goals and progress of the Food Solutions Project to develop renewed efforts to address food access needs and solutions in Elliot Park. 

Interested in joining renewed efforts for improving food access in Elliot Park? Consider joining the monthly Neighborhood Vitality meeting (the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 7pm, at the Elliot Park Rec Center), or reach out to EPNI with your ideas at [email protected] or (612) 234-2280.