Environmental racism seems to be evident in Northern Minneapolis, and the City of Minneapolis lacks in ensuring its residents the resources essential to succeed within a community stricken with urban decay, especially those in the Hawthorne neighborhood. Northern Minneapolis has high rates of unemployment, and the education of those living in such neighborhoods are too low! By creating a sense of community in this area, rates of poverty and crime can begin to decrease.

Project UrbanRISE has created a petition, ultimately demanding the City to improve Fairview Park, in order to create a sense of togetherness. We demand that the City of Minneapolis recognizes that quantity doesn’t overcome the quality of the park, and cooperates to better this community. In the Hawthorne neighborhood, there are already multiple parks (Fairview Park, Jordan Park, North Commons Park, Cleveland Park, Perkins Hill Park, Folwell Park to list a few). These parks aren’t in great condition, but the area that surrounds these parks include schools, churches, and a library. By establishing a high quality park with a recreation center, garden, statue park, a playground and etc, the attractiveness of this area will increase, decreasing the urban blight that Northern Minneapolis currently faces. How exactly can we facilitate and develop such a park? Our agenda consists of firstly, restoring Fairview Park by updating and polishing the area, essentially allowing us to begin bettering the community by creating a garden for children in the surrounding elementary schools. Teaching them the importance of healthy food and agriculture, will help them make conscious choices as well, and have something to look forward to and take care of. By improving and updating Fairview Park, this poverty stricken community can bloomish, encouraging everyone to progress together, towards a bettered society in Hawthorne neighborhood!


Project UrbanRISE Parks was developed by two Somali-Muslim High School Students who are competing in the Brower Youth Award Competition. With a passion for the environment and those struggling within poverty stricken minority communities, our ultimate goal is to improve Fairview Park and create a garden within it for children to learn about agriculture and healthy food decisions. Overall, this sense of community will help Hawthorne neighborhood take its first step out of urban decay.