Geographic Areas

St.Paul’s East Side & Lake Street in Minneapolis

Nexus remains committed to our two initial geographic areas of the Payne-Arcade and Phalen area on the East Side of St. Paul and Lake Street area in South Minneapolis. These communities hold some of the most socially isolated and economically vulnerable populations in the Twin Cities. While our work in these areas during the past five years has begun to establish more engaged and effective partnerships, much remains to be done.

In 2008 – while maintaining our commitment to these original focus areas – we began exploring the possibility of adding other geographic areas to our work.

North Minneapolis

After visiting the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York, Nexus Executive Director Repa Mekha presented the model to a group of North Minneapolis community leaders. He was subsequently invited to participate on a steering committee that would explore the possibility of replicating the Harlem Children’s Zone model in North Minneapolis.

It was through this opportunity that Nexus was asked to consider North Minneapolis as an additional geographic focus area. In late 2008, Nexus’s Governance Council officially added North Minneapolis as our third geographic focus area.

Since that time, Nexus has participated in the development of the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) as one of its earliest funders and serves on the NAZ Governance Committee. Working in North Minneapolis provides an opportunity for Nexus to draw on our experience in the Payne/Phalen and Lake Street areas, and to cultivate our community building work in a different geographic and demographic environment.