Culture of Poverty and Challenges in the Phillips Neighborhood

On March 24 over 30 CVC members gathered at Maria’s Café on Franklin Avenue to hear Allison Boisvert, Senior Director with Catholic Charities, speak and to learn what positive changes have been realized while exploring the ongoing obstacles that continue to exist for the Phillips neighborhood. Boisvert is an expert in the field of the poverty and the effects it has had in the Phillips neighborhood. She holds nothing back and spoke of the reality and challenges she faces in her tireless effort working in one of the poorest communities in the State of Minnesota.

Phillips is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Minneapolis. Portland and Park avenues, which run through the western part of neighborhood, are lined with mansions that rival those on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Most were built at the beginning of the 20th century to house Minneapolis' captains of industry. Today, many of those mansions have been renovated and are now home to new businesses and non-profit agencies. What began twenty years ago as the home for old hippies and the immigrant poor is now a neighborhood where many different ethnic groups have come and gone.

Currently the neighborhood is home to roughly 68 percent of communities of color. According to the 2000 census, the Hispanic population increased more than five times during the 1990s to almost a quarter of the 20,000 residents. Phillips neighborhood is broken down into four regions: Phillips West; Midtown Phillips; East Phillips; and Ventura Village. Each group brought its rich culture to Phillips, but the neighborhood is still home to generational poverty.

One of the biggest factors for positive change in Phillips was the closing of the bars along Franklin Avenue. New businesses have moved into the area, revitalizing it. Maria’s Café is an excellent example of a successful new business in the neighborhood. Other positive influences have been Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Honeywell and now Wells Fargo. Residents are encouraged by the presence of these large companies in the neighborhood. These positive changes are the results of businesses, neighborhood people, police, and nonprofit agencies working together, and with this cooperation the neighborhood is seeing a turn-around with crime rates decreasing and housing values increasing.

Catholic Charities has long operated Branch One, a drop in center on Franklin Avenue. However, after problems caused by clients threatened to close the local Minneapolis Public Library, the agency made the difficult decision to close Branch One in order to keep the library, a resource they considered more valuable to the neighborhood than their own services.

Boisvert’s advice to people providing service in the neighborhood is to evaluate how you’re doing business and perhaps change the way you’re doing business. Boisvert recommends people need to participate in their recovery, such as paying for an emergency bed or charging 10 cents for soap. The philosophy behind is you shouldn’t do things to people, they should participate and have ownership in the process.

Boisvert’s other observations include television has had a big impact on the poor because they can now see what they don’t have. What is also transpiring in the United States is the middle class is disappearing which is unfortunate because this is what the poor aspire to.

Boisvert commented there is a tendency for people to give time and money around the holidays, but it would be better to give in September for such things as school supply drives or for children to join a soccer team.

For this community to continue its recovery from poverty and the issues stemming from this challenge, it will need the continued support of the local businesses, neighborhood folks, police and nonprofit agencies.

top