THRIVE OUTSIDE TWIN CITIES

The Thrive Outside Twin Cities Community, led by Wilderness Inquiry, is using community organizing techniques to coalesce a new and diverse group of partners to help families connect with the outdoors on the Mississippi River and other local waters. Wilderness Inquiry has a strong history of introducing children to the outdoors. Together with some of its existing partners, the group seeks to engage entirely new community-based leaders and organizations to engage a more diverse population into outdoor activities on the water in Minneapolis and St. Paul. In North Minneapolis, for instance, there is only one public access point to the Mississippi River, and it includes a steep, eroded bank that makes exploring the river difficult and unsafe. These efforts will include a summer school model that connects youth to place-based learning opportunities which tie into school standards and invest in social-emotional support for youth.

Key Focus Areas:

Deep community engagement, landscape assessment and barrier mapping, and river-based activities on the Mississippi River

Backbone Organization:

Wilderness Inquiry Steering

Steering Committee Partners:

Biking with Baddies, Cultural Wellness Center, Heal Outside, Huellas Latinas, KweStrong, Urban Bird Collective, Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi

Community Partners:

City of Saint Paul, Environmental DEI Working Group (a network of 30+ Twin Cities environmental organizations), Minneapolis Public Schools, Mississippi Park Connection, National Park Service, Saint Paul Public Schools, US Forest Service