March Change for Change

Lake Street Council

Lake Street Council’s mission is to support the Lake Street business corridor and the surrounding neighborhoods. In the 1950s and 1960s, as car culture grew, many businesses along the corridor suffered or closed as more residents (especially wealthy and white residents) moved to the suburbs. As vacancies expanded, many older buildings were torn down to make room for parking, and Lake Street came to be seen by many as a place of increasing, racialized poverty. Lake Street Council was founded in 1967 amid this change to help support and maintain the businesses that remained on Lake Street.

Now, with ICE’s occupation of the Twin Cities, immigrant-owned businesses that form the cultural districts of Minneapolis have been hard hit financially. Along the Lake Street Corridor, more than 1,000 immigrant-owned businesses lost roughly $46 million in December and January, and many were forced to temporarily shut down. Lake Street Council needs your support to distribute resources quickly and efficiently in the form of grants, promotions, and consultations directly to businesses along the corridor. We will work hard to ensure every business survives the destructive impact of the inhumane tactics of Operation Metro Surge and returns to a way of life in which we, together as a community, all thrive.