You know what I love about Duluth? The big lake iced over in the winter, my West Duluth neighborhood, walking the trail at the end of Park Point, the great music and beer made locally, the Farmer’s Market in the summer, and the hearty people that call Duluth home.
Even with so many good things about Duluth we still have major issues confronting our community. Problems so daunting that they seem impossible to solve. We have a city whose residents’ life expectancy varies by zipcode, we have some of the worst income disparities between people of color and white people, and we have many who are without affordable housing. Our minimum wage leaves people in poverty.
And as a woman, I’m keenly aware that women in particular are being left behind in this economy. Two out of three Minnesotans working minimum wage jobs are women, and families headed by women are more likely to live in poverty than families that aren’t.
These are big problems. Problems that need solving.
But that brings me right back to what I love about Duluth. The people. We have so many committed, caring people, leaders, and organizations working together to tackle these problems. We can’t do it alone. I am thankful to live in a community that is big enough to have resources to leverage against problems, yet small enough to work together to make it happen.
As a new staff member of TakeAction Minnesota in Duluth, I am grateful to be part of another organization working to improve our community and state. Together with other organizations, TakeAction Minnesota is connecting people and power to make real change.
I look forward to crossing paths as we work to become the community we are called to be and I’m excited to get to know all of you as we work together in the years to come.
