Prospect Park – Minneapolis, Minnesota

ppa STAFF

General Contact: E-mail. Phone: 612-767-6531.

Administrative and Communications Coordinator:
Liza Davitch - handles PPA's administrative details, coordinates board agendas, compiles board packet information, manages PPA event calendar listings, creates newsletter and social media posts (Facebook, Instagram, etc.)

Volunteer Staff

PPA staff, of course, includes many volunteer staff people and interns, that enable us to function effectively. Examples are dedicated committee chairs, our webmaster, our neighborhood E-list managers, etc.

Prospect Park Association (PPA) relies primarily on community volunteers to create and deliver projects and services. PPA currently has one part-time staff person to support volunteers. We receive funding from the City of Minneapolis, community members, and small project-specific grants from businesses and nonprofits. PPA was incorporated in 1980 as the Prospect Park East River Road Improvement Association (PPERRIA), becoming PPA in 2016.

Staff and City of Minneapolis Funding History

2021 to present: The City of Minneapolis Neighborhoods and Community Relations Department (NCR) adopted “Neighborhood 2020 Guidelines” to improve equity across the city. The new guidelines created new neighborhood organization grant programs and requirements with new funding levels. Read “Neighborhoods 2020” Program Guidelines” here.

Under “Neighborhoods 2020,” PPA’s city funding will fall to $13,300 per year by 2023. PPA has cut staff hours, given up its office, and is bridging the transition by raising additional individual gifts and using limited one-time remaining NRP (see NRP Neighborhood Revitalization Program, 1994, below). PPA currently has a long-term agreement with Prospect Park United Methodist Church (PPUMC) to rent storage and meeting space.

2015 - 2020: The City of Minneapolis created NCR (Neighborhoods and Community Relations Department) and initiated the Community Participation Program (CPP) grant program. PPA received about $64,000 per year in CPP funds to support community outreach and operations, including a full-time staff person and renting office space. NCR also instituted neighborhood organization requirements to broaden participation (e.g., prohibiting annual memberships).

1994 - 2014: With the advent of NRP (Neighborhood Revitalization Program) in 1994, PPERRIA was able to hire a quarter-time staff person and a part-time NRP coordinator to help manage projects. Volunteers continued to play critical roles in delivering programs and services and fulfilling administrative tasks. For example, volunteers published a monthly newsletter and developed the Prospect Park neighborhood website. Volunteers advocated for and carried out a wide range of community-building activities, such as seeking and obtaining permission to use the majority of our NRP funds to remodel Pratt School, making it accessible to the broader community. In 2014, PPERRIA’s NRP funds were mostly exhausted, and neighborhoods organizations negotiated with the city to receive annual budgets.

Prior to 1994: Until 1994, PPERRIA was operated entirely by volunteers and supported through individual gifts and annual memberships.