GreeningFrogtownJulyAug17

JULY/AUGUST 2017
Inside…
The Payday
Lending Trap
Exodus Lending
offers escape — P. 2
Frogtowners
Are New Link
to City Cops
Howard, Lammers
in outreach,
prevention roles —
P. 3
ON CHARLES AVE., DIRT FLIES IN REJUVENATION EFFORT — P. 3
A Neighbors' Deal with Drivers
Who says the car has to come first?
If you love going to public meetings and pondering transportation
issues, the past month was great for you. There’s a sudden pile-up
of local road, bridge and freeway projects under consideration.
Everybody wants your opinion about everything.
For example, you could have weighed in on the
Dale Street bridge over I-94. The idea at the
moment is to widen it considerably with bike
lanes, broad sidewalks, and longer turn lanes,
while adding amenities in the stretch north to
University. That might include a wheelchairfriendly
ramp on the east side, plus trees and
benches. (Ramseycounty.us/residents/roadstransit/future-projects
for details.)
Then there’s the question of putting a lid over the
freeway to reconnect the Frogtown/Rondo
neighborhoods with Summit-U. The lid could
resemble a broad park or garden, with gardens and
pathways that might turn a freeway crossing into a
pleasure rather than an ordeal. As unlikely as that
sounds, it’s been done in other cities — among them Duluth, where
a park forms a lid over I-35. (Details: reconnectrondo.org.)
Then there’s the matter of I-94 itself. The aged freeway, built in the
1 960s, is due for a major reconsideration and redo. As displaced
Rondo residents will tell you, the freeway build-out didn’t go so
well the first time around. The effort to make it better this time will
demand an ability to not only meet the needs of the present, but
take a guess at what the next 50 years will bring. Our ideas about
getting around in 201 7 will unquestionably seem quaint in 2067.
(Details: dot.state.mn.us/I-94minneapolis-stpaul)
Welcome to the neighborhood.
If the past 50 years of so of transportation planning have
taught us anything, it's that the needs of commuters are not
necessarily the needs of neighbors. Drivers want to get
where they're going as fast as possible. Residents don’t want
their neighborhood chopped up by roads
that are unsafe to cross by anyone incapable
of a sprint. They don’t want the sense that
they are stranded on either side of an eightlane
traffic trench. Yet that’s the world
we’ve made.
Here’s an idea that's simple but apparently
radical given the way that Rondo and
Frogtown have been hacked up to serve
commuters' interests. This time around,
balance the desires of residents and drivers.
Remake Dale so that a sensible person
might want to stroll along it. Slow traffic so
a child might reasonably hope to cross Dale
and survive. Remake I-94 with an
awareness that human beings live along it,
and deserve something better than an eyesore that brings
with it the roar and stench of traffic. If as a result commuters
are forced to slow down, wait, or consider mass transit, think
of it as a compromise. We're here 24/7. Commuters pass
through twice a day.
The car has been king for the past 50 years. This is the
moment to ask whether the next 50 years have to be the
same.
— Tony Schmitz
Gun Violence:
Tough Road
to Solutions
More questions than
answers at a local
forum — P. 4
The Food
Comes to You
Mobile Market,
Second Harvest add
food options — P. 9
Under New
Management
Change comes to
the Nickel Joint
— P. 6

WEALTHIFICATION
A Path Out of the Payday Lending Trap
Exodus Lending buys out loans, cuts interest costs to zero
David Bayliss had a problem that will
seem all too familiar to some
Frogtowners. He had a decent job that
paid the bills. Then he got laid off in
November, 201 4.
Unemployment payments lasted for six
months. While it was a help, the amount
didn’t match his previous income. He was
falling behind on his bills, which were
considerable. He had to cover rent, a car
payment, support for his former wife and
children, plus food and all the rest of life’s
incidentals.
He got behind on rent, behind on car
payments, and was paying utilities
intermittently. When he finally found
another job in June of 201 5, his problems
didn’t really end. His pay wasn’t enough
to allow him to stay current on his bills,
plus catch up with all that he owed.
Bayliss’s next move was to do what 1 2
million Americans do every year. He took
out a payday loan.
He knew it wasn’t the best move. But it
was the only one he felt he had left. “You
take out a payday loan because you
absolutely need it,” he said. “You’re at a
David Bayliss escaped the payday lending trap with help from Exodus Lending.
point where you’re willing to sign up for
anything. It’s the step right before being
out on the street.”
To get a payday loan, as too many
Frogtown residents may already know,
you need to have a job and a bank
account. The loan limit is $350 at some
shops, and $500 or more at others. You’ve
got to pay the amount back in full on your
next payday, plus fees and interest. On a
$500 loan, the fees and interest can run to
more than $33. If this were a conventional
loan, the annual percentage rate (APR)
would be 1 63 percent. But fees for
smaller amounts are an even worse deal.
Borrow just $200 and the annual
percentage rate with interest and fees is
365 percent.
Bayliss took out his first payday loan via
an online operation in August, 201 5.
When it came due he didn’t have the
money to pay it off. He did what many
people do to satisfy his payday loan. He
took out another payday loan to pay off
the first one. Again he paid the fees and
interest that added up, in his case, to an
APR of 578 percent. For Bayliss, history
repeated itself every two weeks, when his
loan came due and he paid fees and
interest to get another loan.
He tried going to his bank for a small
loan to close the gap, but quickly got an
education in current banking practice.
Most banks aren’t set up to provide small
loans for living expenses. If you’ve had a
bankruptcy in the past 1 0 years, which
was the case for Bayliss, you’re way out
of luck. The bank officer was
sympathetic, but didn’t have anything to
offer. She suggested that Bayliss hunt
around for a non-profit that might be able
to help.
— Continued, Page 11
PAGE 2 JULY/AUGUST / 2017
6

Paint and Dirt Flies as Charles Avenue
Rejuvenation Project Gets Underway
If you drove past the 500 block of Charles
Avenue on June 1 0, you saw a bustle of
activity as a group of neighbors and local
organizations started on an experiment to
transform the block.
Most times, the work on neighborhood
revitalization goes something like this: A
nonprofit group builds or rehabs a house
on a block. There’s one spruced up
property, but the rest of the block remains
the same. This time around, the idea was
different. A collaboration of
organizations, including Habitat for
Humanity, NeighborWorks Home
Partners, Preserve Frogtown and the
Frogtown Neighborhood Association got
together to ask neighbors how they
wanted their block to change, and then put
together a plan to make it happen.
Shovels hit the dirt on a Saturday
morning, as about 50 volunteers from
Habitat, the African American men’s
group Ujamaa Place, NeighborWorks,
Youth Farm and Thrivent Financial joined
a collection of neighbors to start in on
rejuvenating the block. Among the
projects: 1 0 new flower and vegetable
gardens with fresh, rich compost; a
patched-up garage with new siding and
paint; a bright accent of paint on a front
porch; a new door and stoop; a new
window; and a start on a new roof.
FROGTOWN NEWS
The block is recognized as a remarkably
intact collection of turn-of-the-century
workers’ cottages — small, modest homes
not so much notable for their high style as
for being a preserved stretch of housing
that speaks to the accomplishments of the
common man.
“This wasn’t the end. It was the kick off, a
beginning,” said Amanda Welliver at
NeighborWorks after the 9 am to 3 pm
project wrapped up. “This was a really
good learning process for both the
organizations and the neighbors."
She noted that participation from
neighbors grew as the Saturday event
drew closer. At first only three neighbors
wanted help planting a garden. “We
developed a lot of new relationships. We
had neighbors talking who hadn’t talked
together over decades of living on the
block. They were working together,
talking about holding pot lucks.”
"We did a good job, and everybody was
helping out," said Steve Fagerland. "With
all the new planting the block will look a
lot better in a couple years."
From left, Shoreé Ingram, Beth Hyser and Eva Moe from NeighborWorks Home
Partners were among the 60+ workers on the June 1 0 Charles Ave. kick-off.
Trash System Talks
Near Finish Line
St Paul could be closer to a revamped
trash collection system, once negotiations
are finalized between the city and the 1 5
collection companies that currently serve
Saint Paul neighborhoods. After several
marathon meetings in June, participants
are closing in on agreement over a new
system that will be acceptable to both
haulers and city officials, reports Kris
Hageman, the city's Recycling and Solid
Waste Program Manager.
Organized trash collection advocates have
espoused a system that divides the city
into zones assigned to different haulers,
instead of the current system that results
in multiple haulers covering the same
area. A new system could make
provisions for hauling bulky items like
mattresses and appliances, which now
often end up littering Frogtown alleys.
Details of the proposal are still being
worked out, but a public hearing is set for
Wed., July 1 9 at 5:30 pm in the City
Council Chambers, Rm 31 0, City Hall.
The Council will receive a staff update
and recommendation for next steps
toward implementing an organized trash
collection system. Find out more at the
city's "Coordinated Collection" webpage
at: www.stpaul.gov/departments/publicworks/garbage/coordinated-collection.
Patty Lammers and Johnny Howard are newly hired to serve in crime prevention
and community engagement roles with the St. Paul Police Department.
Frogtowners Are Link to St. Paul Cops
The St. Paul Police Department added
two new Frogtown-friendly staff
members, bringing onboard long-time
neighborhood resident and organizer
Johnny Howard as community
engagement specialist and outreach
coordinator to the African American
community, and native Frogtowner Patty
Lammers as crime prevention coordinator.
Howard led the Thomas Dale Block Clubs
from 1 991 to 2006, building it into a
network of affiliated Frogtown block
clubs during a troubled period in
neighborhood history. In addition to
block-by-block organizing, the group ran
a lawn service that employed local
people, youth programs and food
distribution services. Howard was also the
director of West Minne’s youth football
program for 1 8 years, coaching about 1 00
kids each season, and has served on the
boards of organizations such as the
NAACP, the Urban League and the
African American Leadership Council.
Lammers, who has since migrated to the
North End, grew up in Frogtown and, like
Howard, is a familiar figure. She served
on the board of the organization now
known as the Frogtown Neighborhood
Association for eight years, worked for
the Thomas Dale Block Clubs throughout
the 1 990s and later for the Greater
Frogtown CDC and NeighborWorks
Home Partners. She also chaired the
Frogtown area Weed and Seed program, a
neighborhood anti-crime and
revitalization program, for eight years.
Howard was one of 1 20 candidates
considered for the new position, which is
intended to help bridge the gap between
police and the African American
community. The idea is to create channels
of communication before a crisis erupts.
“The biggest thing is, you have to get out
of the seat and on your feet,” said
Howard. “I can’t be sitting in the office.
I’ve got to walk down to the
SuperAmerica, go to the Wilder complex.
I’ve got to be at the coffeehouse. You
can’t do it from a desk," he said.
As crime prevention coordinator,
Lammers is charged with working across
the city to coordinate events such as
National Night Out, plus assisting with
block club organizing efforts. She will
also connect neighbors to police
information efforts, such as the monthly
Western District community meetings.
You can see Lammers in action at the
Thursday, July 1 8 meeting, 9:30-11 am
and 6:30-8 pm at 389 Hamline, and at the
Thursday, August 1 5 meeting at the same
times and location.
Fenced Dale St. Lot Bought by NDC
The dust-up over the vacant lot at 507 N.
Dale St. ended recently when the taxforfeit
property was bought by the
Frogtown-based non-profit,
Neighborhood Development Center.
The lot, formerly home to the sincedemolished
Rock ofAges church, was
the source of a dispute between Ramsey
County, the Community Stabilization
Project, and the Frogtown Neighborhood
Association. The neighborhood groups
planted a raised-bed community garden
on the abandoned site. The county
insisted that the garden be removed.
When they failed to make a deal, the
county surrounded the lot with a
chainlink fence.
NDC director Mike Temali says the fence
will come down, and the property will be
used as green space and parking for
businesses in the office building at 501
N. Dale. NDC paid $79,900 for the
property.
Meanwhile, a court case between Rock of
Ages church and the city, alleging that
the church was unfairly compensated for
its property, continues. The church was
demolished in 2009 after the
congregation was unable to afford
extensive repairs ordered by St. Paul
inspectors.
JULY/AUGUST 2017
PAGE 3

Gun Violence: At
Local Forum, Big
Picture Plus
Wrenching Story
The Frogtown Neighborhood Association
put on a forum about gun violence
recently, amid a spate of shootings and
concern from cops and rec center directors
who worry what summer will bring.
The forum took up a familiar subject that
defies easy answers. Why do people grab
a gun to deal with their problems, and
what can be done to get them on a less
destructive path?
Otis Zanders, the director of Ujamaa
Place, a local organization that works with
young African American men, said that by
his lights, the root of the gun problem is
poverty. People are living paycheck to
paycheck, attempting to deal with the
stress and trauma in their lives but not
knowing how to make things better.
People, he said, need help to see a vision
for their future and have dreams about
how to improve their lives. “I see a lot of
hopelessness,” he said. “We need to instill
hopes and dreams so young men can value
themselves.”
FROGTOWN NEWS
The voice of experience: Linda Broyles' son died in a University Ave. shoot-out.
Zanders was joined by Damon Drake, the
Civic Engagement Coordinator of
Community Action Parnership of Ramsey
and Washington Counties. Drake
preaches the need for training young
people in conflict resolution, so that
violence isn’t the only tool in their bag
when they’re caught in an argument.
Trouble is, said Drake, most people don’t
want to begin to consider the deep
problems that fuel gun play. Is it poverty,
or parenting, or a general sense of
hopelessness, Drake wondered. You have
to consider everything that happened
before a kid picks up a gun, he said,
including a sense that he might never get a
decent job, and never own a home. Like
Zanders, Drake believes that kids need a
sense that their dreams of a better life have
a chance of being fulfilled.
But for anyone who doubted the
complexity of this issue, panelist Linda
Broyles added the real-life understanding
of a woman who has lost both her mother
and son in shootings. Broyles explained
her thinking during the forum and later at
an interview in her North End home.
After her mother was killed by gunfire
while Broyles was still a young child, she
was raised by an aunt who was a strict
church lady of the every-Wednesday-
Thursday-and-Sunday variety, with choir
practice on Saturday. Her aunt insisted
that when Broyles got home from school,
she pull up a chair at the dining room
table and do her homework. She was
taken around to be introduced to the
neighbors, who were told that if they saw
young Linda doing anything she oughtn’t,
they should make sure to let her know.
The overriding value of the household,
the way Broyles remembers it, was
respect. You had to give it to get it. And
there was not any doubt that her aunt
would be treated respectfully. You don’t
doubt from Broyles' calm but forceful
demeanor that she parented her kids much
the same way.
Broyles raised her son, John, and two
older children in the townhomes on the
corner of Victoria and Minnehaha, amid a
group of women who kept a close eye on
their own and each other’s children.
“People said I spoiled him,” Broyles said.
But by her reckoning, he was born a
sweetheart. “He just loved,” she said.
“His heart was just big.” He took the
PAGE 4 JULY/AUGUST 2017

FROGTOWN NEWS
younger kids to the park, banged on the
neighbor’s door to ask if she wanted
anything from the store. “With him, I
didn’t have to worry about anything.
Whatever would make you happy, that is
what he’d do.”
He made mistakes along the way. An
assault charge landed him in Totem Town,
but after he got out he took a job at
McDonald’s and signed up for a
bricklayer apprentice program.
On March 1 0, 201 6, he asked his mother
for $20 so he could go out with his cousin.
Later he called his mother to say that the
cousin had a gun. He wondered what he
should do. Broyles told him to bring the
gun to her, and she would take it to the
police. Then she waited for him to show
up. He never did.
John and the cousin headed for a party at
the Days Inn Motel on University and
Prior. There they encountered Rayshon
Brooks, with whom the cousin had an
ongoing beef. The way Broyles
understood it, the cousin had spoken
disrespectfully of Brooks’ dead mother.
Brooks had a gun. John was holding the
cousin’s gun. Brooks waved his gun at the
cousins. They ran, but John turned to fire
some shots in Brooks’ direction.
Broyles thinks she understands what
happened. Of her son, she says, “He was a
protector. He loved his family with his
whole heart.” She can imagine him
shooting in Brooks’ direction to scare him
off. “But he wasn’t scared off. He had a
gun, too. He just kept coming.” John was
shot and died on the sidewalk.
In the aftermath of her son’s murder, just
shy of his eighteenth birthday, his friends
came to Broyles and told her they wanted
to settle the score. “That’s not going to
bring him back,” she told them.
If you ask Broyles for her idea of
solutions to gun violence, she says that
parents have to be more involved with
their children. You can’t have babies
having babies, she says. Children want to
have children, but they don’t want to be
parents and they don’t have the tools to do
the job right. She sees too many children
who look to her like their parents just
don’t care. “They look like they’re not
being fed. Their attitude — there’s a lack
of respect.”
In her own home, she says, “You respect
me or you get out.” When her relative’s
children visit, they know to greet
everyone politely. If they get a plate out
they know to wash it when they’re done.
If you’re talking to her you don’t doubt
that all of this is true. There’s not a hostile
note in it, but you know that she means it.
But in the end you’re left with a riddle.
OLD-SCHOOL FOOD PREP AT FARM CELEBRATION: Brothers Ben (L) and Alex
Buhr try their hand at mashing rice for patties as Shawn Mouacheupao of Hmong
Cultural Experience coaches. The mash-fest was a part of the day's activities at
the Backyard Farm Fair at Frogtown Park and Farm. The June event featured free
food, music, a climbing wall for kids, and loads of information from local
organizations. Farm staff figured 700 people attended.
Her child was, by both Broyles’ account
and that of neighbors who knew him, a
charming kid. He was raised by a loving
mother and surrounded by neighbors who
were concerned about him. And he died in
a shoot out.
Later, forum organizer Tia Williams tried
to make some sense of that contradiction.
Her own kids were roughly the same age
as John Broyles, and were raised across
the street. "He was the kid who would
poke his little chubby face up against my
screen and ask if I wanted something from
the store," Williams said.
Continued, Page 11
JULY/AUGUST 2017
PAGE 5

FROGTOWN NEWS
study to become a heating, ventilation and
air conditioning specialist.
He'll run the bar with his brother — "a
good cook," Wolde says. He has plans to
open a small kitchen that will feature
Ethiopian and traditional American food.
Among the offerings in Wolde's plans are
sambusas, fried triangular pastries stuffed
with meat. He's hoping the remodeled
back room will serve as a community
space for weddings, graduation parties,
showers and other events.
Business Struggle,
with a Success
and professional setbacks. The good
news: Green recently landed a lease on a
commercial kitchen at Hazel Park
Congregational Church, and is poised to
get started on both catering and retail
food products. With help from the
Neighborhood Development Center, she's
also exploring retail space at the
Minneapolis Global Market.
For anyone considering the small
business life, Green's story is both
cautionary and hopeful.
New Owner Binyam Wolde takes over at the Nickel Joint at 501 Blair Ave.
At Iconic Local Bar, New Management
Last January we reported on the sobering
realities entrepreneur Kadijia Green faced
in her catering business start up. (See the
January/February 201 7 issue at
greeningfrogtown.com/archives for
details.) Despite Green's determination,
the future seemed uncertain after personal
Among the changes probably never
contemplated when the Nickel Joint
started doing business in 1 906 is that an
Ethiopian would come to own it in 201 7.
Along with a recent change in ownership
at Willard's Liquors at 738 Thomas, it's a
changing of the guard at Frogtown's
oldest taverns.
At the Nickel Joint, Binyam Wolde is
settling in as the new owner of a
neighborhood bar best known for its
collection of baseball memorabilia.
Wolde arrived in the US from Ethopia in
1 999, working his way up from airport
customer service to an airport taxi
business, followed by custodial work at
the University of Minnesota, and more
PAGE 6
JULY/AUGUST 2017

JULY/AUGUST 2017
PAGE 7

Frogtown's Future:
The Comic Book
The ten-year plan for Frogtown's future
took another step forward on June 27 as
residents gathered to comment on a draft
of a document that will become part of
the City of St. Paul's comprehensive plan.
The new wrinkle in the Frogtown vision
for the neighborhood: it will be presented
as an easy-to-read, comic book-style
graphic novel.
At the Frogtown Neighborhood
Association forum, neighbors gathered in
small groups to chew over fine points of
the plan's content. Broken into sections
that include land use, housing,
transportation, arts and education, health
and economic vitality, the plan in broad
terms seeks to preserve Frogtown's
diversity while making it a greener,
pedestrian and bike-friendly place with
more affordable housing options. In this
vision of the future, Dale Street would
become a business and green-space lined
Main Street; more opportunities would be
created for local entrepreneurs; and
housing choices such as microapartments,
tiny house developments and
backyard mother-in-law cottages would
be encouraged via changes in local
zoning codes.
The zoning law change was among the
more concrete
recommendations
included in the plan.
Currently much of
Frogtown is zoned
for single-family
residences. One
effect is that when a
duplex or triplex
stands empty for
more than a year, it
is can only be used
as a single-family
home after it's fixed
up and returned to
the market. A
zoning change
would allow new
owners to continue
to use the property
as multi-unit
housing, and would
also open the area to
development of
townhouses,
boarding houses,
elderly housing, and
mixed residentialcommercial
uses.
FROGTOWN NEWS
As neighbors puzzled
over the plan, a
familiar discussion
took place. How to avoid gentrification
that displaces current residents while also
making Frogtown a greeener, more
vibrant place to live that rewards
AT 2ND ANNUAL HMONGTOWN FESTIVAL: A MOB — Thousands
of festival goers filled Como Ave. on June 24-June 25 during this
year's event, sponsored by Hmongtown Marketplace. Food
vendors and an entertainment stage gave the street the feel of the
State Fair midway. Sports tournaments held during the festival
included the game tuj lub, a game that looks like a cross between
top-spinning and bocce ball (bottom right). Food included items
you won't see at the State Fair, such as the Thai dish, kanom krok
(top right), a type of savory pancake.
investment and allows local families to
build wealth?
FNA director Caty Royce says a final
version of the plan will be ready by mid-
August. Before then, get a preview at the
FNA website: frogtownmn.org. Click the
SMAPL link.
PAGE 8
JULY/AUGUST 2017

FROGTOWN FLAVOR
More Food Options for Frogtown
Grocery store on wheels and church-lot free food giveaways add to choices
by Hannah Whitney
Have you seen a big, green bus covered in
colorful photos of food roaming around
your neighborhood? Have you seen the
long Friday-afternoon lines snaking
around the St. Stephanus parking lot at
Blair and Grotto? You’re witnessing local
efforts to make quality food more
available to Frogtowners.
That green bus is the Twin Cities Mobile
Market, a grocery store on wheels that is
committed to bringing you affordable and
accessible nutrition.
The TCMM began as a program of the
Wilder Foundation in 201 4, and has
recently expanded to include two bus
markets, servicing a total of 31 locations.
Founder Leah Porter developed the
concept after conducting research on food
and social justice and learning about
similar programs in other cities around the
U.S. The TCMM is a team of 1 3 people
with Filsan Ibrahim serving as the
Community Engagement Coordinator.
The Mobile Market buys produce from
local farmers while ensuring that their
prices are comparable to those of large
grocery stores like Cub. Plus, as a part of
the Market Bucks program, TCMM can
now match dollar for dollar with SNAP.
They offer a wide variety of groceries and
take suggestions, aiming to provide
FREE FOOD AT ST. STEPHANUS: Volunteer Thao Xiong (left) helps the family of
recent Karen immigrant Leh Dia (blue blouse) load up on free vegetables, meat
and fruit at the every-Friday, 3-5 pm giveaway at the St. Stephanus parking lot on
Blair near Grotto. It's a temporary fill-in for Frogtown's shuttered food shelf, and
it's been drawing a throng of hundreds for Second Harvest-salvaged food, which
was on local grocers shelves just the day before. Organizer Delinia Parris says
this site will be open until September. After that? Still up in the air, but she hopes
to nail down an indoor location before the weather turns.
options to people of all cultures and needs.
Unsure of how to prepare and cook fresh
produce? You are not alone. Fortunately,
the Mobile Market has offered cooking
classes, easy recipes, and even a free
“recipe of the week,” and is working to
offer more satisfying ways to eat healthy.
What does the future look like for
TCMM? Leah and Filsan happily report
that 89% of their customers buy more
fruits and veggies than they did prior to
shopping at the Mobile Market. They are
looking to add more buses in the future, as
they have received good community
feedback.
With three locations right here in
Frogtown, Leah and Filsan want you to
check out the Mobile Market anytime you
see it out and parked, because it is open to
everyone, no questions asked!
The Market will be at the Hubbs Learning
Center (1 030 University Ave) on
Wednesdays from 11 :30-1 :00, the Wilder
Square Hi-Rise (750 Milton St.) on
Thursdays from 3:30-4:30pm, and at the
Wilder Child Development Center (911
Lafond Ave) on Thursdays from 5:00-
6:00pm. They can’t wait to see you!
Mango Blueberry Fruit Salad with
Thyme
4 mangos (cubed)
1 cup blueberries
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 ⁄4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Honey to taste
Cube mangos into bite-sized pieces. Add
blueberries, thyme, ginger, lemon juice
and lemon zest. Gently toss. Add honey
(optional).
JULY/AUGUST 2017
PAGE 9

The Block Club King
FROM PAGE ONE
Don Grundhauser on three decades ofneighborhood organizing
If someone has helped run a Frogtownarea
block club longer than Don
Grundhauser, stand up and take a bow.
But for now, we’re declaring the Capitol
Heights resident the king of local block
clubs. He’s been a driving force behind
the Capitol Heights block club since 1 985.
One morning in early June he was
buckling down to a familiar task at his
kitchen table on Winter Street. He was
getting ready for that night’s monthly
block club meeting. It was a full agenda
of ultra-local topics. Should a senior
housing/retail complex be located at the
site of the old Stahl House bowling alley
on Rice St. and Como? What about a
redesign of Rice Street? Then there was
the matter of managing the community
garden, plus the update of the city’s
comprehensive plan for the area. The
email reminders had already gone out, but
there were agendas to sort out, last minute
phone calls to manage.
In short, a slight variation on the theme
that’s run through more than 350 meetings
held over the past 32 years.
Grundhauser got hauled into the block
Grundhauser: "If you want change, you've got to participate to get the job done."
club business by a neighbor, Prosper
Eagan. This, Grundhauser remembers,
was in the era when the need for block
clubs was widely preached. “It was a
community-type thing,” he says now.
“Everybody should have a block club.
Rather than whining about things, people
should get out of the house and get
involved.” The big issues of the time
were keeping your yard clean, getting to
know your neighbors, staying on top of
crime.
In a neighborhood where a quarter of the
population changes every year,
Grundhauser is practically a feature of
the landscape. He and his wife, Joanne,
bought their house in 1 968 for $1 6,400
and raised four children there. Now, at
age 75, and a widower for 11 years, he
can look back on 50 years of change.
There were the effects of the foreclosure
crisis, and the conversion of houses from
occupant-owned to rental. There were the
victories, like getting parking restrictions
removed so residents could leave their
cars on the street; of prevailing in a
struggle to get more Watch Out for
Children signs put up; or insisting upon
exterior design changes when a new
townhome complex went up in the heart
of Capitol Heights. Then there are the
ongoing battles, such as getting a leash
on the kids who smoke weed in the
Bethesda Hospital parking ramp.
As is so often true when you ask
someone why they’ve done the things
they do for such a long time,
Grundhauser was at first baffled by the
question. Slowly he came around to an
answer. “If you want change,” he said,
“you’ve got to participate to get the job
done. I think the things we’ve
— Continued, Page 11
PAGE 10 JULY/AUGUST 2017

BLOCK CLUB KING, CONT.
accomplished have been good for
everyone.”
I went on for a while, suggesting that
people who, like Grundhauser, fit into the
category of Involved Citizen might derive
satisfaction in having control over their
environment, shaping the place to suit
their desires. God Bless America was
practically playing in the background by
the time I was done.
There were a few moments of silence
until Grundhauser observed, “Well, yeah.
Like I said, I think participating in the
community to get something
accomplished is helpful to everyone.”
We let it go at that.
GUN VIOLENCE, CONT.
For an explanation of Broyles' death, she
turned to the theory of trauma and the
effects of poverty and racism. Consider
all the usual, well-documented disparities
in education, housing, home ownership,
incarceration and employment among
African American men, she said. “That
creates an element of violence that comes
from a sense of hopeless and
powerlessness.” You may be generally
powerless, Williams continued, but you
might be able to feel powerful in relation
to your neighbor, who is trapped in the
same grim situation. “It becomes a
lifestyle,” Williams said. “You’ve got to
protect yourself to survive. You think,
‘I’ve got to get them before they get
me.’”
The trouble, she said, “is knowing even
where to start in building support and
resources that are genuine to our
community.”
Back at the forum, Damon Drake asked a
series of questions. “What does justice
look like? What does conflict resolution
look like? What do solutions look like?
How do we make things better rather than
worse?”
By the end of the night, let’s just say the
jury was still out.
PAYDAY LENDING, CONT.
He went home, consulted Google, and
came up with the name of a Minneapolis
organization, Exodus Lending, that helps
people out of the payday lending trap. In
April, 201 6, Exodus offered Bayliss a
deal that he called “extraordinary.” They
would pay off his loan of $741 . He’d pay
them $61 .75 per month, automatically
withdrawn from his checking account,
until the loan was settled. In addition
he’d take financial management classes
at Lutheran Social Service.
“The upshot is, I haven’t had to take out
another loan. I started putting money
away. I started a 401 K (retirement plan).
I’m up to date on all my other
obligations. I wouldn’t be here if not for
Exodus.”
One measure of his financial turnaround:
He now has payday lenders calling him
to ask if he wants another loan, because
he’d been such a good customer.
“Despicable, but not illegal,” is how
payday lending is described by Legal
Services Advocacy Project attorney Ron
Elwood, who has tracked the issue for
years. The best alternative to payday
lending, he says, is “anything else.” By
his lights, payday loans only delay the
inevitable need to talk to creditors, get
help from family or friends, get credit
counseling and rearrange your finances.
“These companies don’t care if you can’t
pay them back. In fact, repeat lending to
people is how they make their money.”
At Exodus Lending, director Sara
Nelson-Pallmeyer says the two-year old
group has refinanced 1 65 loans for
troubled payday borrowers to date, with a
default rate of just five percent. The
organization was started by congregants
at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in
Minneapolis, who were alarmed when a
payday lending shop opened down the
street. With a recent $1 00,000 from the
Minnesota Legislature, Exodus is poised
to expand its reach.
You can find out more at
ExodusLending.org, or by calling (61 2)
61 5-0067.
NEXT-GEN ENTREPRENEURS: Brothers Devon (left) and Eric White are among
local youth developing their landscaping and business skills over the summer.
The Whites offer lawn mowing, weeding and (later on) snow shoveling. Their
business, Jay & Sons Handyman, is reachable at 61 2-267-1 079.
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Publisher: Patricia Ohmans
Editor: Anthony Schmitz
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JULY/AUGUST 2017
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