A recording of a spoken-word poetry event was playing in Brian Mogren's Target headquarters office one day in 2008 as he designed the company's Sunday advertisement insert.
The words resonated not only through his ears, but in his heart, he said.
"What I heard in their voices was an urgency. I needed to do more than I was doing," said Mogren, who had been doing volunteer work in north Minneapolis for 10 years. "I needed to quit my job."
He did not want to leave Target, where he had worked for nearly 25 years. But, he said, he couldn't ignore the calling. He turned in his letter of resignation and two weeks later committed himself full time to serving in north Minneapolis.
Mogren is one of six Minnesotans who will be honored Wednesday with the Virginia McKnight Binger Award in Human Service from the McKnight Foundation. Each $10,000 award honors those who "give their time to improve the lives of people in their communities."
Mogren was recognized for his work as founder of St. Jane House, an urban retreat center on the 1400 block of Emerson Avenue N. The house is also his home, which he decided to share as a retreat center. He connected with six nuns looking to build a place where community members could find hospitality and interaction.
"We have college students who may stay here sometimes, and they share a meal with someone who has lost a child to violence," Mogren said. "At the end of the meal, they leave with a real connection."
Mogren said the award will be used for another project of his called Alafia Place, which provides housing and support services to community leaders on the North Side of Minneapolis. "This is confirmation that when you are committed to doing something and you believe it with all your heart, the community will rise up to support that vision and dream," he said.
