2022 Proposed Plan Modification

Update: On April 11, 2022, in response to the community vote approving the proposed Plan Modification, the SENA board of directors ratified the vote. The request will now be forwarded to the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department at the City of Minneapolis for processing. $55,520 will be placed under contract to support operations, programming, communication, and outreach. Thank you to all who engaged in the process.

2022 Plan Modification

At their March 14, 2022 meeting, the SENA Board of Directors approved a motion to access Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) income funds to support our current activities.  SENA seeks to transfer $55,000 in program income (home improvement loans that have been paid back) to the general fund. These funds would be used to supplement our funding from the City under the new Neighborhoods 2020 program. Under the new funding structure, SENA has experienced a significant negative impact on our operating resources. In addressing this challenge, we have made difficult but necessary adjustments, including giving up our offices and eliminating the Executive Director position from our staff. 

In addition, the Board of Directors is engaged in a sustainability planning process to adjust to our new financial reality and ensure an ongoing supportive presence in the neighborhoods.  In order to use these funds, we need to notify the neighborhood of the proposed plan and seek the approval of residents. 

More information about the reason for this plan modification is below.  We will be conducting a vote on this Plan Modification at the Virtual Board Meeting, Monday, April 11th, 7-8:30 PM.

NRP PROGRAM

Through the NRP program, SENA was allocated over $5 million for projects in our neighborhoods. With a lot of hard work from resident volunteers, as well as staff and other partners, we have expended all of those funds. The plans that defined how these funds would be spent were developed by residents of our neighborhoods and were approved in 1999 and again in 2005. Information about those programs is available here and click on the Standish-Ericsson link. The funds that are part of this plan modification are considered program income generated by home improvement loans that have been paid back over time.

SENA BUDGET AND EXPENSES

SENA’s board-approved 2022 operating budget reflects approximately $110,000 in operating expenses, which includes occupancy, staff, administrative and program expenses. SENA’s current contract with the City of Minneapolis provides only $50,000 for 2022 and $30,000 for 2023. SENA has sought Plan Modifications to access Program Income for the past several years for the exact purpose of filling the gap in our budget caused by significant underfunding by the City of neighborhood organizations. In fact, since the creation of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) in the early 1990s, neighborhood associations have experienced an 85% decrease in funding with the bulk of that occurring since the shift from the NRP brick & mortar model to the Community Participation Plan (CPP) engagement model and more significantly with the new Neighborhoods 2020 program. You can view our 2022 operating budget here and our sample 2023 budget here. You will see that we have cut operating expenses by 50% year over year.  

We will be conducting a vote on this Plan Modification at our board meeting on, Monday, April 11th, 7-8:30 PM. Join here.   You can also vote by email at office@standish-ericsson.org, or online at: 

SENA 2022 Plan Modification 

Questions or comments should be directed to Candace Miller Lopez at candace@standish-ericsson.org