Our fun and exciting outreach activities were featured in the City of Minneapolis’ Connects newsletter, both in print and online. Check out the article below:

Neighborhood Stories: Cleveland Neighborhood Association hosts innovative community building events

Last summer the Cleveland Neighborhood Association (CNA) and their neighborhood Step-Up Youth built a mobile Ball Pit, not for kids, but for adults to release their inhibitions, get in and sit down with a neighbor and to get to know one another. The ball pit was not only fun, but contained questions to ask one another, such as “What’s the nicest thing a neighbor has ever done for you?” or “What do you love about your neighborhood?”

In 2014, CNA plans to use the lessons they learned and the inspiration they received from residents to launch a “Connector Lab” project that will support residents in creating innovative community-building projects, train residents to become leaders in their community and work together to make change in the neighborhood.CNA also hosted roving pop-up block parties throughout the neighborhood, which were inspired the creation of a Neighborhood Engagement Cart and provided an easy way to launch pop-up block parties.

CNA received support for the Ball Pit from a the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Minnesota, support for Neighborhood Engagement Cart from the Pohlad Foundation, and support for the Connector Lab from the Bush Foundation.