Being the amazing, true-to-life adventures and (very likely) misadventures of a writer who seeks to take his education, activism and seemingly boundless energy to North Minneapolis, (NoMi) to help with a process of turning a rapidly revitalizing neighborhood into something approaching Urban Utopia. I am here to be near my child. From 02/08 to 06/15 this blog pushed free speech to the envelope, so others could take heart and speak unafraid. Email me at hoffjohnw@gmail.com
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Saturday, September 26, 2009
Deplorable Litter At The Lyndale Ave. N. Salvation Army...
A neighbor in Hawthorne made some calls to the Salvation Army about the deplorable litter situation at their Lyndale Ave. N. location. When the neighbor didn't get a satisfactory response from the Salvation Army, video got posted to YouTube and then I was told to "put it on the blog."
(I love the way Johnny Northside Dot Com is always referred to as "the blog," as though there is only ONE BLOG)
And yes, I was TOLD not ASKED to "put it on the blog." I notice how there is often an unspoken assumption I will always just go ahead and blog about a neighborhood issue when asked to do so, no matter how much heat I'll end up taking for it, personally.
In this case, possibly HEAT FROM GOD)
But can I say the assumption is INACCURATE? No, actually, I can't.
So here you go, neighbor. Here's the video on "the blog."
Oh, plus the customary editorial comment: the Salvation Army needs to CLEAN UP ITS PROPERTY on Lyndale Ave. N. And, hey, it's not like they don't have many, many low-paid employees who can take care of the litter.
If the liquor store across the street can take care of THEIR property and put all kinds of money into an improved fence, then the Salvation Army can certainly maintain their relatively small patch of lawn.
(Do not click "Read More")
I have no problem identifying myself as the neighbor who got the emails flying about this place. It has irked me for years and I know a lot of other people felt the same way. It was simply time to act and act we did. What pleased me most was the response from so many of the people I contacted. From sending notices to inspections, recording the video and contacting the Salvation Army folk - everyone seemed galvanized around this issue and each person did their part. It was great, but I don't think the issue is completely resolved yet. Here's an email I received this morning from a household really impacted by this facility:
ReplyDelete"Back to the Salvation Army again, we've lived next to that place for a few years now, and are constantly dealing with the vagrant that stoop on the back steps. we have tried calling the police on them but all that does is scare them away. Right now the way things work, is they hang there, then wonder over to 2101/3 to 'smoke'/drink/sex/'smoke'. And in the years we have lived here, there is nothing we can seem to do, and its always the same ppl.
Have them wander over for a "quicky" between 2101 and our house (2107) for a screw while we are making dinner.... or having to yell at them to move along as they light up the meth.... or sit on the stoop drinking a 40... or... or...
All I can say is I would not miss the Salvation Army not being there."
It's sad to see a building that used to be so attractive and well kept (and could be again) fall into such disrepair. This is especially troubling when the culprit is a non-profit organization that promotes helping one's fellow man through Christian charity. Kinda makes me want to cheer for the lions.
ReplyDeleteOk. I found some contact info on a website called superpages.com and looked up the Salvation Army at the Lyndale address. They have an area where the entity can be
ReplyDeletereviewed, which is what I did.
Also included was the following contact information:
Team Leader @612.522.6581 ext #107
Majors Noel and Rose Marie Mason
@612.522.4871.