Student members can be a dime a dozen for local neighborhood organizations close to campus, but student involvement in these groups can provide a unique and fresh perspective many older residents are looking for.
Past and present students working in neighborhood organizations say working with these associations allows them to impact their whole community, rather than just University students.
George Masson, who recently finished graduate school at the University of Minnesota, said his time as a board director for the Southeast Como Improvement Association (SECIA) allowed him to connect with his neighborhood and local environment. Masson said he and his partner, who was also on the board, formed strong relationships with the older residents around them.
“Getting involved with SECIA allowed me and my partner to feel like we were part of something bigger than ourselves, allowed us to really have a connection to our neighborhood,” Masson said. “Which is something that neither of us had really experienced before.”
Fourth-year University student and former Minnesota Daily employee Kelly Rogers is a current member of the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA) and former SECIA vice president. She said her times with SECIA and MHNA have shown her how local governments can function and how she can make an impact on her community.
“I feel like it was a really great way to experience what it might look like on a city council level or a larger organization,” Rogers said. “You really get to see the changes happen and you get to see the stuff come alive.”
Many of the local neighborhood associations struggle with student recruitment but would like to see greater student involvement in the future, according to Executive Director Chris Lautenschlager at the MHNA.
Masson said student recruitment to these organizations tends to be difficult, as most members are older. Masson added these associations are an opportunity for students to get hands-on experience in their communities which schools are not always able to offer.
“Going to school is one thing of taking classes, but I think going out and actually trying to do things like build a pollinator garden or write a grant or something like this is something different entirely,” Masson said.
Rogers said she learned about the administrative work of an association during her time as SECIA vice president. Now as an MHNA student member, Rogers said she plays a more participative role as a student-representative.
Rogers said there is a lot of overlap between neighborhood associations and the Minneapolis City Council that students may not realize. Rogers added that neighborhood associations offer many community initiatives and community-engaged policy-making.
“Students have an intrinsic stake in these decisions but are maybe less aware of the kind of influence that they can have on the outcome,” Rogers said.
Masson said he was a part of SECIA’s environmental committee, where he helped create pollinator gardens around the neighborhood. He said his main focus in the association was the impact and importance of taking care of our ecosystem rather than representing all University students.
Rogers said living across SECIA’s pollinator gardens was a constant reminder of how big someone’s impact can be when a part of these local organizations. Rogers added she felt a sense of belonging as she formed connections with longtime residents of these neighborhoods.
“Getting to know your neighbors is so awesome,” Rogers said “You really start to build a community that feels a lot more like home.”