2010s

WSCO organized a local chapter of POWER (People Organized to Win Energy Reform)
WSCO organized a citywide Indigenous Women and Women of Color Caucus workshop to train-the-trainer with 18 participants. Five out of the seven St. Paul Wards were represented.WSCO part of forming and leading Root and Restore, a citywide coalition focused on alternative forms of community safety, alternatives to policing, uplifting the stories of people impacted, and research, in partnership with the ACLU and U of M.
WSCO organized Enough is Enough: Community forum on Safety and Gun violence, and formed the West Side Community Care Action Circle

WSCO created the 2013-2023 West Side Community Plan
Several WSCO members, led by Rebecca Noecker, created a group called West Siders for Strong Schools.
District del Sol Plan created

WSCO helped get the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to place an air quality monitor on the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church roof. They found that while the air was below pollution standards it still contained elevated levels of arsenic, formaldehyde, and fine particles.
WSCO’s “Art on the Ave” event connected West Side artists to businesses along Smith Avenue in 2014 and 2015

WSCO succeeded in organizing West Siders to remove the police from the civilian review board
WSCO launched Our Streets Our Story, which gathered stories from West Siders and resulted in the multilingual banners throughout District del Sol footprint

WSCO organized the Action to Equity training series
WSCO launches the West Side Equitable Development Scorecard
WSCO recognized by Humphrey School with innovation award
WSCO held Future Sol, a community event which gave the community an opportunity to voice their opinions on the West Side Flats Greenway’s design
After discovering that a housing developer building on the West Side was using unfair labor practices in violation of our Equitable Development principles, WSCO partnered with labor organizers including the Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL), to hold the developer accountable. The community turned out strong in solidarity to protest together. The developer dissolved their company.
WSCO’s Health and Environmental Justice Action Circle restarted

WSCO organizer Bahieh Hartshorn organized an Indigenous Women and Women of Color (IWWOC) summit to build power and leadership. 60 women participated, and the summit generated interest from across Minnesota and Wisconsin.
First Black and Indigenous Women of Color (BIWOC) circle held to create a space to build leadership, collective and personal power, healing justice, and thriving lives on the West Side and the region. Participants worked to challenge the dominant narrative and replace it with lived truths and realities of West Side BIWOC.
WSCO started the West Side Voices Forum, a monthly gathering to discuss the work of WSCO’s Action Circles and to strengthen community ties.
WSCO held a leadership trainingBIWOC healing space held
WSCO led a West Side 100 voter turnout campaign
Our Streets, Our Stories: WSCO held celebratory events along Chavez, Smith, and Stryker streets, promoting businesses in the three commercial strips while also gathering community planning input for future plans
WSCO organized to shut down El Alamo bar following community safety concerns

WSCO organized the first annual community Ramadan dinner at 88 César Chávez
WSCO was part of first citywide Eid outdoor festival in Saint Paul
WSCO hosted caucus trainings in February and March; 32 Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) participated representing 6 out of the 7 wards in Saint Paul
WSCO’s Trans and Queer Community (TAQC) held its first meeting. The group went on to do service projects, have potlucks, and deepen community connections across the West Side in the face of rising homophobia and transphobia nationally and locally
The Evening Market at Parque Castillo helped activate a park that was accessible to many but underutilized. Artists, makers, and food vendors joined with musicians to bring life and color to the park for an evening

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