June Updates from Urban Roots
“None of us alone can save the nation or the world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so.”
-Cornel West
Announcing our New Executive Director, Hayley Ball!
Dear Friends of Urban Roots,
In 2019, Urban Roots celebrated our 50th anniversary building healthy communities in Minnesota. Over those five decades, we have evolved from a group of architects and city planners designing sustainable communities to a youth organization that builds community through food, entrepreneurship, and a connection to nature. A big part of our history of success is our drive to innovate, anticipating the changing needs of our city and our youth.
This year, we bid farewell to Patsy Noble who has served Urban Roots’ youth and community for over twenty years as Program Manager, Director and Executive Director. Her leadership has kept our eyes on the horizon, always pushing us to find creative new ways to meet the needs of our community.
As we begin the next chapter in Urban Roots’ story, it is clear that a critical mass is building around social, racial, and economic justice in our society. These values define Urban Roots and the work we do on a daily basis. Addressing food access and disparities in greenspace use, providing employment and mentorship for economically disadvantaged youth, practicing sustainable environmental and agricultural methods, elevating youth voices and voices of color – every aspect of our programming is rooted in equity and inclusion.
It is, therefore, my great pleasure to announce that Urban Roots is promoting Hayley Ball from Deputy Executive Director to Executive Director. Hayley comes to us from TriDistrict Community Education where she worked to create equitable lifelong learning opportunities for all ages. Her interest in food justice and conservation and strong background in equity and social justice education make her a great fit for Urban Roots. Hayley brings energy, passion, and wisdom – three qualities that are critical to keep Urban Roots at the cutting edge of social innovation. Please join me in welcoming Hayley Ball and watch for a video introduction, coming soon! We are thrilled to have her with us!
Leif Masrud
President, Board of Directors
Urban Roots
Summer Youth Internship Programs are on!
Conservation Program:
We’re so happy to welcome back our seasonal team, with May Vang returning for her 7th year leading youth crews and Kat Facklam back for a third year as an Alumni Crew Lead. Willie Yang is spending his first summer as an Alumni Crew Lead and will have a special focus on filming the Conservation team as they do their various projects in the parks, to be shared with new interns as we pivot to virtual learning. Further adapting to the times, the Conservation crew contributed to Take Aim at Outdoor Fun, the YouTube channel version of the annual outdoor event. Check out this video of our interns as they describe how to identify and remove the invasive plant buckthorn and then transform it into a fun colorful walking stick. This summer, interns will be engaged in habitat restoration at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and the DNR Willowbrook Preserve. Youth will also design pollinator gardens representing different ecosystems, to be installed at multiple parks this fall. We’ll be joining in pollinator surveys at our sites using iNaturalist and BumbleBee Watch. If you want to see pollinators in action, check out the pollinator garden at Sunray Library! With a huge diversity of native plants, the garden is bursting with activity, including bluebirds that have taken up residency in the bluebird houses installed last year.
Cook Fresh Program:
Cook Fresh is fired-up for summer cooking, trying out delicious recipes, making new connections, and fielding exciting opportunities! Over the last few months, Cook Fresh has partnered with East Side Table, offering weekly online cooking demonstrations on the East Side Table Facebook page-free for all to watch! We feature nutritional recipes that are steeped in cultural tradition, and Covid-pantry friendly, introducing the audience to diverse styles of cooking. The Cook Fresh Program is also partnering with awesome local chefs to enrich the virtual experience for new interns. The chefs have created short cooking demonstrations from home that highlight their favorite cuisines and cooking tips. Two featured chefs are Sean Sherman of The Sioux Chef and Lachelle Cunningham of Chelle’s Kitchen, whose videos will guide interns in preparing a recipe from ingredients provided in weekly recipe boxes. Interns, and staff, are excited about this opportunity! Along with our virtual cooking classes and chef-lead lunch experiences, the Cook Program will continue teaching cooking skills onsite, joined by two Masters of Public Health interns who have teamed up with Program Manager Saba to enrich the curriculum. The interns who will be working onsite will also get to film their garden-inspired recipes and share that content with the first year interns working virtually. Last, but certainly not least, the returning interns will be working with Roots for the Home Team, creating 200 salads in the kitchen of Octofish that they will distribute to essential workers on the East Side of St. Paul! We are all looking forward to this summer!
Market Garden Program:
Our Market Gardens are in full swing! The first CSA box went out last week, bursting with lettuce, radishes, garlic scapes, and other fresh goodies. We continue to pivot our work to adhere to social distancing; reducing crew size, engaging youth virtually, and mentoring 4 alumni youth interns who are working hard to grow our beautiful veggies. We’re so thankful to have them and all that they contribute to Urban Roots. We’re grateful for additional support from Ian Hanesworth whose highly-skilled work has been critical to our success in this unprecedented summer! Right now the gardens are overflowing with life-tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, garlic, zucchini, and 65 other varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. Our goal is to grow more veggies than ever, increasing the amount of food that gets into the homes of our youth interns. We’ll be sending home a bag of fresh food and essential supplies to 77 families each week, in addition to our 42 member CSA. We’ve also worked with alumni staff to increase the growing space and install fencing for members of the community garden at our Rivoli Bluff Farm and Demonstration site, increasing food access on the East Side of St. Paul. The new community plot is 150’ x 30’ and we’ll use a portion of it for growing our winter squash. It’s been great getting to know the neighbors more throughout this process and we look forward to growing alongside them. We’re also happy to be partnering with Alemar Cheese in Minneapolis to create a cheese share add-on for our CSA members! CSA members, make sure you keep an eye on your email for purchasing options very soon. Thanks again to Mississippi Market Co-op for being a pick up site for our CSA!
