February has been a powerful month for WSCO and the West Side! Thank you to everyone who led, attended, volunteered, and invested in our community, with WSCO. Below is a snapshot of February in review - and what’s coming in March!
Indigenous Women & Women of Color Table
February 15th WSCO kicked off its first West Side Indigenous Women and Women of Color (IWWOC) table. A monthly gathering space for IWWOC. The purpose of the West Side IWWOC table is to provide the necessary tools of leadership support, strengthening, and training. WSCO is creating a sacred space of ritual for the systemic advancement of IWWOC. This is not only space for leadership development on the West Side, City of St. Paul, and the region, it’s also a space where we actively demolish the dominant narrative and replace it with our lived truths and realities of West Side IWWOC. WSCO will host monthly dinners to build connection, community and the culture of a collective, and provide trainings in leadership development. All gatherings will center around healing justice and be trauma informed.
Are you an IWWOC? Are you interested in joining our next dinner? It’s March 15th at 6PM - location TBD.
Click here to request to join our Facebook Page or Email [email protected] for more information
Our Streets, Our Stories - Reimagining District del Sol
On February 27th WSCO kicked off our first Our Streets, Our Stories (OSOS) event in the District del Sol corridor. We shared food, culture & artistry, and our ideas about the District del Sol of today and tomorrow. We had a blast and hope you did too!
In the coming months we'll share the input from the event, put out a Call For Artists, and keep you updated on next steps as they unfold. With this momentum, we know BIG THINGS are on the horizon for District del Sol!
OUR STREETS // OUR STORIES is a engagement project of the West Side Community Organization (WSCO) and its partners. Our goal is to reclaim the narrative of the West Side’s commercial corridors through community-based visual arts. This effort is designed to build the ECONOMIC POWER of the West Side, part of our 2018 West Side Rising platform.
West Side Action to Equity
In February WSCO continues to move forward the drafting and engagement work of the West Side Scorecard, a tool being adapted by community, for community to grade new development coming to the west side project by project. In alignment with the priorities and values from the West Side 10 yr plan. Click here for more information and the timeline.
Community Meeting - SPPD Use of Force Policy Update
February 28th WSCO hosted a community meeting regarding the new SPPD Use of Force Policy that intentionally centered the voice of community. We appreciate the large attendance and passion for centering the voice and safety of community members. WSCO looks forward to the revised Use of Force policy and will be hosting a meeting for SPPD to report on the improved policy that centers deescalation and human dignity.
Upcoming WSCO events coming up - GET INVOLVED in your neighborhood! (Click the event for MORE information)
West Side Indigenous Women & Women of Color Table - March 15th at 6PM at Baker Center
Riverfront Development & Land Use Committee - March 20th at 6:30PM at Baker Center
Health & Environmental Justice Committee - April 5th at 6:30PM at Baker Center
Invest in the West Side!
Thank you for the time you give to Scorecard drafting meetings, Use of Force policy review, Our Streets, Our Stories, Indigenous Women & Women of Color Leadership Table, Riverfront & Development & Land Use, Health & Environmental Justice, testifying at City Hall, writing letters, making phone calls, door knocking, dropping flyers, hanging lights, and hosting tables, talking to neighbors and launching our online fundraising, All of it!! This IS, the organization that is powered by the people!!
The power of collective people, and the power of collective money is required to bring about the change we desire to see in our neighborhood. When you invest in WSCO you invest in your family, and your neighborhood. To learn more, and to help us reach the goal of $15,000 by April - Click here: https://funddrive-wsco.nationbuilder.com/
Together We Rise. West Side Rising 2018