Let me start by acknowledging that President Obama'sdefinition of what constitutes "shovel-ready" projects in regards to theeconomic stimulus package is different than my definition of a "shovel-ready"project. I understand that his definition concentrates on rebuilding roads andschools and upgrading technology and energy efficiency in hospitals and otherbuildings. I get that. But just as the cost of the economic stimulus packagehas increased to keep pace with the worsening crisis, so too should thedefinition of "shovel-ready" be broadened to include any bricks and mortarproject that is going to literally help dig us out of this recession and make acontribution to society. The non-profit organization I work for, Open Arms ofMinnesota, has been planning just such a project for nearly two years. For 23years, Open Arms has prepared and delivered nutritious meals for people livingwith diseases like HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, MS and ALS – culminating in nearly260,000 meals being prepared in our kitchen last year. Knowing we were reachingcapacity in our building we launched a capital campaign in May of 2007 to raise$8.1 million to construct a building with a state of the art kitchen in theheart of Minneapolis' Phillipsneighborhood. The new building will allow Open Arms to become the sourcefor nutritious meals for people living with any chronic and progressive illnessin the Twin Cities.
For nearly two years we have been raising funds, addressing environmentalissues on the property at 25th and Bloomington,working with neighborhood organizations and the City of Minneapolison zoning and variances, and employing kitchen designers and architects.Although we still have more than $2 million to raise, our project is truly"shovel-ready." With a little luck and an early spring, we could startconstruction in April. Aside from some public funds to assist withenvironmental clean up, our project will be funded entirely from privatedonations.
We will do our part to stimulate the economy by hiring acontractor, sub-contractors and all of the vendors associated with amulti-million dollar construction project. We will make a significantinvestment in a neighborhood in the inner-city that needs more champions. Andwhen we open our new doors in 2010, we will have a facility that will allowOpen Arms to assist people living with disease to remain independent for aslong as possible.
There are many other non-profit organizations like Open Armsin the Twin Cities that have launched bricks and mortar projects or whoseprograms would benefit from an infusion of capital dollars. These non-profitsare part of a critical network of services that enhance the quality of life forMinnesotans and oftentimes do so with little or no public funds. Supportingsome of these projects now would not only meet our country's economic stimulusgoals, but would realize a tremendous return on investment for the communityfor years to come. At a minimum, including appropriate non-profit projects infuture economic stimulus plans should be worth at least as much as some of thecorporate executive bonuses that were awarded through the Treasury Department'sTroubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
