GreeningFrogtownMayJune17

MAY/JUNE 2017
Inside…
Here's a Model
for Food Shelf
Local planner says
Stillwater gets it
right — P. 2
Elder Program
Covers More
Local Seniors
Get help to stay in
your home — P. 3
Zongxee Lee and her mother, Mayyia wrote the book on traditional Hmong diet and treatments for recovering from childbirth.
The Garbage Hack
The national haulers' PR campaign to kill organized collection
As the owner of a newspaper, I'm all for free speech. That said,
sometimes when you're listening to the political variety of free
speech, it's interesting to know who's paying for it.
Recently a group called 1 st Choice has weighed in on the
seemingly never-ending debate over organized trash collection in
St. Paul. You may have noticed the group's Facebook page, or
gotten a phone call from telemarketers urging you to stand up for
your right to choose your own hauler.
1 st Choice is, by its own description, "a city-wide coalition made
up of those who believe St. Paul homeowners should be able to
decide who picks up their trash." It also happens to be a campaign
funded by a Chicago-based organization, the National Waste and
Recycling Association, that includes among its board of trustees
representatives of the largest national trash hauling companies,
such as Waste Management, Advanced Disposal and Republic.
To run its St. Paul campaign, the Association hired Zipko
Strategies and the Connolly Kuhl Group, public relations firms that
specialize in governmental work. Principals from both companies
worked for former St. Paul Mayor and US Senator Norm Coleman,
and point to their success directing "broad ranging public policy
campaigns targeted at Federal, State and local officials."
There's nothing really wrong with any of this, except if it leads
officials to believe that the villagers have grabbed their pitchforks
and torches in a spontaneous rebellion against those who would
strip away their precious right to hire their own garbage hauler.
There's a difference between a grass-roots campaign and the
appearance of a grass-roots campaign. (Disclosure: in the past
we've received city money from neighborhood groups to publicize
trash issues.)
Here are a few of the benefits an organized trash system
would bring to Frogtown: Rather than numerous trucks
roaring down each alley, there would be just one. Every
household would get their trash picked up. Most importantly,
there would be a system to make sure that TVs, furniture,
tires and appliances — all the bulky, costly-to-get-rid-of junk
— actually got collected rather than dumped in our alleys.
State law gives St. Paul's 1 5 licensed haulers the right to
form a consortium and come up with a plan for organized
trash hauling. If they can't manage that, the city can bid the
job out to a firm or group of firms.
Among the sticking points in the now months-long
negotiation between the city and the haulers is a labor peace
agreement. The city wants the companies not to interfere
with union organizing efforts in their shops. For small
haulers like Matt Pflugi of East Metro Environmental, this
isn't a big deal. "I wouldn't have any trouble coming to terms
with the city," he says. He's already paying his workers well,
and isn't concerned about labor organizing in his small
company. But for big firms, he observes, "it's a deal breaker."
Despite the jabbering, it's worth considering that this fight is
not really be about your choice to hire the hauler of your
dreams, nor about finding a way to finally get the trash
picked up in neighborhoods like Frogtown. For the big
national firms, it's about setting a precedent that would
undercut their desire to keep unions out of their shops.
— Tony Schmitz
He's Mr. Peace
Melvin Giles and
crew get set for
another peace
celebration — P. 5
Cut Costs on
Quality Food
Fare for All offers
grocery discounts
for everyone
— P. 8

Rem
BIG IDEAS
From Stillwater, a Food Shelf Vision
Frogtown organizer has seen the future, and it looks like an ex-urban service center
After Frogtown’s Sharing Korners food
shelf closed abruptly last summer,
Frogtowner Delinia Parris took on the
Frogtown Neighborhood Associationsponsored
job of trying to organize a
replacement operation. For now the
solution is a mobile food shelf, but Parris
has a bigger dream for the future. The
model, she says, is Valley Outreach.
“It’s amazing,” she said after a recent field
trip to the Stillwater operation, located in
a nondescript warehouse on the edge of
town. “They’re sensitive to the idea that
there are needs beyond just food. They’re
culturally sensitive. There’s so much
variety in what they offer.”
Recently Valley Outreach director Tracy
Maki and programming director Liz Riley
offered a tour through the sprawling
space, which has grown since 1 983 out of
a typically small-scale church basement
operation. Now 11 staff members work
with 1 ,300 volunteers and 30-plus church
groups to serve about 3,800 clients
annually.
Started as a food shelf, Valley Outreach
merged with a local clothing closet, then
added an emergency fund, plus counseling
At Valley Outreach, programming director Liz Riley (left) and director Traci Maki.
and referral services. Maki’s tour started
in the food shelf, a brightly lit space that
is enlivened with grocery store-style
super-graphics. Freezers held steaks, pork
loins, roasts, hamburger and other meat
items. A broad selection of fresh fruit and
vegetables covered heavy steel shelving.
Canned goods, cereal, pasta, condiments,
bath items and dish soap, dog food,
snacks, coffee, juice baked goods, cakes
helped fill out the inventory.
The food shelf also assembles snack
packs, distributed through Stillwater
schools, for free-lunch kids who might
otherwise find weekends a hungry time.
An adjacent room holds the clothing
closet of men’s, women’s and children’s
items. “It’s all donated,” said Maki. “We
get more than we can ever use. It’s
stunning what comes in. It’s stunning
how much of it still has tags on it.” It’s a
testimony to the relative affluence of the
area. Locals buy clothing that they realize
they will never wear, then donate it to the
closet. When Parris visited, she was
astonished to see a supply of new
underwear and socks. “Nobody does
that,” she observed.
Other services include financial help for
people short of rent, mortgage money,
heat or utilities, car repairs and
healthcare. In addition, Valley patrons get
help connecting with other community
resources such as legal services, food
stamps, energy assistance programs, and
financial management counseling offered
by the Prepare + Prosper organization.
According to Valley’s Maki, there’s
plenty of talent available to help
Frogtown take the next step toward a
similar locally-based organization. “There
are networks of professionals you can
connect with. There are tricks of the trade
— Continued Page 11
PAGE 2 JULY MAY/JUNE / AUGUST 2017
6

Now Underway on Charles Avenue: A
New Approach to Revitalization
FROGTOWN NEWS
The standard approach to non-profit
efforts aimed at revitalizing Frogtown has
been to build a house here, rehab another
there, paint some garages and hope for the
best. Carol Carey of the Historic St.
Paul/Preserve Frogtown organization was
caught in a version ofthat drill last summer.
The group had just finished a tasteful
restoration of a modest but historic house
at 573 Charles Ave. Carey, showing off
the place to a neighbor, got caught up in a
conversation about the overall impact that
the familiar scattershot approach had. The
difference between the rehab cost and the
market price in neighborhoods such as
Frogtown can be well over $1 00,000.
Redoing a single house on a block is great
for the family that occupies it, but often
doesn’t do much to change the feel of the
block as a whole. So what would?
What if you took that $1 00,000-plus and
painted every house on the block, or
invested in decorative fencing or
landscaping? Would neighbors
participate? How much a change would
you notice, and how positive would it seem?
That’s the experiment that will be carried
out this summer on a block of Charles
Ave. between Dale St. and Kent. A group
including Habitat for Humanity,
NeighborWorks Home Partners, Frogtown
Neighborhood Association, Preserve
Frogtown and the Community
Stabilization Project has met with
neighbors over past months to figure out
how to work together, and what kind of
projects might create a meaningful,
noticeable change.
According to Polina Montes de Oca at
Habitat, the organizations are trying to
focus on what neighbors want. They want
to find projects that have what Montes de
Oca describes as “curb appeal,” while
building connections among neighbors on
the block and also respecting its historical
significance. Carey of Preserve Frogtown
calls the block an important concentration
of Victorian worker cottages.
Money will be available for home repair
and improvements for both owneroccupants
and landlords. Lower income
residents could qualify for deferred
payment or forgivable loans, but there will
be other pots of money that won’t
necessarily be income-qualified. A June 7-
1 0 kick-off is scheduled with Brush for
Kindness, a Habitat program that has
helped Frogtowners with painting and
repairs.
On the block, residents Judy Caravalho
and Kiki Usuda reflected on the meetings
to date and observed that mostly so far
they were useful for introducing neighbors
to each other, and starting a conversation
among themselves. They had some ideas.
Usuda wanted to plant a rain garden on
the small vacant lot beside her house.
Caravalho imagined boulevard plantings
that would link the block’s homes visually.
But the first part of making
improvements, Caravalho said, is
convincing neighbors that it’s possible to
make things better. “People have told me,
‘I’ve been here 40 years, nothing has
changed. They don’t expect things to
work.”
Frogtowner Vicki Regalado gets yard help from a Hamline-Midway Elders crew
dispatched from Gander Mountain. From left, Carrie Krautkramer, Erin Schultz,
Jarid Lipp, Brianne Enz and Lauren Tapper.
Seniors: Here's Home, Health Help
Are you a Frogtown-area senior who
needs some help to continue living in your
home? Here’s good news: the Hamline
Midway Elders program has recently
expanded to include the area from
Lexington Parkway to Dale Street north of
University. It matches up with services
offered by the North End South Como
Block Nurse program, which covers the
territory north of University from Dale to
35 E.
“Our mission is to help seniors live where
they want to live for as long as possible,”
says director Tom Fitzpatrick.
From its base at Hamline United
Methodist Church at 1 51 4 Englewood, the
program delivers a variety of programs,
including a ride service; advocacy to help
seniors resolve housing, Medicare,
Medicaid or similar bureaucratic issues; or
assistance around the home with tasks
such as spring raking.
The Elders program also sponsors events
and activities, such as a second-Tuesdayof-the
month presentation and lunch,
exercise classes, a knitting circle and a
film series.
“We’re making a push to serve the
neighborhood and get more neighborhood
volunteers,” says Fitzpatrick. You can
contact Hamline Midway Elders at 651 -
209-6542 for more information.
Seniors in the Dale to 35E area can find
similar services by calling the North End
South Como Block Nurse program. It
offers a range of wellness programs, plus
social events and minor home repairs.
The age 65+ set can contact this
organization at 651 -487-51 35.
The Old (African American) Ball Game
Rediscovered in Just‐Released Book
Among the challenges on Charles Ave.: Judy Caravalho's property. She needs
help to repair damage from burst bathroom water pipe that flooded the structure.
Rondo Library to Close for 'Reboot'
Rondo Library, now more than ten years old and the busiest library in Saint Paul, will
be closing this summer "for a reboot," says library director Rebecca Ryan. "It's less
than a renovation, but more than redecorating," Ryan said, noting that work will begin
June 1 and should be completed by the end of summer.
The library surveyed regular users and used the feedback to plan changes. Among
them: separate loud and quiet spaces; a welcoming area that celebrates the
neighborhood's diversity and history through art, music, and events; better small group
meeting and individual study space; more homework center room; and more
programming for teens. "Stay tuned for more opportunities for input," Ryan adds.
MAY/JUNE 2017
A crowd at Rondo Library got a look at
Frank White’s new book, They Played
for the Love of the Game, in April, as
White recounted the history of
Minnesota’s once-burgeoning African
American baseball teams. White comes
by his interest with a family history —
his father, Pud White, was stand-out
catcher with the Twin Cities Colored
Giants. White was raised in Rondo, and
worked a Frogtown paper route as a
child.
His book, published by the Minnesota
Historical Society Press, recovers a
forgotten history of local African
American baseball from the 1 870s
through the 1 960s, tracking teams such
as the St. Paul Colored Gophers, the
Spaldings, and the Uptown Sanitary
Shop, plus renowned players such as
female Toni “Tom Boy” Stone and
Jimmy Lee.
Along with photos, old box scores and
newspaper articles, White’s book
delves into the sport’s legacy of
racism, revealing state championship
rules from the 1 920s that prevented
any team with black players from
advancing to the state championships.
White’s book s available through the
amazon.com, or via the Minnesota
Historical Society.
PAGE 3

For Duplex, Triplex
Home Buyers, an
Unexpected Trap
The fine points of city zoning laws are the
ultimate nerd territory — until you and
your home are caught up in them. That’s
what happened to Frogtowner Moises
Romo with his house at 41 9 Sherburne.
The house, an imposing triplex just west
of Western Ave., seemed to Romo like a
sensible landing spot when he bought it in
201 3. He could get out of his West Side
apartment, move into one of the units in
his new place, rent the other two, and
drastically reduce his housing costs. For a
young truck driver working to set up a
trucking business with his brother, it made
perfect sense.
The only trouble being that the house had
been vacant for more than a year before
Romo bought it. Given the zoning
classification that applies to most of
Frogtown, that meant that the house could
no longer be used as a triplex. Even
though the 1 32-year old house had been a
triplex for generations, it could now only
legally be used as a single-family home.
The zoning requirement had its roots in
the rough patch experienced in Frogtown
during the crack epidemic of the 1 990s.
FROGTOWN NEWS
Drug houses, run by unscrupulous
absentee landlords, flourished. Neighbors
trying to live quiet lives looked for tools
to address the worst abuses. One possible
solution, they guessed, was to reduce the
supply of run-down, multi-unit houses
run by negligent owners who lived
elsewhere. That recommendation made
its way into the neighborhood-created
Small Area Plan, became part of the
city’s Comprehensive Plan, and then
became a portion of St. Paul’s zoning
regulations.
Nonetheless, given the long, historical
use as a triplex, Romo figured he’d be in
the clear. That dream lasted until he tried
to get his home refinanced. He got turned
down when the lenders noted that the
zoning laws prohibited use of the house
as a triplex. Now Romo was in a bind. “I
wasn’t going to be able to afford to live
in such a huge structure by myself. I was
going to have to sell.”
The lender told Romo to go downtown to
the city’s zoning office to figure out a
next step. There he got a quick education
concerning the bureaucratic pit he had
fallen into. Romo would need a zoning
variance. To get one, he’d have to appear
before the city’s Board of Zoning
Appeals — a mayor-appointed sevenmember
board. The board would hold a
public hearing, to which the Frogtown
Neighborhood Association and all
property owners living within 350 feet
would be invited. Two-thirds of the
owners within 1 00 feet would have to
sign off on a petition. The city’s zoning
staff would investigate and prepare a
report with a recommendation. Romo
would pay a $589 application fee for the
pleasure, with no guarantee that he’d
prevail.
The bad news for Romo: the city’s staff
Above: Moises Romo. Left:
his home on Sherburne Ave.
person, Tony Johnson, needed
to answer a set of specific
questions before
recommending a variance.
Romo had to establish that his
triplex was “in harmony with
the general purposes and
intent of the zoning code,” and
consistent with the city’s
master plan. Strictly speaking,
it wasn’t.
But here Romo caught a
break. Johnson recognized the
bind that Romo was in.
— Continued next page
PAGE 4 MAY/JUNE 2017

The property owners within 1 00 feet were
mostly absentee landlords who probably
wouldn’t trouble themselves with signing
a petition, assuming Romo could track
them down. With housing affordability
already an issue in the neighborhood,
closing down two units in Romo’s
building wouldn’t help.
Johnson and FNA director Caty Royce
went to bat for Romo before the zoning
appeals board. “If they hadn’t helped….”
Romo said later. The board and city
Planning Commission eventually decided
to allow Romo to continue using his home
as a tri-plex.
FROGTOWN NEWS
In light of this experience, Johnson
appeared at a recent community forum to
suggest that Frogtowners revisit the
crack-era inspired zoning regulations, and
consider changes that allow for more
multiple-family housing. By Johnson’s
count, there are 359 Frogtown houses
similar to Romo’s — multi-unit housing
that would have to become single family
structures again if left vacant for a year. “I
just want to start a conversation about the
issue,” says Johnson.
The first step? The neighborhood
association needs to request that the city
conduct a study. At the FNA, Royce says
that’s on her list.
IT'S A PEACE CELEBRATION: Join
Peace Pole impresario Melvin Giles
(left) and a host of volunteers who are
putting on the annual Peace
Celebration, 3-7 pm, Friday, June 1 6, at
Ober Community Center, 376 Western
Ave. N.
The event includes free soil testing for
lead, a bouncy house, face painting,
entertainment and free food by Smokin'
J's, including chicken, hamburgers, hot
dogs, baked beans, potato salad and
more.
Get more information, reserve a table
or donate to the event by contacting
peacecelebration.mn@gmail.com or
Katheryn Schneider at 651 -485-3856.
CLEAN UP DRAWS A MOB: The April 22 city-wide park clean up brought a throng
of volunteers to Frogtown Park and Farm, with about 1 20 people showing up to
clear the park and surrounding blocks of litter and other debris. The flotsam
included a sleeping bag, backpack, most of a bike, a door and a wide assortment
of other, sometimes baffling junk.
Among the hard-working trash-pluckers was Regeana Hill, above, who filled three
bags and then observed that she understood the cans, bottles, candy wrappers
and related litter. "But a bra?" she wondered. "Who loses a bra in the street?"
The annual event was sponsored by the City of St. Paul Parks Department,
Frogtown Green, St. Stephanus Church, Youth Farm, the Frogtown Neighborhood
Association and NeighborWorks Home Partners.
MAY/JUNE 2017
PAGE 5

GREENING NEWS
Local Parks Get
Green for Summer
Frogtown Park’s east side nature play
area is coming along nicely and should
be done by the end of June, according to
Parks project managed Brett Hussong.
“Due to the early spring, construction has
resumed,” Hussong reports. “I’m happy
to say that the community will be able to
enjoy the park for most of the summer.”
Meanwhile, at Scheffer Park,
construction is still in the planning
stages. Project manager Christopher
Stark will be soliciting community input
on the $9 million renovation throughout
the summer. “We will have the latest
plans and renderings at two upcoming
events: Safe Summer Nights on May
25th, and, at the Hmongtown Festival on
June 24th and 25th,” Stark advises.
Gardens are again sprouting at Valley
Park, says Mt. Airy Boys and Girls Club
director Diana Adamson. “We have a
part-time gardener working with our
youth on Mondays and Wednesdays,”
Adamson says. “We are getting ready to
plant our garden beds and will be
working out in our other green areas, like
the new raingardens and a few larger
garden beds that we have on our grounds.
Our gardener will also be doing a weekly
cooking class with our youth each week
throughout the summer and fall.”
And finally, at West Minnehaha Rec
Center, pollinators will be playing in the
new prairie flowerbeds planted by
Frogtown Green volunteer Paul Nelson.
Three new beds and a cherry tree are now
blooming on the west side of the park,
near the baseball diamond.
YOUNG ARTISTS REVEAL TALENTS:
Remember that coloring sheet we ran
in Greening Frogtown a couple of
issues ago?
Sydney Benalkon and Evelyn Horton,
both members of the Llttle Friends
Club, a Frogtown day care, took
matters into their own (artistic) hands.
Sydney, 3, (left) chose an array of
rainbow colors, meticulously coloring
inside many different lines and
segments, while Evelyn went with a
more expressionistic approach and a
minimalist palette.
The two friends were among the
contestants, who scored art supplies
for everyone at the Little Friends Club
to use in future artistic endeavors.
Photo above: Patricia Ohmans, below:
Hans Bremhorst.
THE FROGS ARE COMING BACK TO HMONGTOWN: In collaboration with
Frogtown Green, Hmongtown Marketplace at 21 7 Como Avenue will again be the
site of gribbit-ing hijinks and fascinating learning. The FrogLab booth at the
Market (in the "L" building" on the east side of the Marketplace) will host weekly
visitors from a lineup of organizations, museums and schools, culminating in the
second annual Frog-A-Rimba festival later this summer.
Naturalist and Frogtown Green educator Chee Yang returns to manage the booth,
offering free arts and science activities for kids of all ages. "Last year we reached
hundreds of Marketplace visitors with a message about the interaction of humans
and wild creatures, like frogs," observes Frogtown Green director Patricia
Ohmans. The booth opens on Saturday, May 20, and runs weekly through
September from 1 to 4 PM. All activities are free and family friendly (especially if
you love frogs, like our young Frog-A-Rimba 201 6 participant above!)
PAGE 6
MAY/JUNE 2017

MAY/JUNE 2017
PAGE 7

FROGTOWN FLAVOR
Cut Grocery Costs with Fare for All
Get up to halfoffon quality meat, produce at Hallie Q. Brown drop-offsite
By Hannah Whitney
According to research by the USDA, fresh
produce and meat prices are expected to
rise in 201 7. Fortunately, there is one
volunteer-run organization working hard
to ensure that everyone can continue to
afford good food. Introducing the Twin
Cities’ best kept secret: Fare For All.
For only $20, you can stop by a Fare For
All distribution center and pick up 1 5
pounds of fresh produce and 4-5 packages
of meat - a price that is 40-50% cheaper
than average grocery chains. Having fresh
produce and meat for such a low price is
important, says Scott Weatherhead, Fare
for All program manager. When nutritious
foods are too expensive, it is easy to resort
to cheaper and less healthy alternatives,
like chips and sugary treats. So, Fare For
All wants to continue to “make good
foods affordable so you don’t have to buy
the bad stuff,” Weatherhead says.
Fare for All volunteers with a typical box of low-cost, high quality groceries.
When nutritious foods are too expensive, it is easy to resort to
cheaper, less healthy alternatives, like chips and sugary treats.
Photo courtesy of Fare for All
mangoes and avocados. Holiday packages
are also available, which can feed a family
of 8 for under $30.
Each day of the month, FFA visits 2
places, in a constant rotation of dozens of
distribution locations. The distribution
time lasts for about 2 hours, and serves
around 85 people. The Hallie Q. Brown
Community Center located at 270 N. Kent
Street is the closest distribution center to
Frogtown. Fare For All will be there May
1 8 at 4pm - feel free to check it out and
bring friends! More upcoming dates and
locations can be found at:
fareforall.org/find-a-site.
Everyone is welcome, says Weatherhead,
regardless of background or income level.
The process is simple: come to the Hallie
Q. Brown Center, pick your food and pay.
“You will be greeted by nice volunteers,
happy people, and even free pastries.”
A mobile program of The Food Group in
New Hope, Fare For All began in 1 986
under a different name and company,
Weatherhead explained, “but our main
goal has always been to bring sustenance
to people who cannot always reach it.”
There are no sign-ups, no income
requirements, and no restrictions. FFA
accepts payment in almost all forms, as
participants of the EBT program.
Fare For All is powered by volunteers
and by larger corporations that lend their
employees and time to packaging and
distribution. The program purchases bulk
orders of food, including produce from
local wholesalers and CSAs. They
receive large donations frequently: for
example, a program called Lost Harvest
in Arizona and New Mexico was found to
be dumping tons of fresh produce every
year, due to low demand. Fare For All
stepped in and now rescues 60,000
pounds of fruits and veggies from Lost
Harvest. These often come during the
winter when little is growing in
Minnesota.
In the past 5 years, FFA has improved in
both quantity and quality of food offered,
while maintaining low prices, according
to Weatherhead. A produce package,
which sells for $1 0 alone (without meat)
always offers potatoes, carrots, apples,
oranges, and seasonal selections such as
Point-Cut Corned Beef and Vegetables
Recipe provided by Scott Weatherhead,
Fare for All
There are many ways to cook a brisket but
we chose the easiest way, one that you can
walk away from and just visit every few
hours, using a crockpot!
Makes 4 servings, total cooking time 6
hours in a crock pot
Continued on Page 11
is published six times per year by
Health Advocates Inc.
843 Van Buren Ave., St. Paul,
and is distributed door-to-door in the area from
Lexington Pkwy. to 35E,
University Ave. to Pierce Butler.
Publisher: Patricia Ohmans
Editor: Anthony Schmitz
Contact us at
651 .757.5970 • patricia.ohmans@gmail.com
651 .757.7479 • apbschmitz@gmail.com
Ad rates & more at GreeningFrogtown.com
Next issue, July/August. Ad deadline June 1 5.
Health Advocates also sponsors Frogtown Green,
an initiative that promotes green development
as a means to increase the health and wealth
of Frogtown residents.
The Frogtown Flavor feature is sponsored by a grant from
the Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Minnesota Foundation.
PAGE 8 MAY/JUNE 2017

FROGTOWN'S FUTURE
Gentrification: Has It Hit Frogtown?
At a neighborhood forum the crowd says yes. And no.
I sat next to a friend of mine at a recent
Frogtown Neighborhood Association
forum on gentrification in our
neighborhood. We squinted together at a
map projected on a screen in the gym at
City School, trying to make out what it
meant. The map was intended to identify
areas of St. Paul that had been gentrified
— which is to say that people with more
money had moved in, new buyers and
investors were spending more on
property, and people with less money
were getting moved out.
The map seemed to show that Frogtown
from Western to Lexington is gentrified.
My friend asked, “What do you think? Is
that right?”
I might have put it more delicately than
this, but my response was something like,
“Are you kidding?” The value of the
home I’ve owned over almost 27 years
has grown so little that the notion of
gentrification seems to me to border on
absurd. “What do you think?” I asked.
“It is,” she said. “I'm priced out. I can’t
afford to rent here.”
There’s the short version of how any
discussion of gentrification tends to run
off the rails. Your view depends on how
much you’ve got in your checking
account and whether you own or rent.
Your race and the race of your new
neighbors might play into it. So might the
types of grocery stores and shops nearby.
It’s a tough discussion, and it’s not always
easy to appreciate the other person’s view.
The crowd in the gym had gathered to
hear a report by University of Minnesota
researchers. Dr. Brittany Lewis and Tony
Damiano are undertaking two lines of
investigation into gentrification in
Minneapolis and St. Paul. Damiano is
wading through census and other data to
try to quantify what’s going on. He’s
looking at how much of the city’s rental
and owner-occupied housing remains
affordable to residents, and how that
might vary depending on your race.
Meanwhile Lewis is interviewing dozens
of residents, business owners, non-profit
staff and government officials to find out
how the endless and inevitable changes in
the city’s make-up feel to them.
They’re in the early stages of their work,
with more data for Minneapolis than St.
Paul. Similarly, Lewis is still doing
interviews. Her perspective now is that
the discussion about gentrification isn’t
whether it’s good or bad, but about
creating a basis for talking about it in a
nuanced way, recognizing that your
impressions depend on a couple dozen
things, big and small, including your
income and race, how many kids you
have, what you like to eat, what kind of
dog owners are walking what kind of
dogs down your street, and your dreams
for your kids and the future.
As with so many meetings, you go
wanting definitive answers in areas where
definitive answers don’t always exist. In
this case, Damiano wasn’t ready with
census figures for Frogtown. But to kick
this discussion further down the street,
you can find information below that helps
to explain — or in some cases will make
you scratch your head — about what's
happening in Frogtown. Except where
noted, it’s taken from the US Census
American Community Survey, and
compares the years 2005-09, and 2011 -
1 5. The area is from University to Pierce
Butler, and from Lexington to Rice. Keep
in mind that, like many statistics, these
are best estimates, not exact numbers.
— Tony Schmitz
Despite an increase in the total number
of households, the balance between
rented and owned housing remained
about the same. About 57 percent of
Frogtown households are in rental
property, while 43 percent own their own
homes. These figures exclude Capitol
Heights, the area between Rice St. and
35E, with its 61 4 units of public housing.
The post-housing crisis years brought
fewer white households, about the same
number of Black and Latino households,
and a bulge of new Asians. But data and
perception can take different paths. Oldtimers
note an uptick in white couples
pushing strollers with dogs in tow. Are
they replacing Frogtown seniors who
moved on to group living or a cemetery?
If a mark of gentrification is increased
wealth, on the whole Frogtown fails that
test. Frogtowners make less today than
they did in 2000 after income is adjusted
for inflation. Median income (half make
more, half make less) has declined.
Rising rents and lower income put the
pinch on struggling families. (Census
data analysis above from Wilder
Research's Minnesota Compass.)
The tide doesn’t raise or lower all boats
equally. Black, Latino and Asian
households operated on significantly
less money than white households in
201 5. Changes in housing, food and
other costs can be a nuisance if you've
got cash to spare and a disaster if you
are already on the edge. With the
gentrification discussion, your opinions
and your financial position are linked.
A commonly-used measure of housing
affordability is whether you pay more or
less than 30 percent of your income for a
roof over your head. Spend more than
30 percent and you’re considered costburdened.
Slightly fewer Frogtown
renters are cost-burdened now than they
were in 2009, but still six out of ten
spend an uncomfortably high portion of
their income on rent. Homeowners,
meanwhile, are doing considerably
better. An odd blip not revealed by this
chart: There’s a jump in the number of
households making more than $75,000
per year and paying less than 20 percent
of their income for housing. The number
went from 226 in 2009 to 51 5 in 201 5.
Mark of the gentrifier or sign of an
improved economy?
MAY/JUNE 2017
PAGE 9

FROM PAGE ONE
30 Days of Chicken Soup
Mother, daughter write the book on traditional Hmong postpartum practices
When Zongxee Lee had her first baby 1 3
years ago, her mother and grandmother
urged her to take it easy, and to follow a
special chicken soup diet, both traditions
for many Hmong women, post-partum.
“Mom stocked the refrigerator with a
chicken and special herbs, and told me I
should eat only chicken soup for 30
days,” Lee recalls. “She taught my
husband to make the soup, and told me I
shouldn’t even walk around very much
for a whole month.”
Things didn’t quite work out that way,
however. “Are you kidding me?” says
Lee, remembering the days after her baby
was born, in a hospital. “The day after I
gave birth, the nurse had me up and
walking down the hallway three times a
day!” Accepted obstetrical practices in
2004 included liberal doses of pain meds,
frequent abdominal massages and regular
meals, all counter to advice from Mayyia
Lee, Zongxee’s mother, a former
Frogtown resident.
The experience prompted Zongxee, a
nursing student at the time, to investigate
the utility of her mother’s counsel.
Digging through medical journals, plant
Mayyia (left) and Zongxee Lee collaborated on 'Common Hmong Postpartum Herbs.'
reference guides and anthropological
research, she began to match up the herbs
that her mother, grandmothers and greatgrandmothers
used, with information
about their common and English names,
their chemical composition and their
medicinal uses in Hmong tradition.
Now a postpartum nurse at United
Hospital in St. Paul, Lee has recently
published the results of her efforts in a
slim, photo-packed volume titled 30 Days
ofPurification; Common Hmong
Postpartum Herbs. The plants listed
include some that would be familiar to
many non-Hmong gardeners, such as
sedum, lovage, and ginger, as well as
others that are less well-known. Their
traditional medicinal uses range from
increasing breast milk production (for
hmab nosh liab, or Malabar spinach) to
easing joint pain (for white ginger, or
qhaus rau qaib).
The book is in print and available on
Amazon, but it is still also a work in
progress. During a recent presentation on
Hmong herbs at Arlington Library,
Zongxee and her co-author/mother
Mayyia Lee talked about one plant that
has a Hmong name, but so far at least, no
corresponding botanical name. “It’s zej
ntshua ntuag in Hmong, and I call it
“Rough Edge Leaf” Zongxee explained,
flashing a slide of a long-stemmed,
jagged-leafed plant. “If anyone can tell
me what its common name is in English,
let me know!”
Lee acknowledges that she is self-taught
when it comes to botanical pharmacology,
and cautions would-be selfmedicators
to consult with their own
doctors or herbal medicine advisors
before ingesting any unfamiliar plants.
— Continued Page 11
PAGE 10 MAY/JUNE 2017

30 Days of Chicken Soup, Cont.
“In general, you should treat herbs as
medicine,” she advises. “I’m not a
practitioner of herbal medicine, so I am
not recommending these plants
specifically for any specific people.”
But Lee points to four easy pregnancies
after that first problematic one, as
evidence that—when it came to chicken
soup at least—her mother and
grandmothers knew best. “During the
time following the births of my children
that I committed myself to practicing the
chicken soup diet, I avoided many of the
postpartum discomforts,” she writes in the
introduction to 30 Days ofPurification.
“I have used all of the herbs listed in my
book and all I can say is that—for
me—they have been safe, and they work.”
Zongxee Lee’s motivation in her research
was as much to honor her forbears as it
was to contribute to botanical science, or
obstetrical practice.
“I cherish the stories and knowledge of
the elderly in our culture,” she says. “I
want the new generations—my own children—not
to be ignorant ofthose traditions.”
“My mother is a life-long gardener,”
Zongxee continues. (Mayyia is a Ramsey
County Master Gardener, and a trainer for
Minnesota Food Association). “She
knows so much, and a lot of my book
came from what she knows. I wanted to
capture that knowledge, before it’s lost.”
Fare for All, Cont.
Corned beef brisket, point cut, 3.5 pounds
4 large carrots
1 pound baby red potatoes, quartered
1 onion cut into rings
1 small head of cabbage, chopped
3 cups water
6 ounces apple juice
salt and pepper to taste
The point-cut portion of a corned beef
brisket is fattier but more flavorful than
the flat cut, and many cooks prefer it.
Please note that the point cut brisket will
cook down, due to its marbling, so expect
some shrinkage.
Directions
Put potatoes and onions in the bottom of
the crockpot and pour the water on top.
Place the brisket on top of the potatoes
and onions.
Pour the apple juice over the brisket, add
spices as desired.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, add and stir in the carrots.
At the 6 hour mark, stir in the cabbage.
Food Shelf, Cont.
that people understand. You don’t have to
create it all from the ground up. There is
plenty of equipment already out there. We
get more offers for freezers and coolers
than we know what to do with.”
More Neighborhood Notes
At the Victoria Theater: Work on the
prospective community art center and
gathering spot located just east of Victoria
on University continues, as organizers
make a bid for funding via the city's
Capital Improvement Budget process. The
$462,000 request would help pay for a
new roof and address storm water run-off,
provided funding is approved by the city
council and mayor. Results on that won't
be finalized until December. Meanwhile
the group is wrangling to bring a project
manager on board and crank up its
fundraising efforts, says steering
committee member Aaron Rubenstein.
Another Little Mekong Night Market:
The night market returns this year to the
corner of Western and University on
Saturday and Sunday, June 1 0 and 11 ,
starting both days at 5 pm. This year's
event is a collaboration between the Asian
Economic Development Association and
Northern Spark, the annual all-night art
bash. Inspired by the night markets of
Southeast Asia, the event features cultural
performances, food and art vendors.
In Parris’s view, a similar culturallysensitive
center with a range of services is
crucial to help people build self-reliance,
and good help move Frogtown to a higher
level.
“Frogtown people have character. They
don’t want to be handed things. I don’t
want somebody to give me a fish. I want
somebody to teach me how to fish.”
Face Lift at Demera: The Ethiopian
restaurant at 823 University gets a face
lift starting next month, with new
windows, paint and improved signage.
The $90,000 project is financed by the
building owners, Neighborhood
Development Center and Historic St.
Paul. Above, the building in its turn-ofthe-century
use as the Ray-Bell film studio.
MAY/JUNE 2017
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PAGE 12 MAY/JUNE 2017