Our Roots
The Banyan is rooted in the East Phillip’s neighborhood where our community faces many challenges….
Our neighborhood is filled with a diversity of gifted people who work hard to make the community a better place. You can see the diversity and giftedness at work in the many businesses located within walking distance of the Banyan Community--The Mercado Central (Latino shops and food), Halal Meat and Grocery, Mac Macaanka Shabeele Coffee Shop (specializing in Somali products), Maria’s Café (Columbian food), and the Ancient Traders market, where you can find Native American Indian art.
While the East Phillips neighborhood has many strengths, it also faces many challenges. Forty percent of children live in poverty. Many adults struggle to find work as the unemployment rate for the neighborhood hovers around 11.5%. Gang and drug activity remains a constant, and youth are aggressively being recruited to participate in both. Our community struggles with prostitution, as both adults and youth are solicited regularly on corners in the neighborhood. An alarming number of level-three sex offenders live in the area, making it unsafe for children.
While most of the families and children in the community want to succeed, many lack models for success. Generational poverty prevents some families from moving forward as they lack knowledge of how to find and keep employment, manage household finances and help their children succeed in school. For other families, immigration and language issues keep them from moving forward. Children who don’t see anything different to aspire to then what their parents have accomplished, often lack the motivation to stay in school and prepare for college. The Banyan Community works to develop a different “normal” for community residents, providing opportunities for school success, family stability, and personal development that residents might not otherwise have.
We came together to form a response…
Essenburg family
The Banyan Community began as an idea, when founders Tim and Joani Essenburg moved into the East Phillips neighborhood in 1990. The Essenburgs decided to live in the city and build relationships with their neighbors. They were inspired by Tim’s research (as an economics professor at Bethel University, with an interest in Urban Redevelopment) to consider community development approaches that blended an approach of relocation, reconciliation, and redistribution (as described by John Perkins) and emphasized community assets, not just community problems. In 1991, the Essenburgs played a leadership role in forming a block club on their block. Out of the relationships that were formed in the community in the first few years, both adults and youth began to express interest in creating some new youth programs.
In 1997, the Kids Club program was launched. The program was requested by neighborhood children and block club members. Children said they wanted something to do and adults wanted a program where youth could learn conflict resolution and community building. There was no community center in East Phillips, and youth were just “hanging out” after school, bored and getting into trouble. Kids Club began in the Essenburg’s home, led by Joani Essenburg (elementary school teacher), and served 22 children the first year. The Banyan Community still has contact with 15 of the original 22 participants. As programs grew, the Banyan Community decided to become a formal organization, incorporating as a tax exempt nonprofit called the Banyan Foundation in 1998.
Neighbors
In order to provide a place for the Banyan programs and relationships to thrive, in 2000 the Banyan Community bought the house at 2528 16th Avenue S. and renovated it into a space where all of the Banyan programs could be housed. Adults in the neighborhood played a key role in advocating for the purchase of the house, testifying before the City Council zoning committee about the positive impact that the organization has in the community and with their families. Neighborhood residents feel a sense of ownership for the “Banyan House,” and see it as their place, where their programs serve their community, and where they can build relationships with their neighbors and build a strong community.
As the demand for more space became evident due to growth in number of youth and families served and the development of new programs, the former Oliver Church & gym became available for lease space. In the spring of 2007 the Banyan expanded into the Banyan Community Center located at 2647 Bloomington Avenue, around the corner from the Banyan House.