MINNEAPOLIS — We Push for Peace, a community nonprofit, held a grand opening Thursday for a resource center next to Merwin Liquors in north Minneapolis.
Police records indicate that the store has been a crime hot spot for years and Cindy Tapper, who has been the store's co-owner for more than a decade, said it was difficult to see a change in the neighborhood.
"It was devastating," said Tapper.
In September, a string of shootings at the intersection of West Broadway and Lyndale Avenue triggered the attorney general to open a nuisance action against a gas station nearby and the liquor store.
Tapper said she realized that the store needed to be in the hands of community members from the area.
Trahern Pollard and his family founded We Push for Peace, wanting to make a change.
"This is what you call meeting people where they are," he said. "We didn't just want to be in a silo to profit from the community."
Pollard and his family opened a resource center, similar to We Push for Peace's Uptown location, where he plans to offer mental health assessments, employment assistance, housing services and more.
Tapper and her family are currently in the process of transferring ownership of Merwin Liquors to Pollard's family.
"They're a blessing," she said.
The Pollards say they hope to eventually use funds from their liquor store to help fund the resource center.
"I've always wanted to see a direct change where I'm from," said Trent Pollard, Trahern's son and COO of We Push for Peace. "We don't see it as extra work."
According to Trahern Pollard, the attorney general's investigation is still ongoing. KARE 11 reached out to Keith Ellison's office for an update and did not immediately hear back.
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