Making Connections, Building Community

By Claudia Kittock

In the fall of 2013, I was asked to run for the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association (DMNA).  I had taken early retirement from my full-time job as a college professor, and while I was still teaching part-time, I was looking for something new.  I knew nothing about DMNA, but was excited to learn more about our neighborhood, and to find ways to give back.

I spent the first few months of my tenure at DMNA listening, reading, and learning. The more I learned, the more I looked for ways I could contribute and knew it had to be some way that used my education and expertise. 

There were many false starts on the way to finding my niche. Everyone who worked with me over the decades knows of my horror of meetings, and now I was voluntarily going to meetings.  What I discovered was that I enjoyed meetings when things were actually accomplished!  Who knew???  It became very easy for me to ‘sort’ meetings according to purpose.

I also became a volunteer for an organization called Mile in My Shoes at the same time.  Mile in My Shoes is a group of volunteers who run with people who are experiencing homelessness and are living in either a shelter or supportive housing. It was a life changing decision.

The first day I arrived at the shelter at 5:45 a.m. for a 6:00 run.  A very tall young man came up to me immediately, introduced himself and said, “Just remember, I always have your back.” . . . .and he did.  It wasn’t until I had been running with the group for several months that I found out this young man was also experiencing homelessness.  I assumed he was a volunteer, because he seemed to be just like me!!

After a few months of running with Mile in My Shoes, the decision was made to start a cohort of runners at Emanuel Housing, just 3 blocks from my home at the Bridgewater. I was thrilled and excited. When I was asked to take over the leadership of the group, I happily volunteered. Within a few weeks, we had become a group of tight knit runners.

Emanuel Housing serves economically disadvantaged single men and women. The program includes specialized housing that serves 11 homeless veterans through the VASH Program, 54 units of housing that prefers GRH eligible homeless disabled adults, 14 units of housing that serve Chronically Homeless Disabled (CHD) adults through the Shelter + Care Program, 11 Affordable units, and 6 project based Section 8 subsidized units.

Running with a partner is a unique experience. Everyone is fueled by the desire to run and the difficulty of the task. When you run, you talk freely and complain just as freely. As one runner said, “This is the only time all day I just get to be me.  No demands, no meetings, no one wanting anything from me. Just a run with people doing the same thing.”

On one of those runs, a friend remarked that we needed more music in the neighborhood.  I agreed.  His suggestion was to talk to someone from MacPhail, so I did. When I broached the subject with people at MacPhail, the answer was, “What would you think about having JD Steele as your director?” I was stunned!

We now have a community choir with over 115 names on the roster.  JD and his brother Fred, who is the accompanist, lead us in joyful music on Saturday afternoons. Neighborhood businesses happily donate rehearsal space and we practice in Guthrie rehearsal spaces, at the American Academy of Neurology, MacPhail, and the Mill City Museum.

When I stop and think about how this all happened, it comes back to one word, connections. This story is about the first and most powerful lesson I learned and continue to learn.  Listen . . . . ask . . .  .and be prepared to be stunned by the responses of the good and kind people in our community.  Change can only happen person to person, and that is the essence of the work we all need to do. Connections matter.  Not the connections that lead to power, but the human connections that build us all up. I am better and stronger because of the people I know and count as my friend.

Claudia can be reached at claudia@millcitymedia.org