Hey y’all!
If you’re reading this, you’ve almost made it through February. A month usually reserved for cold snaps and a lot of gray days, we’ve felt some warmth from the sun this month and took in many beautiful sunrises together. We’re really glad you’re here and showing up – the winter days elevate us to a whole other level of beast mode that challenges us both physically and mentally. But we’re here, we’re doing it, and most importantly, we’re doing it together.
Back in 2021, when Lauren and Tickle were still names on a piece of paper, Emily and I started brainstorming ways we could deepen our community connections as we continued to navigate coming back from COVID’s earliest phase when we were all staying home. Grounded in the Community Agreements, we tried different things – learning from each but nothing feeling like it was The Big Idea ™ that was going to accomplish our three primary goals: 1) motivate our current and former community members to #JustShowUp 2) recruit new members 3) deepen our relationships within the Minneapolis and St. Paul communities.
Enter, Meeting of the Minds – the annual event hosted by NP Global that brings co-leaders from across the globe together. During this time we attend several breakout sessions with topics that range from workout structure and exercises, DEI work, and talking about what November Project in your city looks like outside of the workouts. What are things you do that are baked in (consistent happenings) and what is sprinkled in (extras, bonuses). It was during these conversations that I spoke of the try and try again process that MSP was doing to try and freshen up how we are growing community and an idea emerged from one of these chats: Neighborhood Residencies.
Neighborhood Residencies. A month long “stay” in a certain neighborhood in town that would make just showing up easier for new recruits in that area (a month of days vs one every once in awhile with no real consistency), make it possible for us to partner with groups in the neighborhood to get the word out about NP, and give our group a month to #JustShowUp in the same place, get to learn more about the neighborhood through a social event, and use our platform to elevate support that neighborhood might need.
This is it, this is the gold. The quest that Emily and I began was finally coming to fruition with Tickle in the leadership helm and the support of Lauren when she came aboard. We’re so excited to kick off this concept fully in March with a residency in Central Minneapolis:
Friday, March 3: Martin Sabo Bridge, coffee at Pow Wow Grounds
Friday, March 10: Washburn Fair Oaks Park/MIA, coffee at Boiler Room
Friday, March 17: Franklin & East River Parkway, coffee at Milkweed
Friday, March 24: Greenway, coffee at Mapps Coffee
Friday, March 31: 24th Street Bridge, coffee at Isles Bun
Are you a Central Minneapolis resident? Want to lead a bounce or design a workout at one of these locations? Are you a part of or know of a neighborhood group that might want to come to a workout or that our group could support? Let us know! Leading Together is another Community Agreement that we want to lean further into – we want our group to reflect the wishes of its members and we want to empower more folks to participate!
And speaking of groups that could use our support, the East Phillips neighborhood (where we’ll be on March 3) is at odds with Minneapolis City Council over the demolition and re-development of the Roof Depot. This article from the Sahan Journal goes into more detail about what the neighborhood wants to see (an urban farm) vs what Minneapolis is planning. An opinion piece on community impact can be found here and more information on the total scope of the project and ways to support can be found through the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute website.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for caring about each other, our neighborhoods, our city. Thank you for being globally minded citizens and making every space you’re in better because you’re there.
And speaking of being somewhere…see ya Friday?
With Deep Gratitude,
Sarah, and Tickle, and Lauren – your MSP leaders, three
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