EP Rotarians, Lake Street business owners are learning from each other

Service to the community is a guiding principle of Rotary, but two local Rotarians are urging all of us to think of community as more than just Eden Prairie.

Irene Kelly and Tim Conners of the Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Club are two of three suburban co-leaders of a Rotary effort to bring customers back to businesses on Minneapolis’ Lake Street, which was the epicenter of looting, fires, and other property damage in the summer of 2020, during the unrest that followed George Floyd’s murder.

Funding from the state and other sources to help these businesses rebuild and recover has been well documented. But the Rotary initiative is different: a more personal and long-term effort to build relationships, experience new cultures, and share expertise as a way to improve things on Lake Street, where many of the businesses are minority-owned and run.

As part of the initiative, Kelly and Conners – working through the Lake Street Council, a chamber of commerce-like organization that calls Lake Street “the most diverse and unique street in the Twin Cities” – were initially asked in 2021 to partner with El Amor Fashion at 511 E. Lake St. El Amor is a 20-year-old, family-owned business that specializes in formal wear for weddings and quinceañeras, which are elaborate celebrations of a girl’s 15th birthday that are observed by families with roots in Mexico and Latin America.

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That partnership has since evolved into monthly meetings between Minneapolis and suburban Rotarians and more than 30 owners of Lake Street businesses, with guest speakers from city and county government, nonprofits, and elsewhere. The speakers address the business owners’ top challenges, which Kelly and Conners say are safety, security, and homelessness.

“The idea originally would have been, ‘We want to get these owners some help,’” said Conners. After all, Rotary is a service organization, and its members also typically have business expertise.

“It started first as one-on-one relationships,” he explained. “Each of those clubs partnered with a business, asked them what issues they were having, and then tried to contribute in any way they could. That continues. But very soon thereafter we decided, ‘These owners don’t know each other.’ So, we started running monthly meetings.

“Our vision would be that, as time goes on, this (owners) group coalesces and becomes self-directing, self-funding, and self-doing. We don’t have any time frame for that, and don’t anticipate it will happen in less than five years.”

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Project wins monetary award

The effort is called Rotary Community Core at Lake Street (RCC@LS) and has gained notice, recently receiving a $5,000 civic-engagement award from an initiative called Here Is Mpls. The Here is Mpls organization aims to change the narrative about Minneapolis by telling stories of people across the city “who are addressing our city’s toughest challenges in a spirit of love, hope and healing.”

With support from Rotary, business owners are starting to get the answers and help they need from government officials. Rotary has also put together a resource list that outlines for business owners steps to take when homelessness shows up at their front doors.

But Kelly and Conners say one of the biggest obstacles to getting more people to visit Lake Street restaurants and stores is the perception – especially among suburbanites – that Minneapolis is unsafe.

“We’ve gotten some people to come down (and shop), and other people have expressed concern. Both those things are happening,” said Conners.

“People like our Rotary members, and especially our suburban Rotary club members – and the Minneapolis clubs, too – travel all over the world for what we have on Lake Street,” Kelly said, noting the rich culture that exists there. “But they’re afraid to go on Lake Street. And it’s probably safer than those places in the world that they’re traveling to. It seems so discordant to me.

“I mean, I’ve had many people say to me, ‘Oh, I don’t believe you’re going down to Lake Street every week. That’s just not safe.’ And I don’t feel that way,” added Kelly.

Said Conners: “I don’t feel threatened either. That piece is a big part of the conversation: ‘What do we do about the perception?’”

(The StarTribune analyzed crime in September and reported that violent crimes in Minneapolis were all down from last year, though still above their 2019, pre-pandemic levels. Carjackings alone were down 52% from a year ago, the news organization said.)

Healthy city means healthy region

In addition to paying attention to facts, say the Rotarians, local residents should think about how a healthy Lake Street and a healthy Minneapolis add to the region’s overall quality of life.

“Enhancing that community’s success is a good thing for Eden Prairie,” Conners said. But he admits it’s kind of a stretch to think of why that’s the case. It isn’t really direct. 

“Having a city be healthy, as opposed to unhealthy, maybe is the way to think of it,” he explained. “The good health that occurs there floats throughout the city – less crime, less problems and issues, more trained citizens who can do more and achieve more, helps our companies thrive …”

Added Kelly: “People have asked me, ‘Why do you do so much on Lake Street? You don’t live down there.’ To me, it’s part of the city, a rich, cultural part of the city. 

“Eden Prairie would not be what it is if we didn’t have Minneapolis,” she said. “To me, my community is bigger than just the Eden Prairie area. And I appreciate and value the culture in the city. This is a way to engage with and ensure that the city continues to thrive.”

The two say they feel like richer, more robust individuals as a result of getting to know Lake Street, its cultures, and its business owners.

They invite Eden Prairie residents to join in, to get outside their comfort zones a bit. First, by patronizing Lake Street. Second, by considering a volunteer opportunity. Those who are looking to volunteer for the project are invited to reach out to the Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Club through its website.

The two Rotarians say there are personal rewards to be had.

“It’s grown me so much, because I’ve learned about all these different cultures that I thought I knew,” Kelly said about her Lake Street experiences. “But there’s always things that come up that I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m so grateful for that.’”