(bright music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(upbeat jazzy music) ♪ A shame ♪ ♪ Think something new ♪ ♪ Under the sun ♪ - Coming to you from Rochester, Minnesota.

♪ Take back them things ♪ "R-Town."

♪ No ♪ Earlier this year, the Rochester City Council passed a resolution approving participation in The Just Deeds Project, making Rochester the first city outside of the Twin Cities metro area to be part of that project.

Today, we're joined by Assistant City Attorney, Tran Nguyen, to tell us more about her work and this project.

Welcome to "R-Town."

- Thank you for having me, I'm excited.

- Well, first off, congratulations for being selected Minnesota Lawyer Diversity and Inclusion 2021 honoree for your work on this project.

- Thank you.

Yeah, it was really kind of...

I wasn't expecting it.

I was one of the nominees, there were actually a lot of other attorneys and players that were nominated.

So actually, Minnesota Lawyer selected the entire group, the entire work of Just Deeds to be an honoree and I got to be part of that umbrella of some of the honorees.

So, it was really definitely a group effort and I think that makes it all the better and it really kind of exemplifies what Just Deeds is about.

- Wonderful.

Well, can you tell us a little bit about what The Just Deeds Project is and what your role has been?

- Absolutely.

So, Just Deeds started about a year and a half ago, actually, now that it has been pandemic, a little bit longer than that.

After in 2019, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law that allowed for homeowners to denounce any racially restrictive covenants in their deeds.

And Just Deeds started out in a Golden Valley with Maria Cisneros and a bunch of other founding partners, I know Edina Realty Title Company and all of that.

They came together and figured out a process to help homeowners denounced these covenants and get that into their deeds.

So basically, what Just Deeds is, to me, I see it as a symbolic movement and just a little bit of background there, the racially restrictive covenants, they're in the deeds.

They don't go anywhere.

You can't necessarily just erase them.

And to some extent, you don't really want to erase the history, you want to learn from it and educate.

So, what Just Deeds does is, when you go through the discharge process, you fill out paperwork, you sign an attestation that you're denouncing the language within the deed and that paperwork goes into the documents as people move through property records and things like that.

I think the bigger part of Just Deeds and our bigger mission is to educate, to educate our community about how these covenants affected our society then and how it contains to shape our society now.

As far as my role, I was really fortunate to be given the spearheading position down here in Rochester.

It's been a lot of work, it's been a lot of learning on my part, just not only about properties, but also being able to meet and build connections with our growing list of community partners.

So right now, we got our website up and going.

So, if you actually go into Rochestermn.gov and go through the city attorney's website, there is a Just Deeds page that can help link you to the main Just Deeds website, where you can learn more about the initiative and learn more about what you can do to help.

But also there are volunteer opportunities and if you're a homeowner that you want to check to see if there's a racially restrictive covenant in your deed, that's one resource that you can get to.

So, I've been managing, really just kind of playing the person that is the point person to get everything up and going off the ground.

And so in the 1940s, that's when the NAACP launched a legal campaign against these covenants, right?

And like some of these covenants, if I can pull on right now and what it says is no person of any race other than the Caucasian race shall use or occupy any building or any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race domiciled with an owner or tenant.

So, that's like one example.

There's another example, I can go back here, where it basically says no one of Chinese, Turkish, Moorish, Jewish descent may live or occupy or own these premises.

So, it's incredible how just exclusive these covenants were.

And in 1968, that's when the federal Fair Housing Act made racially restrictive covenants explicitly illegal.

So in theory, any building or home built after 1968 won't have any of those covenants in it.

So, when we're doing our work, partnered with Mapping Prejudice, we're really focusing on houses before 1968.

So like, I live in a home that's built in the 2000s, that's not ever something that even came up.

I didn't even think about that.

And so, it's been a lot of learning.

- Well, thank you so much for joining us, Tran.

This is really important work and thank you so much for all that you're doing and we hope to continue to stay up to date with The Just Deed Project and wish you the best of luck.

Thanks a lot.

- Absolutely.

Thank you so much for having me.

(upbeat jazz music) Be sure to stick around, we have much more coming your way on "R-Town."

We check out Family Promise Rochester's trunk or treat event.

and we check in with Olmsted County to learn about how they're combating homelessness.

But up first, we head out to the Rochester Farmers' Market in this week's Our Culture segment.

(slow music) - My name is Cathy Moenning with Moenning Meats and we are currently at the Rochester Farmers' Market here at the Grand Park in Rochester.

What is in season are all of your fall produce like your gourds, your pumpkins.

Honey is always in season too and it not only is good for you, it tastes good and it looks good (laughs).

- Basically, here we do milk.

It's all in glass bottles.

It's all from our own herd of cows.

We have a licensed bottling plant right on the farm at Chatfield.

It's pretty much a whole family operation.

We have a few field employees that help us out.

We do everything right from start to finish.

We milk the cows, we process and bottle the milk and we distribute it all ourselves.

The glass bottles is the big thing.

You'll notice a big difference there.

And also, we're a low-temp pasteurizer instead of a high-temp short time and you'll notice the difference in the taste.

- Oh, my costume?

Yes, it's in keeping with our business.

We farm south of Dodge Center, we have both beef and pork.

(slow music) - I'm Craig Davis with Our Farm Fresh Flowers.

We grow cut flowers.

We started over 40 varieties of flowers this spring.

We started raising flowers, this is their second year.

My wife has got a great passion for them.

She's always very talented at doing the floral arranging.

(slow music) - At the height of the market during the July, August season, we have 70 to 100 vendors here.

So, this entire parking lot is full of vendors and the adjacent parking lot's full of customers.

- I'm Monica Brossard, Monica's Lefse & Preserves.

I make lefse, regular lefse, potato, gluten-free and vegan.

A lot of people say it's either just like their moms or like grandma's and it is a lot of work.

I spend at least eight hours a day when I'm making it, starting from peeling the potatoes to mashing and ricing.

So, it is a lot of work.

We normally use butter, but it's too cold out here today.

So, I have to use canola butter because it needs to be about 70 degrees to spread real butter.

But it's almost as good.

So, butter it and then I sugar half the side and then roll it up.

Here's you lefse.

- So, this'll be the last outdoor market for this season and then we'll be moving inside Saturday and the times will change.

There'll be more nine to noon and there'll be right at the adjacent buildings right over here.

So, you'll be able to have no problem finding the farmers' market.

- This is the best sales job I've ever had.

It makes people smile and everybody loves to be...

Flowers are fun because you get to enjoy the flowers, plus you can enjoy giving the flowers, then making people happy that way.

My best response this summer was a gentleman that bought a bouquet for his wife and he took the bucket home and brought it back to me and I'm like, "How did she like the flowers?"

He goes, "I made her cry."

(slow music) - [Announcer] For more information about this story and other "R-Town" features, connect with us on Facebook, twitter @KSMQ#RTown or ksmq.org/rtown.

(upbeat music) - Hello, I'm Danielle Teal, your moderator for the R-Town Spotlight.

The segment covers organizations, events and happenings across Rochester.

We'd like to thank 125 Live for hosting and setting up our guest to arrive.

And today, we have Philip Muehe from the Rochester Repertory Theater.

Welcome, Philip.

- Hi, thanks for having me.

- So, we're excited to have you today.

Can you share a little bit about the theater and your role?

- Yeah, so I'm the brand new managing director.

I started here on September 1st, basically in charge of the day-to-day operations of the theater.

We're in our 38th season of producing live theater here in Rochester.

So, we're pretty excited about that.

- Wow, that's huge.

So, you're brand new, but I'm sure you have previous experience, right?

- Yeah, before this, I was over in Lanesboro at the Commonweal.

I was the Assistant Director of Marketing there and was on the resident ensemble.

So, it was a good next step for me.

- Very cool.

So, tell us a little bit about the theater and what's on deck for the season?

- Yeah, so we're are a community theater that's run primarily by volunteers.

We have a army of wonderful people who do everything from designing the set to being in the shows, to directing, to serving on different committees to help us take the theater to the next level.

So, we love our volunteers and we're actually staging the holiday classic "A Christmas Carol" right now.

So, that will open on November 26th and it's a five person adaptation.

So, five people play all of those roles.

It's really kinda fun to watch.

- Very cool.

How can the community best support the theater?

Because it is volunteer-based and what are the best ways the community can support it?

- Yeah, the best way is just get involved, volunteer some of your time, whether you wanna paint a set or volunteer to be an usher or a house manager, as well as monetary donations, those help a lot.

We are participating in Give to the Max on November 18th.

So, you can go to givemn.org and search for the rep and that'd be great for us to be able to get any support you can give.

- Very cool, where's this located?

- We're just off of Broadway.

We're on 7th Street.

So, we're kind of by Taco Bell and Silver Lake, that area.

- Very cool, Philip.

I look forward to checking it out.

Thanks for being on the show today.

- No problem, thank you for having me.

(gentle music) - Hey, this is Michael Wojcik with your R-Town Rundown.

It is official, the kids ages five to 11 can now get their very own COVID-19 vaccine.

If you would like to have your child have full immunity by winter break, which starts on December 23rd or 24th, depending on where you're at, you'll wanna make sure that they get their first vaccine shot by November 19th and that'll put them on pace to have full immunity.

This is particularly important because as families gather around this season and as Santa Claus comes, we need to remember that COVID-19 is particularly hard on the elderly and as such, let's help build some immunity in the community and help protect Santa Claus.

Also, a few congratulations are in order.

First and foremost, the Mayo boys' soccer team made it all the way to the state semi-finals before losing their match and they will play Duluth East for third place.

This is one of the best finishes of a soccer program in Rochester history and they were unranked and unseated.

So, congratulations to them.

Also, I don't know how I missed this before, but Fires of Denmark had the opportunity to play in the First Avenue at the 7th Street Entry.

So, congratulations to them for making it to that venue.

The symphony orchestra, their 2021 and 2022 season has started.

A couple of shows that are coming up, both of these are at Lourdes and "They Carried The Light" is on November 20th and 21st and "Sounds of the Season" will be on December 11th and 12th.

You can actually get discounted tickets for kids or students to attend those for only $5.

Also, "Stronger Together" as going on November 6th at Rochester Civic Theater.

Also going on in November 6th is a public art walk and that's going to be from one to two, leaving from the Rochester Art Center.

Nate Bargatze who has a couple of specials on Netflix, will be playing at Mayo Civic Center.

His comedy show, "The Raincheck Tour," is going to be on November 7th.

And finally, Jim Gaffigan will also be performing at Mayo Civic Center on the 11th and 12th.

So, a lot of opportunities to get out there and enjoy and that's just a little bit of what's going on in Rochester.

(playful music) - My name is Brie Bednar.

I am the Executive Director of Family Promise Rochester.

We are an organization that provides shelter and case management for families experiencing homelessness.

- You're welcome, thanks for coming.

- This is our first annual trunk or treat and we are excited to be here in the parking lot right across the street from our North Star House Shelter.

We have several cars here with their trunks open, trunks are decorated and kids can just walk along and get candy.

We opened our static site shelter in February, 2021, meaning we have a house right here on 1st Street Northwest in Rochester, where we have families that stay with us anywhere from 30 to 120 days and ultimately, with the goal of attaining stable housing once they graduate from our program.

Actually, it's the number one, excuse me, number of homeless people in the nation, are families that are homeless.

So, it's a often overlooked problem.

You don't see them often in parks or sleeping in skyways, things like that.

They're generally doubled up with friends or family members, sleeping in cars.

Our organization is funded primarily by donations.

And so, we rely on the generosity of our supporters to make it all work.

(playful music) And it looks like we have a good mix here of people from the community and neighborhood, as well as some of our current shelter families and families who have graduated from our program.

- You get one more.

- We serve families just like who you might see next door.

So, we just wanted to show the neighborhood that the people we serve are very real people and we're a viable part of this community in this neighborhood.

(playful music) (upbeat funk music) ♪ You try so hard ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ You try so hard ♪ - As temperatures drop, homeless community members are seeking shelter and resources.

Here to tell us more about resources and efforts to address homelessness and housing in our community is Mary O'Neil, Olmsted County Housing Program Manager, and Jacob Radtke, Olmsted County Housing Senior Social Worker who are part of the county's Housing Stability team.

Welcome both of you to "R-Town."

- Thank you, Nicole.

- [Jacob] Yeah, thank you for having us.

- So oftentimes, especially in the winter around here, I think everyday community members are often thinking about some of the basic needs that homeless community members might need, shelter, warm clothes, food, which of course are important, but can you talk to us a little bit about how Olmsted County is working to address some of those underlying factors like housing instability and lack of affordable housing options?

- Yes.

So, the Housing Stability team is part of Olmsted County's Housing Department and our colleagues are part of the HRA, Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

And the HRA has invested funding in two buildings that opened actually during the pandemic back in July of 2020.

The one building is the 105, which is a permanent supportive housing facility for 18 individuals.

And we have chosen to serve people who have high barriers, who have chronic homelessness, so have been homeless for a long period of time.

And The Creek is another 12-bed facility that we opened, which is a 90-day extended shelter is what we consider it.

So, it's a place for people who are experiencing homelessness can be, they have their own room, they can lock the room and they can leave their belongings there so they can work on other things during the day and not feel like they have to carry all their belongings with them.

So, those two buildings have been a significant investment by the HRA.

I would also say that the HRA is always seeking opportunities for new housing options, whether that's through development or purchase.

They also purchased a duplex that we have at our disposal.

And we are actually seeking right now a partner, a community agency to partner with in utilizing that duplex.

- Thank you so much, Mary.

I know there's also the new Empowering Connections and Housing Outreach Center.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

- Yeah, so the ECHO Center is a new office space that was opened up here in October and it's located adjacent to our Rochester Community Warming Center.

So, on 4th Street, right across the street from the Government Center.

And it's an exciting opportunity, especially with that location, to connect with individuals early on in their stay at the warming center, or even if they've been staying there for a significant period of time with the idea of maybe to try to help with doing some diversion and get them connected to resources quickly, in addition to what the warming center staff are doing and it also allows us to have a space for people to come and to meet with other outreach workers.

So, it also kinda followed when the board approved a full-time outreach position this past spring.

And so, the opening of that center kinda coincided with that so that we could have a space to meet with individuals.

That's the position that I've moved into.

And so, to have a location where people can meet where we can work on things like applications, be it for housing or even some of the other things that tie into a person's housing, be it medical insurance, be it maybe they're looking to get into an outpatient treatment to helping them make those connections and resources.

So, having a safe space for them to do that.

And then, one of my coworkers, Trent Fluegel, is also in this space too and he's working with individuals doing some housing navigation and housing readiness.

So, making sure that when a person does come up for a referral for a housing program, that they have bank statements in order, that they have IDs, birth certificate, whatever it may be that a person needs to get ready for the next step in housing.

And then, he's also doing some data collection as well.

The other exciting part about the ECHO Center is we also have kind of this third office space for other agencies to come and have a neutral space with which to meet individuals.

So, the hope would be, if a person needed to have a therapy session and it was maybe difficult to find them, that they could maybe use the space if they needed to do an assessment, be it like mental health or chemical dependency or meet with a probation officer, just to have that neutral space.

And also, for other agencies to know that they have a spot to land here too, with which to work out of.

So, it's an office space, but I think the potential of that is really exciting.

We've tried to make it welcoming.

We have plants and things of that nature.

So, it's been good thus far.

- Awesome, thank you.

That sounds fantastic.

And you talked about having that great location right next to the Rochester Warming Center.

Are there others who might benefit from being connected with the ECHO Center.

- Yeah, I mean, so we've connected with, not only individuals who are staying at the warming center, but a lot of people who have just heard of us either through some of these media briefings.

I mean, I've had families that have heard about us and then just stopped in looking for resources.

I've had actually even a lot of family members of people who are experiencing homelessness stop in and wonder, okay, what resources are available for these individual family members.

In the short time we've been open, I've had several of those happen where a grandfather looking for his grandson and a mother looking to get some resources for their son as well.

So, it's not only just the individuals and families experiencing homelessness, it's also their family members.

And then also other community agencies that maybe are just looking for what are housing options, in addition to that, what are some other shelter options, what are alternative housing options, be it like adult foster care.

And so, really just trying to be an additional point of contact and an initial resource for, not only agencies and individuals, but yeah, so that people can have a space with which to know, like, what are the resources?

And we certainly don't know all of them ourselves, but I do think we're a good spot to start.

And if we don't maybe have the answer, we can know which agency to maybe point them in the direction of, even if it's something more specialized like if it's a youth experiencing homelessness or an elderly individual experiencing homelessness or families just 'cause there's a lot of different nuances with those.

But we have worked really hard to make connections with other agencies in our community too and build up those relationships to make it an easier referral if we don't have the answers necessarily through the ECHO Center.

- You briefly mentioned other groups, including youth.

And I know several of our county services are focused on adults and other groups, but maybe Mary, could you talk a little bit about some efforts that are being made to address homelessness among children and youth in our community?

- Absolutely.

We have several agencies in town that are specifically working with families and youth experiencing homelessness.

So, we definitely try to partner with those agencies whenever possible.

Of course, Rochester Public Schools is a strong collaborator with all those agencies because they often have firsthand knowledge of families or children who are experiencing homelessness.

When Jake moved into this outreach position, we hired another staff to replace him in his previous position.

And we are actually considering using some of her outreach time to really focus on youth and families.

So, we just have to figure out what that looks like and how she will fit into the system.

But I'm really hoping to get more involved in those efforts, but we do have a strong network of agencies that are already providing services to families and youth.

- Thank you both, Jake and Mary.

There's so much to talk about here.

We're gonna be sure to link to the resources that you've mentioned here and certainly have you back on to share more.

So, thank you and thank you all for joining us today.

For more wonderful content produced right here in Southeast Minnesota, please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter at #RTown.

Be well and stay safe.

I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara for "R-Town" and I will see you next week.

(upbeat music) ♪ Still you're trying ♪ ♪ So hard ♪ ♪ To cover up your games ♪ ♪ Got you thinking ♪ ♪ Don't nobody see ♪ ♪ All this time ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Still ain't nothing changed ♪ (upbeat jazz music) (bright music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.