Addie has joined WSCO as Development Manager to help tell the story of our community's work through grant writing. She is a writer, a lifelong Twin Cities resident, and a believer in shared ownership – having spent the last three and a half years at Rondo Community Land Trust helping families build wealth and stability.
Can you share a bit about your background and experience?
In college, I studied Anthropology and English. For a while, I felt embarrassed telling people because it felt random. But as I finished my 5th year working in the local nonprofit world, I realized studying the two actually makes sense for me. I love learning about people, culture, and how our unique histories shape our lives today. And getting to write about it is even better. So while my love for anthropology mostly manifests in my deep passion for reality television, it more importantly has shaped how I learn about the world around me and choose to respond.
For the last 3.5 years, I worked at Rondo Community Land Trust- a nonprofit based out of Saint Paul's Rondo neighborhood, a neighborhood that shares a similar history of massive displacement at the hands of urban renewal. Rondo CLT leverages the community land trust model to help families build wealth and achieve stability.
With the exception of my 4-year college stint on the East Coast (specifically New York, even more specifically Poughkeepsie), I have always lived in Minneapolis. Today, I live in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul where I am an avid lover of the Snelling Taco Bell and one of seemingly few people who just doesn't really have an opinion on the aesthetics of the Spruce Tree Center.
What drew you to WSCO?:
I have known about WSCO for several years, but part of what drew me to the organization was watching how WSCO stood up in response to the federal immigration crackdown this past year. The Hummingbird Initiative and the thousands of dollars raised in emergency rent assistance demonstrated to me what it looks like when a community builds real people power.
On that note, I've been wanting to learn more about community-led development in practice, especially the grassroots organizing side of it. WSCO's work, from the Southport campaign to the Robert Street planning process, feels like a real education in that.
Lastly, I'm genuinely passionate about shared ownership models, and I'm excited to see how the tenant union's push for collective ownership could take root here on the West Side.
What excites you most about this role?
I love writing and so having the opportunity to narrate the important work that WSCO is doing through grant applications excites me. I also am really excited to get to know the team here at WSCO and its wider community. There are so many learning opportunities and I am looking forward to exploring as many as I can!