x
Breaking News
More () »

Minnesota churches helping Brooklyn Center families during the unrest

Pastor Jenny Sung with St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi has spent the last week going door to door in the neighborhood.

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — It's been a long week for people who live just feet away from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, in the wake of Daunte Wright's death. 

"We're literally hostage in our own home," said Johnny Tolliver who lives in the apartments neat the station. 

"We didn't have nothing to do with this stuff you know what I'm saying, the whole Fort Snelling came over here man," said another neighbor. 

By day, the scene outside the police department comes across as a place of peace and calm where joy and pain collide. 

"But when the evening time comes it literally gets crazy," said Tolliver. 

Tolliver is one of dozens of people living and breathing every aspect of the protests and unrest both day and night. 

"When they start shooting the tear gases and everything... they run to these doors and try to pull these doors open, trying to force they way in," said Tolliver. 

He's decided not to leave though... out fear of what could potentially happen if he did. 

"We're not going to leave our home, nobody's going to run us away from our homes," he said. 

Even though some local organizations are offering a way out. 

Pastor Jenny Sung with St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi has spent the last week going door to door in the neighborhood.

"Just connecting with the neighbors and seeing what the need is," said Pastor Sung. 

Needs that are being met with anger and a sense of abandonment while offering a place of refuge and safety. 

"We have hotel rooms we can offer, groceries, diapers, whatever you're needing," said Sung. 

As pleas for justice echo through the night, by day Sung says there's still work to be done. 

"We need to continue to work towards the wholeness, the quality of all people," she said. 

Sung's ministry team, with the help of those at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park have been able to place 40 people, including families with children in hotels, until things in the neighborhood settle down.

If you would like to assist with their neighborhood relief efforts click here

Before You Leave, Check This Out