March 12 Ward 7 Updates from Council Member Lisa Goodman
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 11:46AM
Emergency Rental Assistance Through Hennepin County
Apply now for emergency rent assistance from Hennepin County. Households with unpaid rent and low incomes may qualify for help paying for rent and utility bills.
The deadline to apply is Friday, March 19 at noon.
Apply for help paying rent and utilities at www.hennepin.us/rent-help
This is an initial short-term program to get urgent help to households with high need. More help will be offered to even more households through a statewide COVID-19 Emergency Rent Assistance program opening later this month.
Emergency Assistance Programs from the State and County
ApplyMN is a simple, secure online application that connects you with Minnesota and Hennepin County services to help meet your and your family's basic needs. You can use ApplyMN to apply for:
- Cash assistance.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
- Child care assistance.
- Emergency assistance for situations such as eviction or loss from a fire. Contact the county office where you live for more information. In Hennepin County, that’s 612-596-1300.
Find more information on the Minnesota Department of Human Services website.
Free and Affordable Food
There are many places to get local, affordable or free emergency food in Minneapolis this winter.
Emergency food
Find a map and hours of food shelves and food distribution pop-ups for emergency food in Minneapolis.
Free food boxes for all youths
All families are invited to pick up free meal boxes for their children. Food boxes contain a week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches that meet Minneapolis Public Schools’ high standards for nutrition and quality ingredients. In every box, children will find school favorites, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. Milk is offered on the side.
- Youths do not need to be enrolled in Minneapolis Public Schools.
- Youths, parents or siblings can pick up one box per child, per week.
- Pick up at any of the 15 school sites. No registration is required.
- All sites are open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Learn more and find a food box location.
Hennepin Ave South Project Seeks Your Input
This past week, planning staff held online open houses to share the draft concept designs for the reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue South between Douglas Avenue and West Lake Street.
Those plans are now available to view on the project web page. This site also offers you the opportunity to share your thoughts on the Option 1 and Option 2 design layouts. Comments and input will be accepted through Friday, April 16, 2021.
http://www2.minneapolismn.gov/cip/futureprojects/HennepinSouth
The City plans to reconstruct this section of Hennepin Avenue starting in 2024. The reconstruction project provides an opportunity to redesign Hennepin Avenue to meet the needs of current and future users of the street.
Project goals include improving the sidewalk and intersections for all users, evaluating bicycle network connectivity, providing space for enhanced transit stops for future METRO E Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, replacing aging infrastructure and maintaining and enhancing traffic flow for transit and motor vehicles.
Resources to Stay Up to Date on the Chauvin Trial
- City of Minneapolis has a special section on our web page “Trial Support and Safety”
- www.minneapolismn.gov
- Get trial updates
- See current street closures
- Report suspicious activity
- Sign up for news, updates and alerts
- www.minneapolismn.gov
- City of Minneapolis News Page
- Operation Safety Net has launched its own web page
- Watch the trial
- https://www.courttv.com
- Additional Resources/avenues to be informed/connected to information
- Follow “City of Minneapolis” on Facebook and Twitter
- Follow “Operation Safety Net” on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Police Recruitment Opens; City Prioritizes Minneapolis Residency and Social Service Experience
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and Chief Human Resources Officer Patience Ferguson announced new recruitment priorities for incoming Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) recruits. Throughout every level of the hiring process, the City is assigning greater weight to applicants who have experience in social service and live in Minneapolis.
Amid a significant opportunity to recruit new officers into the department, placing a higher value on residency and social service experience will help ensure the MPD is better embedding Minneapolis’ values throughout its recruitment and hiring practices.
The changes also include assigning greater weight to volunteer experience, educational and on-the-job experience in social service, mental health work, and substance use disorder counseling. The department will also emphasize degrees in criminal justice, social work, social sciences (psychology, sociology, criminology), counseling and other related fields. These new recruitment priorities will begin with summer class recruitment.
Find the job postings and more information on the City website.
How to Become a Firefighter
The City of Minneapolis is recruiting firefighters. The firefighter cadet application window is April 19-30. Come to an information session to learn more.
Find more information about becoming a City of Minneapolis firefighter on the City website. Explore job qualifications, steps for getting hired, training and tests. You can even take a video tour of a fire station.
COVID-19 Situation Update as of March 10, 2021
Situational updates: Minneapolis
- As of March 10, there are 33,266 cases in Minneapolis and 394 deaths. The total number of cases and hospitalizations increased by less than 1% over the previous week. ICU admissions increased by slightly more than 1% over last week. Minneapolis-specific data are available at www.minneapolismn.gov/coronavirus/dashboard.
- Over the past week, there have been about 44 new cases per day on average. The seven-day rolling average case rate for Minneapolis is just under 10 cases per 100,000. These rates have decreased significantly since the beginning of the year and are now plateauing.
- This month marks two milestones in the pandemic – one year has passed since the first COVID case in Minneapolis (March 11, 2020) and the first COVID death in Minneapolis (March 27, 2020). We are exploring ways to acknowledge COVID's impact on our community including supporting a Mayoral proclamation, special lighting of the 35W bridge, and recognition of community-nominated COVID heroes.
- Mayor Frey’s Emergency Regulation 2020-17, which banned seating at bar counters in Minneapolis businesses, was lifted on February 18. Current rules for Minneapolis businesses are available on the City’s Guidance for Restaurants, Bars and Breweries and Distilleries web page.
- Mayor Frey’s Emergency Regulation No. 12 regarding masks remains in effect. The regulation requires people to wear face masks in all indoor public places.
Situational updates: Minnesota
- As of March 10, there are 493,013 cases in Minnesota out of over 7.6 million tests completed. There have been 6,705 deaths from COVID-19 in Minnesota. There are 102,270 cases and 1,621 deaths in Hennepin County.
- The State uses a color-coded map to track a seven-day rolling average of new cases. As of March 2, Minnesota is reporting 13.3 cases per 100,000.
- The State continues to work with the CDC to conduct surveillance of newly identified strains of COVID-19 in Minnesota. To date, 78 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant (first found in the U.K.) and two cases of the P.1 variant (which first emerged in Brazil) have been detected in Minnesota.
- The statewide mask mandate remains in effect. People are required to wear masks in all indoor public places and some outdoor venues where physical distancing is difficult.
- Governor Walz’s Executive Order 21-01, and subsequent modifications in Executive Order 21-07, regulating COVID operations at bars, restaurants, gyms, and other businesses, remain in effect.
- With the pace of vaccinations accelerating, the Governor recently expanded vaccine eligibility for new priority groups. These include people with certain high-risk health conditions, workers at food processing plants and other essential workers, and adults over age 50 who live in multigenerational households. Sign up at the State’s Vaccine Connector website to receive updates when you are eligible for vaccination.
Health Department Incident Command updates
- The Health Department is offering more than a dozen testing and vaccination clinics every week. We are seeking volunteers (City employees only) to help at these community events. If you are interested in volunteering, please complete this brief survey. Staff who volunteer will receive training and personal protective equipment, including COVID vaccination for those volunteering at multiple events.
Case investigation/Contact tracing
- We continue to conduct contact tracing and case investigation activities. Of the cases in Minneapolis, 66% have been interviewed and 2.5% have refused. Thirty-two percent of cases have been lost to follow-up and less than 1% of new Minneapolis cases still need to be interviewed. We are conducting about 20% of interviews in languages other than English.
- Approximately 8% of interviewed cases have completed their interview online. Fourteen percent of those interviews required additional follow-up by a Minneapolis staff to ensure appropriate contact tracing was completed.
- We have 41 active case investigators, including two non-MHD enterprise staff and 17 AmeriCorps staff. Case investigators are interviewing an average of 30 cases per shift and making an average of 80 calls per shift, plus conducting workplace and other contact follow-up.
- We continue to conduct case investigations and contact tracing for Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and are providing advice to school leaders as cases and exposures occur. We also assist other schools in Minneapolis with contact tracing and related questions as needed.
COVID-19 vaccination planning and distribution
- To date, we have given out over 7,900 doses through 85 vaccine events. Last week we hosted 13 clinics and provided 2,125 vaccinations to educators, school staff, assisted living residents, Blue and White taxi drivers, and MPD. We have not yet received our first shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but hope to access doses shortly.
- This week, we are hosting 17 clinics and have begun to provide vaccinations to Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) residents living in 39 MPHA high-rise buildings. Buildings with large concentrations of senior residents are being prioritized. First doses were administered on March 8 at Horn Towers. Interpretation services are provided and the Minneapolis Fire Department is providing on-site post-vaccine observation support.
- The CDC has issued new guidance for fully vaccinated (FV) people. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their second dose of the Pfizeror Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after receiving their Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.
O FV people can be indoors with other FV individuals without wearing a mask or physically distancing.
O FV people can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household without masks (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together), unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
O In addition, FV people don’t need to quarantine or get tested if exposed to the virus as long as they don’t have symptoms. This does not apply to those living in congregate group settings.
COVID-19 vaccination education
- We have given 19 virtual presentations to community organizations and neighborhood groups regarding COVID-19 vaccination, testing, and virus mitigation. An additional thirteen presentations are scheduled with MPHA high rise resident councils and neighborhood groups this week and beyond. To request a presentation, fill out a request form on the Minneapolis Vaccine webpage—see link below (forms are available in English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong).
- We invite you to use the new Minneapolis COVID Vaccine webpage. This site provides the public with information about vaccine safety, a timeline for local vaccine distribution, and answers to frequently asked questions. Visitors can use the Google Translate function located on the left side of the page to view the information in multiple languages. It is also linked to information from the CDC, and the State’s Vaccine Connector tool. Please help us promote this resource widely.
- The State’s COVID-19 Vaccine Connector helps Minnesotans find out when, where, and how to get their COVID-19 vaccine. Those unable to sign up online can call 833-431-2053 for assistance signing up over the phone. Interpretation is available by phone in all languages.
- We are hosting vaccine briefings for City Enterprise leaders every other Monday from 2:00 –3:00p.m. The next briefing is scheduled for Monday, March 22. Past recordings can be found on the COVID Vaccination Channel.
COVID-19 testing
We continue to offer regular community testing events, which are free and open to everyone. In the past week, we provided 40 COVID-19 saliva tests at a community event and School Based Clinic staff were able to continue testing athletes and coaches at Roosevelt High School. Last week we provided MPS with 1,000 Zoom saliva tests to for MPS students, their families and staff.
Local and state testing rates have decreased significantly. Despite the vaccine roll-out, it is still important to get tested to help stop the spread of the virus. In particular, we encourage young people and their families to get tested every two weeks from now until the end of the school year.
Please help us promote the following Minneapolis Health Department free saliva testing events (no preregistration required):
- Columbia Manor, 3300 Central Ave. N.E., March 11, 18, and 25 (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.).
- Minneapolis Public Schools Davis Center, 1250 West Broadway, March 13 and 20 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.). Conducted with Power of People Leadership Institute.
- Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, 1301 10th Ave N, March 27 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
The State also offers free testing at the following locations (visit the State’s COVID-19 testing web page to register):
- Minneapolis Convention Center - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.
- Brooklyn Park Starlight Center – 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.
- Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport - 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
- We are offering free saliva testing kits and on-site testing for schools, community partners, organizations, and businesses. To date, we have received 131 requests and provided more than 10,500 test kits. Please use this form to submit a request for testing kits or onsite testing.
- Any person in Minnesota can order a free at-home saliva test kit from the State’s COVID-19 Test at Home program. The test will be delivered to your home with rush shipping.
- The City's testing web page offers information on testing sites and guidance about what to do while you wait for COVID-19 test results. Staying away from others while you wait for your results is extremely important, especially if you have any symptoms.
Businesses
- Health inspectors continue to follow up on all COVID-19 complaints at licensed businesses, including completing night inspections at three bars/restaurants over the weekend. Inspectors are also investigating positive COVID clusters at businesses as they occur, however no new outbreaks were reported during this past week.
- The majority of our inspectors have returned to the field to perform routine health inspections in addition to reviewing COVID preparedness plans and protocols. However, some inspectors will continue to help out with contact tracing and other emergency response activities.
- Inspectors continue to distribute COVID testing kits to businesses upon request and are promoting free community testing events to employers and their staff.
Responding to community needs
- This past week, we delivered 5,000 surgical masks to NCR staff to re-distribute to community groups around the Derek Chauvin trial and 500 N-95 masks to Minneapolis Animal Care and Control. We also continued to fulfill requests for saliva testing kits from schools, businesses, and other groups.
- We are able to provide personal protective equipment, including masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves, to community groups (including those organizing events related to the Chauvin trial), businesses, and individuals. Please submit requests using the COVID-19 Requests and Inquiries form on the City’s website.
- We are receiving close to100 emails per day from community members to our COVID19@minneapolismn.gov inbox. Questions are mostly related to vaccine distribution and scheduling, but all COVID-related questions are welcome.
The City specific COVID email address is: COVID19@minneapolismn.gov.
