The Unspoken Stories
We say that at Urban Roots we cultivate and empower youth through nature, healthy food, and community, and that we do this through our core programs of Conservation, Market Garden, and Cook Fresh. I could continue to paint the work we do with pretty words–that we offer extracurricular programming, including Youth Council, Crew Lead Cohort, and Ua Si Ua Ke Nraum Zoov, all of which elevate and uplift youth voices while providing them transferable life and professional skills. However, while all this is true and the work we do here is necessary and important, I personally feel that these are just the basics of what takes place here, and they don’t capture our full, authentic experiences.
As I sit and contemplate the state of the world, the struggles and complex realities we’re living in, as individual and collective human beings who share space at Urban Roots, it’s the unspoken stories of what we do here that keep flooding my mind.
Our building is centered in the heart of the Payne-Phalen neighborhood on the East Side of Imnizaska. This community is where I spent my childhood roaming the streets–walking to Lake Phalen to enjoy the beach without our guardians’ permission, selling lemonade on Magnolia Avenue, attending community events at Duluth and Case Rec Center, forging friendships with children and families all along Third Avenue, and renting videos at Blockbuster on Payne. For me, the relationships I have with this place and the community members here who took part in nurturing me, are irreplaceable. I never imagined that decades later, I would grow into the shoes of those who raised me, doing the same for the young folx who see Urban Roots as their safe space. Although our organization’s focus on the environment and food are crucial, it’s this reciprocal cycle of care and love that allows us to do the work we do. In the four years I’ve been here as a staff member, I’ve watched our young people enter their internships at age 14-15, and transform into community leaders who are passionate about advocating and showing up for themselves and those around them. I can’t say it enough–I could not activate in the way I do here without the efforts and dedication of our youth. Urban Roots would not be able to accomplish all that we’ve been able to without our youth interns. We depend on their presence as much as they depend on this space and the people here to establish these meaningful relationships that make us want to keep showing up for each other to do this work together.
This work isn’t perfect nor pretty. It’s challenging and exhausting, and requires time and energy, as all meaningful work does. Sometimes, it’s beyond our titles and the responsibilities tied to them–I find that I’m often showing up in this space as less of the Conservation Program Manager, but the community mother or auntie–celebrating the birthdays or successes of our youth, holding them when they’re crying, or providing transportation, food, or other basic necessities when they don’t have access to them. This is the work we never get to talk about or write into grants and reports because they can’t be quantified, but they are essential and are the reasons why Urban Roots continues to be a sanctuary for many.
So, when I’m asked why Urban Roots is such a special place for our community, it’s this–a journey together. A place where we can meet not just as manager and intern, but as humans. In togetherness we learn, build, care, and work through conflicts. In togetherness, we trial, fail, and try again. We’ve unintentionally found one another in this place, drawn to it by the location and organization’s mission, but ended up co-creating something exceptional that directly impacts human lives.
