Minneapolis residents: Save NRP (Neighborhood Revitalization Program)

If you are an active community member in your neighborhood in Minneapolis, you are more likely than not aware that NRP is currently in danger. Many neighbors in my neighborhood, Longfellow, as well as others have been busy working to keep this great program going.

So, fyi, this Sunday there is a meeting at the Columbia Grounds Coffee Shop, 3301 Central Avenue NE.

From the Longfellow Community Council website, here is more information on the Save NRP Committee.

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Save NRP Committee

Committee goal/purpose: Preserve the Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP).

The Neighborhood Revitalization Program is an investment program based on empowering residents to participate in building a better community and city. Residents and other neighborhood stakeholders create Neighborhood Action Plans (NAPs) that describe the neighborhood they want in the future and NRP will help accomplish their vision. NRP completes the empowerment process by providing funding to each neighborhood to help implement their plan.

Since 1995, the following benefits have been realized in the Longfellow, Howe, Cooper and Hiawatha neighborhoods through Longfellow’s NRP Action Plan:

• Volunteer efforts by hundreds of residents who banded together to promote community betterment through projects ranging from playground construction to block clubs to river gorge restoration.

• More than 15% of the housing stock in the four neighborhoods has been improved as a result of Longfellow NRP housing programs.

• A total of $9.3 million in NRP funds have leveraged over $15 million in additional investments in Longfellow.
  

The strides Longfellow has made as a result of NRP are at risk. The current city council and mayor want to cut the program’s funding. In response, LLC formed the Save NRP committee in July of 2007. The committee’s core strategies are:

• Mobilize the greater Longfellow community

• Politically engage our elected officials

• Network with other neighborhoods

• Create awareness
  

The committee is made up of neighborhood volunteers. Please consider joining us!

Meeting day and time: Check the calendar at www.longfellow.org

Links:

http://neighbors.meetup.com/45/ - Find out who is already involved in saving NRP

http://www.neighbors4nrp.com – Neighborhood maps, city contact information, NRP facts, and more

http://www.nrp.org/