Frequently Asked Questions

To address the violence in the Merwin lot that often accompanies warmer weather, Love MPLS applied for and won a grant from the Office of Violence Prevention. Merwin Liquors has permitted Love MPLS to put a security plan in place which involves:

Closing the Broadway entrance/exit to the lot

Adding 100 feet of raised garden beds and 16 concrete planters in order to decrease the Merwin parking lot by 50% (to reduce loitering, speeding, and illicit activity)

Hiring artists to paint all of the planters and garden beds

Hiring 4 Step Up interns to grow the produce and prepare it for free distribution at the Haven Pantry

Adding $20K of new lighting to increase safety at night

Adding 2 new video cameras to increase safety
Love MPLS seeks to partner with a wide range of groups, corporations and foundations that align with the mission of bringing healing and economic opportunity to North Minneapolis. We were founded in 2020, as a sister organization to The Sanctuary Covenant Church. Spurred by the church’s efforts to address community insecurities around food and other household goods resulting from that summer’s civil unrest, there was an opportunity to reimagine life near the intersection of West Broadway and Lyndale in North Minneapolis.

Love MPLS was established as a separate, non-religious entity with its own Board of Directors and leadership structure. The early work of Love Minneapolis has been in partnership with The Sanctuary Covenant Church, which currently owns a significant part of the property on West Broadway between Lyndale and Aldrich Avenues and is aligned with the goal of reimagining, redeveloping, and bringing healing and opportunity to that block and the broader community.
The mission of Love Minneapolis.Inc. isTo be a catalyst for healing and economic transformation in North Minneapolis, beginning with the corner of Broadway and Lyndale Avenues, fostering community resilience, healing, and empowerment through creative expression, safe community spaces, and financial literacy. As a Northside organization, we partner with community members and local organizations to reimagine what life on the Northside of Minneapolis can be for us as residents, workers, current & future leaders.
Together, we are becoming a more just, well connected, safe community where Black and Brown people are thriving, prospering, and building generational wealth.
Love Minneapolis will continue to support community development through intergenerational programming, youth focused career exploration, wellbeing support and financial literacy for the full circle of support to create a place of healing, hope, and community building.