Your generosity will help to fund 10 great ideas for getting diverse communities into the great outdoors

With more than six million annual visitors, Minneapolis’s neighborhood parks are the place for long walks, quick swims, slow-rolling bike rides, fast-paced pickleball, and so much more. Through long summer days and the joy of play, parks bring us together on common ground, while reminding us that nature is here for us, whenever we need it. 

Those are the themes uniting the 10 winning projects just selected for support through the Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s People for Parks Fund. Since 2020, this competitive microgrant program has invested more than $250,000  in great community-driven ideas for creating connections through the parks. 

Congratulations to the community groups and nonprofit partners who shared the following great ideas for getting more Minneapolis parks users to explore the great outdoors:

Friends of Minnehaha Park will empower their army of volunteer “Buckthorn Slayers” to restore the Lower Glen Trail below Minnehaha Falls, removing invasive species, building biodiversity, and connecting community members who care about the park.  

Urban Bird Collective is inspiring BIPOC communities to get closer to nature with events focused on outdoor photography and the winter bird count at Theodore Wirth, Roberts Bird Sanctuary and other Minneapolis park destinations. 

The Commons Park will unveil a new piece of public art, a large-scale mural by Indigenous artist Heather Friedli imagining native landscapes, animals and the Mississippi River before urbanization. 

Vietnamese Social Services will combat social isolation with Thien Nhien Va Ban (Nature and You),  a program that invites Vietnamese elders to connect with nature, and to each other. 

The Ȟaȟa Wakpadaŋ Nibi Walk is a half-day community celebration following Bassett Creek on its 12-mile journey from Medicine Lake to the Mississippi River. Led by the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, this autumn water walk will follow the original course of the creek, with diverse artists and advocates exploring the creek’s history and connections to human culture. 

Urban Strategies will make Sumner Field Park home base for The Heritage Heartbeat Passport Series, a host of health and wellness events this summer led by Messianic Care and Black Nurses Rock. From nutrition demonstrations, to diabetes awareness, to line dancing, this project will give more than 400 BIPOC families a safe space to connect in the outdoors while learning about healthful living. 

Nature Inside Out invites elementary school students from across North Minneapolis for repeat trips to the Carl Kroening Nature Center in North Mississippi Regional Park, teaching the next generation how nature can nurture us through all four seasons. 

Project Success is inspiring BIPOC and economically-disadvantaged youth to see themselves in the great outdoors, with outreach programs that introduce youth to the wonders of the Boundary Waters and other natural treasures. 

And with additional help from a bequest from the estate of Mary Ann and Herold Feldman, Lake Nokomis’s Fitness Path will get a major upgrade this season, replacing the outdated “vitacourse” equipment with new stations for lake walk work-outs. Each exercise station will also be installed by Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board youth crews under adult supervision, providing meaningful employment experiences to the next generation.

Created by the merger of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and People for Parks, the People for Parks Fund supports community-driven ideas for inviting Minneapolis residents to enjoy a closer connection to nature. Since its start in 2020, the People for Parks Fund has delivered more than 50 parks projects around the city of Minneapolis, removing barriers to access, building new audiences for park activities, and fostering belonging through the exceptional park system we share. 

Follow the Minneapolis Parks Foundation on social media and through our Common Ground blog to learn more about what our People for Parks Fund Grantees are doing this year, and how your support can help make Minneapolis’s world-class park system even more vibrant. 

Images Courtesy of: Minneapolis Sailing Center, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Scott Gagnon