North Minneapolis named federal Promise Zone
The north Minneapolis area has been named a federal Promise Zone, which could help city officials secure more grants to fund education, housing and job programs for the neighborhood.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the designation Tuesday morning at the Northside Achievement Zone headquarters in Minneapolis.
Becoming a Promise Zone doesn't involve any up-front money, but it will give north Minneapolis a competitive advantage when applying for federal grants.
"This designation is not a gift," Duncan said. "It's an investment in the leadership, in courage, in creativity and commitment of the team here."
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Duncan could not guarantee that Minneapolis will qualify for any federal grants, but said it opens the door to dozens of government funding sources.
That could mean more money to fund increased educational opportunities for students, find housing for families, improve job prospects for the unemployed and lower crime rates in the neighborhood, he said.
After a neighborhood on the eastside of San Antonio was designated a Promise Zone in 2014, the city secured nearly $30 million in federal grants.
For Minneapolis officials, determining which federal grants to apply for is a new challenge, Mayor Betsy Hodges said.
"That will include an assessment of what grants are available at the federal level, what work is happening and what work is coming up next," she said.
The new Promise Zone encompasses the Northside Achievement Zone, a 255-square-block area working to provide educational opportunities, jobs and housing in the neighborhood.
A December report from the Wilder Foundation found NAZ was making progress in improving the achievement of younger students in the neighborhood, but was not hitting the mark when it came to students in middle school.
Federal funding for NAZ runs out in two years.
Ethrophic Burnett, who lives in north Minneapolis, hopes the Promise Zone designation will make way for an expansion of the Northside Achievement Zone.
Burnett sits on the NAZ parent advisory board and works for Urban Homeworks, one of the initiative's community partners.
"Give that holistic wraparound approach to the whole of Minneapolis," Burnett said.
North Minneapolis was one of eight Promise Zones named Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The other Promise Zones are located in St. Louis; Indianapolis; Camden N.J.; Hartford, Conn.; Sacramento, Calif.; Barnwell S.C.; and Porcupine, S.D.