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On Thursday, August 17th, Redeemer said goodbye to its 19 high school STEP-UP interns, though Redeemer’s impact on them and their impact on our community will reverberate long after the summer.

For NouChee and Namesha, a summer internship in the coffee bar gave them an enjoyable and employable skill. NouChee will be continuing on at Venture North and Namesha will be starting to work at Starbucks. It was both of their first time working as baristas and they found it challenging to learn how to make all the different drinks. But they soon got the hang of it and particularly enjoyed meeting all the different people who came through Venture North.

Going into the summer, Willie thought working in the bike shop would be “boring,” “hard,” and “annoying.” But he ended up feeling like the summer went smoothly and that it wasn’t as boring as he thought it would be. He found fixing brakes to be especially challenging, but he kept working on it and felt proud when it started to get easier. He and the six other bike shop interns worked to refurbish over 150 bikes this summer and Willie particularly enjoyed getting to help deliver them. A few bike shop interns may be hired on at Venture North as mechanics.

In the Health Commons, Jennifer didn’t know what to expect going into the summer as she had never worked in a health-related field. But she says that she learned a lot including how to take people’s blood pressure, how to give hand massages, and generally what’s healthy for the community. She also worked in the garden and did outreach. Jennifer feels inspired by the way that Health Commons helps people and is even considering working as a doctor or in another health-related profession as a career.

The Community Leadership interns spent the summer learning about different topics that impact North Minneapolis and felt that their work mentoring younger children was especially important. “We all connected with the kids, each one of the kids. We love the kids and the kids love us,” said Qali. They took the children on several field trips through the summer “Kids in Action” program and particularly enjoyed canoeing at Theodore Wirth Park Lake.

De’Leon felt like the summer made him more verbal than he normally is at school and both he and Marrell thought they learned more leadership skills as they found themselves in the role of teacher and not just student. “Now I know how it feels to wait for everyone to get on task.”

Each of the Community Leadership interns remarked on the close connection they had developed with their coworkers and said that, overall, the summer was much better than they thought.

As part of their last week at Redeemer, all of the interns met with a financial planner who helped give them skills around how to use their paycheck. They each expressed a sense of pride in the money they earned this summer hope to stay connected to Redeemer through the school year.

On August 25th, Freedom Square hosted the last outside event for H-Cubed. Throughout the night, local visual and musical artists shared their gifts on the stage and on canvas. It was a beautiful evening with talented people!

Come out to the Living Room September 22nd for H-Cubed's Equinox: Fall Back to School celebration, featuring vocal powerhouse McKenna Selissen and the multi-talented Imani Waters, who will be sharing her original paintings throughout the night!

Congressman Keith Ellison Forum: Environmental Protection Agency

8/15/2017

Congressman Ellison held a forum in the Redeemer sanctuary on Wednesday night, August 16th. Congressman Ellison invited multiple people to speak at the forum and share their stories and thoughts about an issue that has seriously affected the North Minneapolis area for years. However, taking into consideration the recent changes the U.S. is now facing, Congressman Ellison stated, “This is not the time to cut back, this is the time to move forward,” in response to the budget cuts the Environmental Protection Agency is currently experiencing among other issues. The forum addressed some important concerns like how North Minneapolis has the highest hospitalization rate in all of Minnesota and has had more cases of lead poisoning reported than Flint, Michigan. Among the various speakers was a mother from the North Minneapolis community whose son suffered lead poisoning when her and her family moved into an apartment that had issues with lead and the landlord failed to notify her of this. Her tragic experience led her to begin her fight with Congress that she is still fighting today. At the end of the forum a speaker closed with a few encouraging words about the positive movements that are being put into place for better air and water and for a better environment as a whole.

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Redeemer Blog

STEP-UP Intern Graduation

H-Cubed, August 25th

Congressman Keith Ellison Forum: Environmental Protection Agency

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