I became native to Minneapolis this way. While in seminary, I followed a graduating friend in his job as a maintenance man and weekend program staff for Community Involvement Programs, an innovative program for developmentally disabled adults focused on independent living skills.
This was the first time I had ever lived in a city. I had a basement apartment in the Mauna Loa, an old brick three story building right next to I-94. Abbott Hospital was across the street, still functioning as a hospital. The Stevens Square Neighborhood had many buildings like the Mauna Loa, most built earlier in the century to house clerical and retail staff for downtown businesses. By the time I moved to Stevens Square, they were run down and filled with the sort of folks who seek lower rents in any city: the poor, college students, people working downtown in low paying jobs and outliers like the disabled, the elderly and small time criminals.
Continuing to live in the building, I became a full-time program staff person. CIP moved a few blocks further south to a larger three story apartment building on Stevens Avenue, diagonally across from Stevens Square Park. I stayed with them.
