Community Members for Environmental Justice (CMEJ) is leading a movement to reclaim and heal neighborhoods recovering from environmental racism in the Twin Cities. Based in North Minneapolis, the grassroots coalition is powered by residents who have lived through a legacy of industrial pollution. This legacy disproportionately harms nearby areas that are home to low-income and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
CMEJ’s latest mission is to complete a $21 million capital project that will transform Minneapolis’ former Northern Metals site into the Northside Resiliency Center, a vibrant hub for community healing and education.
“This initiative will substantially benefit North Minneapolis’ 32,000 residents through environmental improvements and economic opportunities in a historically underserved area,” says the Mortenson Family Foundation’s Maryan Abdinur. “The Foundation believes this project represents a vital step toward addressing environmental injustice and creating sustainable communities.”
Reimagining a Toxic Facility
In 2019, Northern Metals abandoned its metal recycling facility at 2800 Pacific Street after years of community activism and advocacy against the company and its record of heavy pollution. Located on three-and-a-half acres on the banks of the Mississippi River, the former industrial site has stood unoccupied since a fire in the area in April 2021. Although Northern Metals ended its lease on the facility in 2022, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency continues to monitor the area for inhalable particles and lead.
After Northern Metals departed, another out-of-state company named Zenith acquired the land before the local Northside community could voice its vision for the future of the site. With the leadership of CMEJ co-founder and executive director Roxxanne O’Brien and the support of several community members and partners, CMEJ began conversations with Zenith to discuss the potential for community ownership. Following months of back-and-forth discussions, CMEJ finally signed a purchase agreement with Zenith in August 2024, a critical step toward reclaiming the land for the local community.
CMEJ is transforming the area’s harmful history into a fresh future with a community-centered Northside Resiliency Center. The organization has invited community members to join its Land Stewardship Committee to ensure that the voice of the community is centered in decisions regarding the site’s design, use, and sustainability, as well as the development of a co-ownership model.
“So often, development in our communities is top-down as opposed to from the ground-up,” says Felicia Perry, a longtime Northsider, business owner, homeowner, and artist. “This center is about honoring community members who have developed our communities in ways that money can’t buy.”
Once built, the aspiration is that the Northside Resiliency Center will be a community-owned and -operated hub. It will include an environmental justice museum, co-operative and educational spaces, and an indoor playground for children and families. It will also house a commercial retail space to create a space for healthy foods and community dialogue, as well as a greenhouse garden rooted in regenerative practices. These amenities reflect a climate-resilient model of development that builds community wealth, prevents further industrial exploitation, and reclaims space for healing and growth.
“The proposed project would not only complete the transformation of this site but support the state in advancing its goals under the Climate Action Framework,” says Justice Jones, CMEJ’s associate project director.
CMEJ estimates the Northside Resiliency Center capital project will cost approximately $21 million total. This year, CMEJ is working to purchase the site from Zenith for $3.5 million. In the second year of the project, $14 million will go toward construction and community investment, with several partnerships from other local organizations. In the third and final year, $3.5 million will go to naming rights for the community to claim the Center as their own.
“The promise of the climate movement lies in its ability to secure the benefits of the clean economy transition for local communities. Through this project, CMEJ is delivering for both people and planet,” says Sacha-Rose Phillips, a program officer at the McKnight Foundation. “The development of the Northside Resiliency Center will provide a critical roadmap for other communities across Minnesota and the region working toward a more just, sustainable, and economically vibrant future.”
Leaving a Legacy of Resilience
Over the last decade, CMEJ has led several initiatives to support residents in North Minneapolis, including engagement in policymaking and the creation of community resources for emergency preparedness. Their work is grounded in intersectional equity, recognizing the ways environmental harm, racism, and economic injustice have harmed locals while creating pathways for long-term systemic change.
The Northside Resilience Center project will improve air and water quality as well as create jobs for residents. But the project is not only about cleaning up a toxic site; it’s about rebuilding community cohesion, creating generational wealth, and physical and emotional well-being that localized environmental racism tried to destroy in the area.
CMEJ’s purchase and remediation of the property will be one of the first of its kind in Minneapolis. The new Northside Resilience Center will be a testament to community resilience and serve as a physical reminder of the power that community voices can have. The resources and initiatives provided through the Center will support future generations in ensuring that they remain informed and that their voices are centered on what happens in their environment.
Be Part of the Transformation
The Northside Resilience Center will offer an opportunity for the Northside community to lead and own a hyperlocal development project that nurtures both the community and local ecosystem. But the stakes are high. If CMEJ can’t collect the remaining funds to purchase the property soon, more polluters will have the opportunity to move into the space. This defers the correction of a violent history of environmental injustices that North Minneapolis has faced.
“We’ve been working to transform this space for a very long time,” says CMEJ’s Roxxanne O’Brien. “This is a huge opportunity for our generation to ensure livability not just for ourselves but for future generations. There are no heroes. It’s just us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
You can support CMEJ and the construction of the Northside Resilience Center here. To donate, select “Community Members for Environmental Justice” from the list under “Project.”
