The Public Policy Project

Fall Housing Policy class

Program Description: The “Changing the Face of Housing” Initiative has contracted with The Public Policy Project to conduct housing policy training, especially as it impacts low-wealth and people of color. The program prepares participants to make their voice/views heard through direct participation in advocacy organizations, legislative or rule making institutions, and with various housing related public policy issues.

Time Frame: The program consists of eight evening training sessions (from 6:30-9:30 PM) on Monday nights beginning September 8, 2008 plus a two month long applied practice field work experience and participation in a final follow-up session Monday, January 5, 2009

Location: The Greater Frogtown CDC at 533 North Dale Ave, St Paul, MN 55103.

Session Descriptions

Meeting one: Behind the Public Policy Curtain September 8th 6:30 - 9:30 PM
This session focuses the concept and language of public policy. It will introduce participants to each other and provide an overview of what the public policy process is and does.

Meeting two: Public Policy effects September 15th 6:30 - 9:30 PM
In this session we will examine key housing policies and address how communities of color have been negatively impacted by those policies.

Meeting three: A closer look September 22nd 6:30 - 9:30 PM
In this session will discuss the work neighborhood organizers have worked on in the past, and what critical policy related issues they are working on now.

Meeting four: Principles of Advocacy September 29th 6:30 - 9:30 PM
This session will focus on how to organize an advocacy campaigns around housing issues.

Legislative field trip arranged
We anticipate taking participants on a field trip to directly observe the housing policy-making process by the City of St Paul or the Metropolitan Council.

Meeting five: Tools of Advocacy October 6th 6:30 - 9:30 PM
This session will examine housing coalition partnerships as an advocacy model.

Meeting Six: Lobbying October 13th 6:30 - 9:30 PM
This session will focus on the role of lobbyist (resident, organizational or professional) and relationship to elected officials.

Meeting seven: Public Policy Makers October 20th 6:30 - 9:30 PM
Participants will meet with housing policy decision makers. What types of decisions is each responsible for and what are the impacts of those decisions?

Meeting eight: Issues Selection and Implementation October 27th 6:30 - 9:30 PM
This session participants will identify a critical housing policy issue of their choice to work on collectively.

Two-month field experience
The participants work on their chosen public policy issue.

Follow Up Meeting and Graduation January 5th 6:30-8:00 PM
We will hold a final session with the participants to check on their progress and evaluate the overall success of the fieldwork.

For registration materials contact: Loren Niemi - 651-271-6349 or James Trice - 612-722-1677

New Poverty Advocacy Training for north Minneapolis Residents

Who & What: Northway Community Trust in conjunction with The Public Policy Project is offering an eight month long Northside Poverty Advocacy Training for low-income RESIDENTS of north Minneapolis who live within these boundaries: 54th Street on the North, the Mississippi River on the East, Highway 394 on the South, and Xerxes Ave on the West.

Time Frame: Eight months of twice a month evening training sessions on Thursdays nights from 6:30-9:30 PM beginning July 17, 2008 leading to a “Day-on-the- Hill”
legislative advocacy campaign in February 2009.

Location: Training sessions will be held at the Northway Community Trust office 1501 W. Broadway Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55411.

Registration: Space is limited! Twenty-five (25) registrations will be accepted and must be received by July 11, 2008. E-mail registrations to James (james_thepublcipolicyproject@msn.com) or Loren (niemistory@aol.com) or mail/drop it off at it at the Northway Community Trust 1501 W. Broadway Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55411.

Selection Process: Participants will be accepted based upon an interview with the Public Policy Project staff. Interviews will be held on July 9, 10, and 11. Registrants will be notified of interview times. Participation will be limited to 25 individuals — so early registration is encouraged.

LISC Housing Policy Alumni

Alumni graduates of the LISC/The Public Policy Project Housing Policy Training are cordially invited to attend the alumni reunion of all the LISC Housing Policy Training graduates.

Come share with your fellow alumni what you have been working on and hear what others are doing or have done since graduating. It will be a chance to meet one another and to share common interests and issues.

We also want to identify two or three key issues that alumni can work together on in a short (5 month) campaign with technical support from The Public Policy Project.

Choose one of two dates and the location that works best for you and please RSVP by
Wednesday, May 28th
by phone (Loren – (651) 271-6349 or James (612) 722-1677
or e-mail (niemistory@aol.com or James_PublicPolicyProject@msn.com)

Date: Monday June 2, 2008
Place: The Minneapolis Urban League
2100 Plymouth Ave, north
Minneapolis, MN
Time: 6:00 pm till 8:00 pm
Or
Date: Thursday June 5, 2008
Place: Community Action Partnership (Bigelow Building)
450 Syndicate Street North
St. Paul, MN
Time: 6:00 pm till 8:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

Welcome from James

Hello all, James Trice here,

I want to personally thank you for visiting our web site. I challenge you to review the entire site in order to get a good sense about what we (Loren and I) do as The Public Policy Project.

I believe that 2008 will surely be a year of new beginnings; the country is engaged in a battle to decide its new leadership and direction. It appears that for the first time in history a person of color, specifically an African American has a real chance of being the leader of the “free world”. The country is also immersed in a war abroad to “bring democracy” to another nation, chastising it for the treatment of its citizens while engulfed in a war here at home about how it treats its own citizens.

I believe that true change happens from the bottom up, not from the top down. It has always been the organized oppressed masses who sparked change and laid the foundation on which people can stand against all forms of oppression.

During WWII, resistance movements sprung up all over the world opposed German conquest of the entire world; During the abolitionist movement, people stood up against African slavery in America from 1800 to 1864; During the anti-war movement, people stood up against the Viet Nam war from 1965 to 1975. And during the great Montgomery Bus Boycott, people stood up against discrimination in public transportation from 1955 to 1956.

El Hajj Malik Shabazz better known as Malcolm X said; “as long as you depend upon someone else to set you free you will never be free”. The oppressed masses must realize that they do have the power and the strength to stand against the tyrants that oppress them.

I firmly believe in the fundamental right of every human being to speak for themselves and be a part of every decision that affects them and I will continue to help individuals master policy decisions and policy advocacy. As the great Ella Baker said; “strong people don’t need strong leaders…all they need is themselves, one another and the will to persevere.”

James Trice
The Public Policy Project

Welcome from Loren

Greetings, Loren Niemi here, saying that I’m glad that you’ve found our site and have explored enough to arrive at this blog! If you haven’t explored other parts of this site, I invite you to look around. We’ve tried to make this both easy to navigate and useful in giving you a sense of what James and I do.

I have spent most of my adult life working with non-profit organizations as a community organizer, manager or consultant. As the Grateful Dead say, “what a long strange trip it’s been.” But the truth be told, this work, The Public Policy Project, with its focus on assisting low-wealth individuals and people of color to utilize their inherent power to speak their truth and engage the decision-making systems that impact their lives, is the most satisfying work I have done.

As I write this, it is early 2008. An election year and hence, a year in which each and every one of us is invited to the national conversation about what kind of government we want. In the next few months, I will comment on some topics - health care, employment, housing, energy independence, etc. - that I think should be front and center in that conversation. Come back and see if you agree with me. If you do, act on that agreement in the campaign season and at the ballot box. If you don’t speak your own truth in the public square.

LN