Story by Maddie Robinson / The Hubbard School

When COVID-19 struck the Twin Cities in March 2020, resulting in mass closures of schools and businesses, Ann Gaasch, chief executive officer of social-services organization FamilyWise, said the nonprofit didn’t know how many changes it would have to make in order to continue its work.

With the bulk of the pandemic over, the impact on children, families and related social services has been unprecedented. According to the National Library of Medicine, families reported a “high degree of disruption” such as school closures, decreased family income and important family events getting canceled. 

Many of these impacts hit close to home in the Twin Cities. FamilyWise, which is based in Minneapolis’ Prospect Park neighborhood, has operated since 1976 and is still feeling  far-reaching implications from COVID, even as it rebuilds. 

For Gaasch, the work is just as much personal passion as professional responsibility.

“I think I do this work because I’m so appreciative of the people that supported my family, as I was growing up during our hard times,” Gaasch said.

Pandemic disruptions

FamilyWise provides services ranging from supervised parenting in cases of family separation or violence to early childhood education to peer-led parenting support groups, Gaasch said. Around 4,700 people in the seven-county metro area use its services in some way. 

According to FamilyWise’s 2022 Annual Report, 88% of the organization’s participants lived below the poverty level and 63% were from communities of color.

When the Minnesota stay-at-home order was enacted in late March 2020, Gaasch said the organization’s goal was to be completely shut down for as little time as possible. FamilyWise was closed for just over three weeks, but Gaasch said it had to innovate when reopening its primarily in-person services.

“We had to very quickly pivot and figure out how to serve families virtually,” Gaasch said.

More specifically, when FamilyWise’s family appointments moved to Zoom for a period of time, it required improvisation from staff members to keep kids busy, like Zoom tea parties and virtual Disney World visits.

However, providing services over Zoom also caused financial challenges. 

FamilyWise uses a payment system similar to a fee-for-service model, where staff are paid for the number of separate services they provide. Gaasch said it was harder to do normal-length family appointments over Zoom, so the organization cut down the length of appointments. This change resulted in the organization being unable to bill at full rates, causing a hit to the nonprofit’s revenue flow.

COVID also caused other financial burdens, similar to many social service organizations at the time. Rising costs of needed supplies, like thermometers and sanitation products, added more stress, as well as FamilyWise not receiving as much philanthropic support as other organizations, Gaasch said. 

While Gaasch could not place an exact number for any decreases in finances during COVID, she said in an email that the organization projected a financial loss overall. 

However, Nikolai Bjork, a development associate for FamilyWise, said this year is going well for the organization financially, especially with fundraising. Bjork, who considers donors and fundraising “an important part” of FamilyWise’s revenue, said its biggest funding sources are from contracts with Hennepin and Ramsey counties, as well as contributions from other foundations.

According to FamilyWise’s annual financial reports, there was a decline of over $300,000 in outside contributions after 2018, but those numbers bounced back in 2021 and continue to be relatively steady.

A slow, steady return

When it came to moving services back in person, FamilyWise’s daycare service was the first program to fully revert back, according to Gaasch. Although getting families to come back in person was a challenge, FamilyWise spent a lot of time assessing safety protocols and managing COVID exposure in the center to keep its services running. Gaasch said it took over a year for a COVID exposure to appear in its childcare center.

“Especially for our daycare parents, I mean, they very much needed that service, so it’s really important for them to have that,” Gaasch said.

Despite all of FamilyWise’s services being back in person, Gaasch does see lingering effects of COVID on the organization.

Gaasch said some of those effects are positive, such as having hybrid appointments with families after only having Zoom as an available option for a period of time. Being able to hold virtual appointments occasionally provides families with necessary flexibility that an in-person visit does not. FamilyWise’s newfound experience with Zoom appointments has helped improve its current virtual support as well.

“Yes, in-person visits are going to be the best, but we’ve got a lot more ideas about how to facilitate connection in between those in-person visits that we can help support,” Gaasch said. 

However, there are still problems because of COVID. 

Gaasch said children who use FamilyWise’s services missed out on “that very valuable social-emotional learning” due to being out of school. Gaasch also said she still sees anxiety surrounding COVID in participants, as well as a loss of routine that keeps families connected with their communities. 

“Routine was really important and the structures that the kids were in, like the support that they had from school was really important,” Gaasch said. “I still don’t think that families have recovered from that.”

Gaasch said FamilyWise is working to continue meeting the constantly-changing needs of families and highlighting them to the greater community despite the setbacks brought on by COVID. 

“I think our challenge is going to be to keep that conversation alive and keep that awareness around because I think, you know, you can’t parent well in isolation,” Gaasch said. “You need, as corny as it is, it truly does take a village.”

Small area businesses find success after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Story and photos by Fiona Curran / The Hubbard School

Dr. Richard Poppele, 87, has lived in Prospect Park for 50 years and seen plenty of changes to the eclectic neighborhood, particularly since the Green Line came through in 2014.

The light rail’s arrival didn’t change the character of the Prospect Park residential neighborhood, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places the year the first train rolled down University Avenue, Poppele said. But for the businesses, it was a different story. 

“Businesses benefited quite a bit,” Poppele said.

That change is still happening. Although the pandemic hit the area hard, growth has transformed much of Prospect Park’s University Avenue corridor in the past decade, with notable additions such as The Market at Malcolm Yards, Fresh Thyme Market, Surly Brewing Co., and O'Shaughnessy Distilling Co.

Some longtime small neighborhood businesses remain while others have morphed into new ventures as entrepreneurs capitalize on the influx of those moving into newly constructed apartments and an expanded customer base drawn to the area.

What does this all mean today? Four business owners talked about the business environment in Prospect Park and how they see the prospects on the horizon.

A dispensary moves into famed pharmacy space

Watchtower Dispensary

3400 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

Mark Bartholomew, a co-owner of Watchtower Dispensary, bought his first CBD farm during the pandemic in 2020. While working at a Twin Cities smoke shop last summer, Bartholomew launched his own brand of CBD edibles. And when Surdyk’s started selling those products, he said he earned enough money to quit his job and open Watchtower Dispensary in February. 

“There was a lot of uncertainty still,” Bartholomew said. “But it showed me if I don’t give this my all right now, I’m going to miss the boat.”

Watchtower Dispensary started in a 900-foot location on University Avenue down the street from its new 3,500-foot facility – the former site of the famed Schneider Pharmacy. The original space had a step up to the doorway, which limited its accessibility to disabled customers. Since moving to a location with no step, Bartholomew has had multiple customers who use wheelchairs come into his shop. 

“It feels so great to be accessible to everybody,” Bartholomew said. 

The store is currently constructing a pharmacy where they will sell medical marijuana to customers at a reasonable price, he said.

His business took off from the start and has generated more than $100,000 in revenue since opening last year, he said. Even before he opened his doors, people would stop by to ask about the business. The Prospect Park neighborhood is a “hidden secret,” Bartholomew said. 

“There’s a diverse array of people in this neighborhood. It’s just a perfect mix of people.”

Spaces for creativity as well as commerce

Malcolm Yards

501 30th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

At the start of the pandemic, John and Patty Wall had a big decision to make. 

Since 1999, the couple acquired 20 acres of land around Prospect Park with a vision of building an affordable, accessible community with apartments and retail. They had already started construction on the project they called The Market: a food hall, where people could choose  from different culinary concepts and get drinks from a self-pour tap wall or bar. As they watched dining establishments shutter, they had to decide whether to continue with the $12 million project.

They moved forward. The Market has been up and running since 2021. As it turned out, Patty Wall said, it was “an awesome time to open” because she knew people would want to get out. 

“We are really grateful because we’ve just been bustling ever since,” she said. “I wanted to create a place where people could, in a casual environment, where they could have really good food.”

Patty Wall said it is only the beginning of what Malcolm Yards wants to create for the area. The Walls are working on two apartment buildings, The Flats and The Station, which they say will provide affordable housing and market-rate housing, respectively. Collectively, the buildings have more than 350 apartment units, which contributes to the more than 2,500 new units that have been built in the Prospect Park area in the past five years.  

The philosophy behind Malcolm Yards is to offer spaces that encourage creativity as well as commerce, Patty Wall said.  One idea is  to create office buildings or residential areas for local artists to display their work. The Market offers a space for chefs to incubate ideas for their own businesses, she said. 

“We’ve provided a gathering space that is clean, that is safe, that is fun, versus just empty buildings that are sitting here that serve no purpose,” she said. 

A side business becomes a storefront

Pure Ginger For You

3408 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

Juicing had always been a part of Beauclarc Thomas’s life. So when the pandemic disrupted his architecture business, it made sense for him to combine his passion with a side business that has now grown into a soon-to-open storefront on University Avenue. 

Pure Ginger For You, the juice company Thomas started in 2020, sells ginger-based juices, teas and other elixirs that the Liberian-born Thomas says has immune-boosting properties. 

Thomas said it made sense for him to start the company during the pandemic. 

“If I launch this all-organic, ginger-based juice, I can help my community and help those who are health conscious,” Thomas said he thought at the time. 

But starting a business in 2020 was an experiment. 

“In the back of my mind, I was like, ‘What if this doesn’t work?’” Thomas said. 

Thomas started selling his juices and teas at the Northeast Minneapolis and Mill City farmers markets with the help of his son, Manny. Those efforts plus online sales have given him a $40,000 annual revenue – enough to motivate him to seek a brick and mortar location. 

When looking for that space, Prospect Park was close enough to his Minneapolis customer base and also near Thomas’ architectural business, where it has been located since 2010. He secured the University Avenue storefront in August and plans to open in November. 

In recent years, he said, the neighborhood has been lively and foot traffic has increased, especially among college-age customers, which Thomas attributed to the business’s proximity to the University of Minnesota. 

“I know it’s a good community. I hope the community will embrace us and our product,” Thomas said. “We’re here to grow along with the community.”

A restaurant survives with neighborhood support

Egg & I

2550 University Ave W Suite 125N, St. Paul, MN 55114

Eric Grotbeck’s mother started the Egg & I in 1980 on Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis and expanded to Prospect Park seven years later. When the pandemic hit, Grotbeck and his mother sold the Minneapolis building and kept the Prospect Park restaurant open – as much he could, Grotbeck said. But it was tough.

“We were here, but there was nobody around,” Grotbeck said.  As owner, he laid off everyone except for himself, his kitchen manager, and the store manager. 

Grotbeck said the restaurant's revenue dropped about 95% when the pandemic started. Takeout options never took off, he said. 

“People just don’t pick up breakfast. People are used to picking up lunch and dinner and having it delivered, so those places had a built-in clientele doing that already,” Grotbeck said. “On Sunday, you don’t go, ‘Oh, I’m going to pick up breakfast.’ It’s an outing.” 

But when restaurants opened at limited capacity, the Prospect Park community showed up for Grotbeck enough to keep the Egg & I afloat, Grotbeck said. Still today, regular customers support the business by picking up breakfast, even takeout. Grotbeck’s staff is roughly 80% of its pre-pandemic level.

“It’s like starting from scratch again because you have to build up that clientele,” Grotbeck said. “It felt like going back 30 years.”  

In the past 35 years, Grotbeck said he has seen Prospect Park change significantly. Through it all, Grotbeck said, customers still manage to find the Egg & I despite its rather obscure signage, which is just its name on the outside of the large and imposing Court International Building on the corner of University and Highway 280. 

Even so, Grotbeck said, the restaurant will keep adapting to changes as it aims to stay true to its neighborly purpose: “We’re just a restaurant serving breakfast to people.”

The Union-run food shelf has been in service since the 80s, and now serves thousands of food insecure families.

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Story by Rosalind Ding / The Hubbard School

Minnesota's only labor-run food shelf founded to help union workers during hard times in 1984 has since become a community food shelf helping thousands of families a year. 

The food shelf has a food distribution center and a warehouse, both located at the Teamsters Local 638 building on University Avenue. 

It provides a wide range of food options such as canned food, meat, grains, bread and milk. Furniture and other home amenities from their warehouse are also available.

The Teamsters Food Shelf distributed around 17,620 pounds of food to people in the month of July and expect an even larger amount in August. 

Food needs increased tremendously during and after the pandemic. The number of visiting families has increased from 600 in 2017 to 2,177 in 2023 up to this month, according to the data provided by the food shelf management team.

“The month of August is probably going to be the highest month ever,” said Chuck Schlicthtman, the manager of the food shelf. “Because three trucking companies just went down, which affects probably over 400 drivers and dockmen in the cities.”

Schlicthtman said now they are expecting to handle around 100 households each week.

Lyndon Johnson, the chairperson of the food shelf, said on average 25-50 households visit the food shelf each week. In some cases, people drive from as far as 90 miles away to the food shelf. 

According to Johnson, the food shelf added a new refrigerator  on Aug. 2 through a new state grant for programs that participate in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) – a federal program that provides food to families in need. In March, Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill providing $5 million to Minnesota food shelves.

Johnson said the food shelf is trying to make the process of accessing food as easy as possible for people in need, including volunteers and staff delivering food and supplies to visitors' cars to make the process easier.

“We would rather for them to come here to get food from us than not to pay their mortgage or their rent and become homeless or not to buy their medication,” Johnson said.

Besides providing supplies to visitors, the Teamsters Food Shelf is also an important place for union retirees to continue contributing their skills to society after retirement.

Richard Wheeler, a retired member who lived in Mankato and drove to volunteer for two years, said he volunteered at the food shelf because he was impressed by its mission and he wants to give back to the union.

As an officer and a teamster member since the 1970s, Wheeler said he wanted to continue to be with the union and engage with people after his retirement. He said the mission has a broader meaning since his retirement because he can now help people more directly.

Joel Thompson, a long-time union member and a volunteer at the food shelf for nine years, also said this is the first position he looked at after his retirement. 

“The union is important to me, so I wanted to stay with them,” Thompson said. “And the idea of a food shelf is so necessary. I think we're doing good work.”

Wheeler and Thompson said though they used to have different jobs, came from different locales and had different backgrounds, the food shelf volunteer job gives them an opportunity to become friends.

Johnson also said being able to serve people at the food shelf and see the need of food fulfilled brings joy to him 

“When I say bring joy to me, it's not what I do. It’s for how I see the reaction of the people when they come in, and to need to be served.” Johnson said.

The company produces wall art for large businesses and residential areas. Every employee is an artist at whose work is seen by people all over the world.

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Story by Fiona Curran / The Hubbard School

Inside an unassuming, two-story concrete Prospect Park building framed by tall trees, Skip Wilson and other artists design, produce and distribute work seen by people around the world. But few passersby would know this from the building alone – even with its strange horizontal blue stripe.

“A lot of people say ‘Is this a Mexican restaurant?’ because our building is painted so weird.” Wilson said. “It’s not your average printing company.”

Oliver Evans said he was surprised when he arrived at the building for a job interview as a pre-press designer for Area Environments in 2018.

“I‘ve walked past this a thousand times and I never even knew it existed,” Evans said.

Hidden though they may be, Apropos Studio and Area Environments stand out as a nexus of support for creative artists who otherwise might never see their work travel beyond their studios.  

From their location at 1 Malcolm Avenue SE, the two companies founded by Jamie Reich – Apropos  in 1988 and Area Environments in 2014 –  collectively employ 18 artists to create wall art that includes wallpaper, murals, photography backgrounds and design printing on various materials. 

Apropos Studio caters to large businesses and storefronts such as Bath and Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, Pink and Sephora. Area Environments focuses on wall art for residences and hotels.

Wilson, who is the operations manager for Apropos Studio and the production manager for Area Environments, said the companies are unique in that “pretty much every person who works here is an artist.”

Wilson often tells his co-workers to consider how lucky they are. 

“Because otherwise we’re a bunch of outcasts, really,” he said. “We wouldn’t thrive in other workplaces. We all get jobs and we get to be around other creative people.” 

As the owner, Reich has done more than just make sure the artists can work together by structuring Area Environments’ business model to support them directly. 

“We find artists, then we convert their work into wallpaper,” Reich said. “We sell it through showrooms around the United States and now England. With every sale, a percentage goes back to the artist. That’s the model we developed.”

Reich also said Apropos’ success relies on more than just the artistry. One factor, he said, is they can make products quickly. The company has 15 printers that run all day to meet its deadlines. 

Wilson added that the company can also control the quality to meet customer needs, specifically by using software to regulate colors through digital printing.

As a result, the products have seen wide success with exports that carry the wallpaper and wall art to destinations such as South America, Canada, the United Kingdom and, more recently, India. About 15% of their products are sent to international locations.

This year, Reich launched a new company called Area Public, where customers can order wallpaper from artists online and learn about their work as well. The wallpaper is self-adhesive, so customers can easily hang it themselves.

The artists say they are proud of the work they’ve done and that they can share it with people everywhere. 

“When I first started dating my partner,” Wilson said, “we would go to the mall and I would be like, ‘Hey, could we go into Victoria’s Secret? I just need to look at the walls.’ You can walk around and be like, ‘I did that, I did that, I did that, I did that.’”

Reich said he enjoys seeing his work in the homes of Area Environments customers through reviews and pictures from happy customers. 

“You feel this sense of pride, like, ‘I made that! That came from my shop!’ And it’s going all over the world,” Reich said.

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Story by Isabella Caswell / The Hubbard School

The Luxton Park Recreation Center is holding a summer celebration in collaboration with Arvonne Fraser Library on Wednesday from 4-7 p.m.. 

The annual event is a last hurrah before kids go back to school this fall, featuring a backpack giveaway, ice cream sandwiches and live jazz music. A Luxton Park Recreation Center spokesperson said they usually see a turnout of 60-70 people, most of whom are families. Luxton Park has been hosting this event for several years.

Luxton Park and Arvonne Fraser are partnering with Twin Cities Mobile Jazz Project, whose mission is to provide free jazz concerts for local communities. 

Steve Zimmer, the Luxton Park recreation supervisor who goes by Steve Z., said the jazz project members used to perform at the recreation center in June, but now they come in August to play at the summer celebration. 

Arvonne Fraser offers book checkouts for neighborhood residents, and people can sign up for a library card if they don’t already have one. 

Kim Trinh-Sy, adult services librarian at Arvonne Fraser, said one of the reasons for the book and backpack giveaway is the importance for children to have physical books in their home to promote reading, Trinh-Sy said. 

Arvonne Fraser is bringing all sorts of activities, such as a scavenger hunt and bookmark making crafts, to the event. 

Parcel Arts is a Twin Cities-based arts organization and will be leading a family-oriented art project during the event too. 

Steve Z. said the city health department will have an informational table and Pratt Elementary School Principal Justyn Burgess will be there. Additionally, Steve Z. said politicians show up to the celebration if it’s an election year. 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2023

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Story by Maddie Robinson / The Hubbard School

Textile Center, a national hub for fiber arts based in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, opened its annual member exhibition, “A Common Thread,” on Tuesday, the biggest showcase of its artists in the organization’s 29-year history. 

“A Common Thread 2023” will feature 166 fiber-art pieces from 167 mostly local artists in an exhibit that highlights works of the organization’s members, said Tracy Krumm, the organization’s director for artistic advancement. 

This year saw a big jump in entries from previous years, with 125 works shown in 2022 and 131 pieces shown in 2021, an increase that came when the center expanded its space and program offerings earlier this year.

Members of Textile Center can pay a $25 entry fee and get one of their recent artworks showcased in one of the galleries.

“It’s not juried, so that means every member who wants to be in the show gets to be in the show,” Krumm said. 

The exhibition features a wide variety of fiber art techniques, including quilting, crochet, weaving, dyeing, lacemaking and beading.

“It’s anything that embraces the materials, techniques, sensibilities, histories or traditions of the discipline of textiles,” Krumm said.

While there is no theme for “A Common Thread 2023,” Mia Finnamore, the center’s communications manager, said staff have noticed more entrants using secondhand materials and “embracing sustainability.” She said many of these materials are found at the center’s Textile Garage Sale, a program that sells discounted fiber art supplies to community members for their own art projects.

The garage sales, held a few times a year near campus, attract many University of Minnesota fashion students who come for the lower-priced materials. Finnamore said the center serves as a space for budding student artists and designers to advance their artistic abilities.

Not only have Textile Center’s exhibitions seen growth in entry numbers, but the organization’s facility space has expanded over the past year, allowing more space and services as well as targeted programs for younger artists.

As part of its education outreach, the center hosts over 200 fiber-arts classes in a variety of skills like felting, embroidery and rug hooking. Classes are offered to people of all ages, including courses aimed at targeted age groups, like older adults and youth.

But many of the center’s 1,000 members are older than 50, said Erin Husted, the organization’s retail and merchandising manager. To attract a younger demographic and ensure continued growth, the center introduced a weekly after-school crocheting program called Future Fiber Artists and a monthly event called Craft Night.

“One of the things we’re focusing on is bringing in a younger audience to help grow and make sure we continue to grow over the years,” Husted said.

The center has also expanded its artisan shop to feature more artists to sell their work on commission and find new audiences. The shop houses the work of over 100 artists, the majority based in Minnesota.

“What’s nice about having the extra space is it’s going to allow us to, you know, add more artists. It’s going to allow us to diversify our offerings,” Husted said. “I think bring in, same idea, kind of try to reach out to some younger artists, bring people that maybe didn’t know about us before.”

“A Common Thread 2023” is showing until Oct. 14. A public artist reception will be held Aug. 8 from 5-7 p.m. at Textile Center. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

Krumm said the center has already run out of invitations for the exhibition. She said she’s excited to see a large turnout.

“There’s just something about working with community, with groups of elders, groups of youth, intergenerational, different communities, school kids (and) special interest groups,” Krumm said   “We kind of see it all here.”