LA Progressive: This Roof Depot Land Is Ready to Heal
Commentary by Eric Ortiz for LA Progressive
East Phillips is ready to rise. In Minneapolis – a city long divided by race, pollution, politics, and pain – this Southside neighborhood is showing a new way forward. It’s a path rooted in care, justice, and restoration.
The East Phillips Urban Farm is more than a neighborhood development project. It is a bold, community-led vision to reclaim land poisoned by decades of environmental racism and convert it into a thriving hub of healing with fresh food, clean energy, good jobs, and cultural connection. This is what restorative practices look like in real life.
That vision is now at risk.
After years of organizing, legal battles, and raising more than $10 million, the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) stands ready to buy the 7-acre Roof Depot site from the city of Minneapolis. But the Minnesota state legislature cut $5.7 million in funding (again) that would have completed the purchase agreement. The shortfall gives the city an option to walk away, despite promises made and a deal in place.
The city has not terminated the agreement. But the clock is ticking to complete the sale by the Sept. 15 closing date outlined in the purchase agreement.
We are at a crossroads. Not just for East Phillips or Minneapolis. But for communities everywhere facing similar struggles.
If the city follows through and sells the Roof Depot to EPNI, EPNI will create a new model of community ownership. It will be a win for environmental justice. A win for Indigenous sovereignty. A win for economic development that puts people over profits. A win for our collective future.
If the city walks away, it deepens the wounds of broken trust, missed opportunity, and status quo systems that have failed East Phillips and neighborhoods like it for far too long.
People who want a better future need a win for love. This is the moment to make it happen.
Why restorative practices matter now
Restorative practices are grounded in relationships. In building and repairing trust, acknowledging harm, and creating space for everyone to belong and contribute. They are proactive, not reactive. They ask: How can we work with people, not do things tothem or for them?
This idea is at the heart of the East Phillips Urban Farm. It’s also the foundation of community building block programs that can create healthy neighborhoods for all people.
In 2022, when I was president of the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association (LHENA), we redefined the block club approach into a restorative solutions model that can improve the quality of life for any community, anywhere.
Through that program, neighbors organize block by block to ensure basic needs are met for everyone in the community. They share information, build connections, resolve conflicts, and create mutual aid networks. Neighbors ask big questions: What do we value? What do we need? How can we help each other? And how can we take action and create positive change?
That’s how we build healthy, safe, and vibrant communities. By working together with all local stakeholders and investing in people. Everyone may not get what they want, but everyone gets what they need. It starts on your block, in your neighborhood, with your voice.