Our Initiatives |
Coffee in the Hillside |
One of the first initiatives the First Ladies decided to take on was to start what we've named, "1000 Cups of Caring". Every other Saturday you can catch the First Ladies set-up outside the Damiano Center on fourth street. During that time coffee, gum, socks, emergency blankets and more are available for free.
Huge thank you to The Damiano Center for providing the space and the Duluth Coffee Company for providing the grounds (grown on a female led farm) for us to brew fresh for you! |
Needle Initiative
Healing Creations |
Although the First Ladies feel proud of their work cleaning up the community, they all agree it is still not enough. Because of this they have launched a campaign to place secure Sharps kiosks (similar to a postal mailbox, but designed for safe sharps disposal) in areas where used needles are often found. The One Roof Housing Park as a start with the hope to add another kiosk in the near future.
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The membership of the First Ladies of the Hillside is made up of women with great talent. Art is one of those talents. Many of the artists have found healing in the process of making art. Knowing this, the First Ladies of the Hillside plan to support other developing artists in the community to encourage healing through creating art big and small.
First Ladies Gift Express
Cleaning the Hillside |
The Northland Foundation-funded, Central Hillside Alloparenting Project approached the support of alloparents through a trauma-informed, community-based caregiving lens with attention to the underlying neurobiological systems that influence personal narratives, perspectives, biases, and responses. The 8-week program will build an approach to alloparenting that is founded on basic principles of child development and the role of interpersonal connections.
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Since the beginning of September 2021, the First Ladies of the Hillside have been working on a social enterprise to help folks living in the Central Hillside access to healthier food. It started out with trying out new vegetarian recipes after their weekly meetings, surveying the community, to eventually receiving pre prepped meals from a group of UMD students. Through the beginnings of the project, the women were able to discover what tasted good, what didn't, and what worked best for their families and lifestyles.
With the end of the academic semester, the First Ladies of the Hillside once again shifted their initiative further into their own hands. They chose their own meals, found recipes that worked for them, and each week they meet to prep their meal. The pilot meals chosen were chicken fajita's, meat loaf, and lasagna. As the project progresses the First Ladies hope to test their pilot project further on ten families from the Central Hillside area of Duluth. As a group they decided to name their food access program, Food Forward.
Above are images of the First Ladies of the Hillside perfecting recipes as they look towards their pilot run of Food Forward.