Vision Duluth will work to address social concerns

Nicole Williams has called West Duluth home for about 40 years now, and in that time she has made significant progress. She overcame homelessness and found stable housing. After learning to cope as a single mother, Williams now is happily married. And as other parts of her life fell into place, she earned a college degree.

But her vision for Duluth has yet to be realized.

"My vision for Duluth is better wages, because you can't live on $9 an hour," she said.

Williams was just one of many residents to join in shaping an initiative called Vision Duluth.

The initiative began with nine community organizations joining forces in an effort to promote equity in Duluth. At the core of the effort were TakeAction Minnesota, CHUM, SOAR Career Solutions, Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault, the YWCA-Duluth, the American Indian Community Housing Organization, Community Action Duluth, Education Minnesota and the Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body.

Leading up to the official launch of Vision Duluth Monday, the group contacted 8,000 residents throughout Duluth via email, social media, face-to-face encounters and eight community conversations over the past nine months.

Organizers knocked on 800 doors and engaged in 256 individual conversations with neighbors in Spirit Valley, Denfeld, Lincoln Park and Park Point.

"We brought together a variety of stakeholders from all different communities, people who often aren't heard from, and we found out there's a lot of commonality. There are a lot of common barriers and things we'd like to do together," said Liz Olson of TakeAction Minnesota.

Karen Perry, a resident of Gary-New Duluth, said she jumped at the opportunity to provide input, recalling advice she had received from a friend, Xavier Bell. "He told me: If you're not at the table, you're on the menu ... So when I found out what Liz (Olson) was doing, I realized she was bringing us to the table, those of us who are usually on the menu," she said.

After listening to people's concerns, organizers synthesized the prevailing issues identified and then checked back with initial participants to make sure they had accurately captured the essence of what people had shared.

Olson said Vision Duluth aims to tackle "equity issues writ large."

She called Monday's event a first step for an organization advocating on behalf of change. Vision Duluth hasn't yet put together a list of demands, but it is working to build support for an agenda chock full of efforts to promote social and economic equity.

One of the group's top priorities is to advocate for living-wage jobs that come with basic benefits, including paid time off, Olson said, noting that more than half of Duluth's workers lack the ability to take so much as a single day off with pay, even when they are personally ill or called to care for a sick child.

Olson acknowledged that Vision Duluth will likely face pushback from certain business interests concerned about the potential economic impact of greater regulation and said generating broad public support for new standards will be essential.

"We need to elevate the problem and show people that change needs to happen," Olson said.

Reforms will take time, but Olson said she and others hope to move swiftly.

"We approach this task with a real sense of urgency, because it's about real people's lives," Olson said.

The group aims to address a host of other non-work-related issues, as well.

For instance, Williams described nagging disparities in the city.

"I've lived in Spirit Valley for 40 years, and I don't feel comfortable sending my 6-year-old son outside to play in the park ... because I don't necessarily feel that the environment we live in is all that safe for him," she said.

Williams contends people living on opposite sides of Duluth face a different reality on multiple fronts.

"There's a difference between living in West Duluth and and living in east Duluth, even down to the public school system. Sending my kid to school in West Duluth and sending him to school in east Duluth are two completely different things. We don't want to say that, but it's true," she said.

Candy Harshner, executive director of PAVSA, said the newly launched initiative will seek social change, too.

"We want individuals to live in a community that's not just safe from sexual violence but that's safe from all forms of violence and discrimination, where they really truly feel safe and invested," she said.

"The goal of Vision Duluth has been to make our community a great place to live and work, for everyone. Duluth is a great place to live. We want it to be great for everybody who lives here," Harshner said.