It’s the 2009 Redeemer Block Party.

And you’re invited. Join us for this once-a-year party in the Harrison neighborhood hosted by Redeemer Lutheran Church + Redeemer Center for Life featuring (free!) legendary food, live music + dance, kid-focused fun, and over 550 friends – old and new.

Be sure to bring your favorite folks for this inspired evening.  Join the pre-party on Facebook!  Search for Redeemer Center for Life’s page and RSVP to the Block Party event invitation.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 6- 8 pm.  In the Redeemer backyard (just behind Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1800 Glenwood Avenue).

McKnight approves grants totaling over $9.7 million in second quarter of 2009…

…including a Youth Enrichment During the Out-of-School Time grant to sustain Redeemer Center for Life’s holistic, year-round youth programming.  Exciting!

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES — 52 GRANTS / $3,437,000. A Chance to Grow, Inc., Mpls; American Indians in Unity, St. Paul; Article Thirteen, Mpls; Athletes Committed to Educating Students, Mpls; Banyan Foundation, Mpls; Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, St. Paul; Bolder Options, Mpls; Build Wealth Minnesota, Inc., Mpls; Camp Fire USA, Minnesota Council, St. Paul; Casa de Esperanza, St. Paul; Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Mpls; Center for Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment, Mpls; Children’s Safety Center Network, St. Paul; City of Bloomington, Bloomington; Dakota County, Hastings; Dar Al-Hijrah Cultural Center, Mpls; DinoMights, Mpls; EMERGE Community Development, Mpls; Family Alternatives, Mpls; Friends of the Minnesota Conservation Corps, Maplewood; Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys, St. Paul; Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, Inc., St. Paul; In Progress, St. Paul; Independent School District 12, Circle Pines; InnerCity Tennis Foundation, Mpls; Jabbok Family Services, Mpls; Juxtaposition, Inc., Mpls; The Library Foundation of Hennepin County, Mpls; Lind Bohanon Neighborhood Association, Mpls; The Link, Mpls; Luther Memorial Lutheran Church, Mpls; Metropolitan Federation of Alternative Schools, Mpls; Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children, St. Paul; Minnesota Thunder P.L.U.S. – Partnering for Leadership & Urban Success, St. Paul; Neighborhood House, St. Paul; Oromo Community, Inc. Mpls., St. Paul, St. Paul; Peta Wakan Tipi, St. Paul; Pillsbury United Communities, Mpls; Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation, Mpls; Ready 4 K, St. Paul; Redeemer Center for Life, Inc., Mpls; Sanctuary Community Development Corporation, Mpls; Somali Education Center, Mpls; St. Paul Area Council of Churches, St. Paul; Tennis and Education, Inc., St. Paul; TVbyGIRLS, Mpls; Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation, Mpls; Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota, St. Paul; Way to Grow, Mpls; West Seventh Community Center, Inc., St. Paul; West Side Citizens Organization, St. Paul; Young Women’s Christian Association of St. Paul Minnesota, St. Paul

When genius = delicious.

The New York Times just published this feature on Will Allen and his Growing Power farm.  Fascinating.

“Allen, who is 60, asserts that our industrial food system is depleting soil, poisoning water, gobbling fossil fuels and stuffing us with bad calories. Like others, he advocates eating locally grown food. But to Allen, local doesn’t mean a rolling pasture or even a suburban garden: it means 14 greenhouses crammed onto two acres in a working-class neighborhood on Milwaukee’s northwest side, less than half a mile from the city’s largest public-housing project.”

Read on at - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/magazine/05allen-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

We’re looking forward to a great summer of good food right here in Harrison.  And we hope you can join us Thursday nights, 6 pm, July 2 – August 13, for home grown meals in the Redeemer backyard (Logan and 4th Avenues).

Tonight! Thursday Night Out’s ON.

P.O.B.

They’re going green!

They’re all about the neighborhood!

They’re…P.O.B.  People on Bikes!

An original music video created by the usual Redeemer suspects – Dave, Chelsea, Manny, and William – and feat. P.O.B. in the Harrison neighborhood.

It’s official: It’s summer

It’s summer. And here at Redeemer, summer = exciting.

This week, 30 youth enrolled in our Redeemer Multimedia Camp will be putting their creative muscles to work.

They’ll be learning the art + science of music and movie production during a week-long, hands-on camp led by Tony Fair, and hosted by our youth staff team and high school-aged summer interns in our Peace Palace’s audio recording and computer lab facilities.

Sounds mighty engaging, educational, empowering…and exciting.

*Youth ages 6-14 years can still enroll – FREE registration! Meet up at the Peace Palace, 1830 Glenwood Avenue, each day June 22-25, 12-4:30 pm.

Q: If I make a tax-deductible investment in Redeemer Center for Life’s community-building enterprise, will my contribution be doubled through a 100% match?

A:  YES!

If you donate now through July 31, 2009, your contribution will leverage a 100% match through a generous grant from an anonymous donor.  WOW.

[Donations offered post-July 31, 2009, will not be eligible for the match, but will still be put to good work right away.]

DONATE ONLINE!

• http://minneapolisfoundation.org/Giving/DonateNow

• Search for, designate Redeemer Center for Life Challenge Fund.

• Or, please make checks payable to The Minneapolis Foundation for the

Redeemer Center for Life Challenge Fund. 

Mail to – Redeemer Center for Life Challenge Fund

1800 Glenwood Avenue, Minneapolis, MN  55405

A debut Harrison leadership summit

Harrison agency leaders gathered in June 2009, to cultivate relationships and common vision for our neighborhood and networks.  Exciting.

[More great photos by Bryan Thao Worra, Lao Assistance Center at http://laoassistance.blogspot.com]

Redeemer celebrates 100 years

Find more photos of this historic celebration of Redeemer Lutheran Church‘ s first – and next – 100 years on the Redeemer Center for Life Facebook page…

100 years already?

Happy birthday, Redeemer Lutheran Church!

We’re anticipating one exciting year of celebrating Redeemer’s first 100 years…and dreaming about the next 100 years, beginning this Sunday, June 7 – worship at 10:30 am,  community celebration afterward.