Sabo Center News

In the Sabo Center, we work closely with many different communities in the Cedar-Riverside, Seward and East Phillips neighborhoods. A core part of our work is to connect our campus community with those living and working in the neighborhoods adjacent to campus. This provides learning opportunities for our students, staff and faculty, and lends support to our neighbors in meaningful ways. 

As long as Cedar-Riverside has been a neighborhood it has been a neighborhood of immigrants. Today, those immigrants come from many places, mainly East Africa and many from Somalia. The warmth and welcome, the spirit of joy that permeates Cedar-Riverside has been amplified by the Somali community. We at the Sabo Center likewise extend that warmth and welcome to our Somali neighbors and all immigrant communities near and far. We stand in solidarity with our neighbors and will do all that we can to support and keep safe as many people as possible. We invite you, allies, collaborators or wherever else you stand, to join us.

The following are ways to support Cedar-Riverside:

• Share the care and respect you have for the Somali community widely using social media and any other outlets available to you. Augsburg’s community is rich with examples of the contributions that our Somali students, colleagues, and friends have made and will continue to make. 
• Join Trinity Lutheran and friends in providing some care and welcome to our Muslim neighbors. We’ll be serving tea and coffee at Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque this Friday, December 5th at 1:15 pm. If you would like to walk from campus together, please meet at the Sabo Center in Oren Gateway Center at 1:00 pm. 
• Support the Brian Coyle Community Center in feeding our neighbors. Their food shelf is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. With many residents afraid to leave their homes, they need help making deliveries. Stop by during open hours to lend a hand.
• Give money. The Brian Coyle Community Center is part of Pillsbury United Communities, there are multiple ways for you to support their work. Make sure to note that you would like any funds you contribute go to Brian Coyle by making a note when you donate. 
• You can also support those working to protect immigrant communities by giving to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).
• Find resources, learn about trainings, and find Know Your Rights materials in English, Spanish and Somali at Monarca.
• Join Sabo Center Staff next Wednesday, December 10th at 12:30 pm to learn more about the neighborhood and have lunch at Sagal. We’ll meet at the Sabo Center, please fill out this short Google Form to let us know you’re interested.
• Spend time in the neighborhood. Cedar-Riverside is rich in wonderful restaurants and entertainment. Grab dinner at the West Bank Diner or Nader before catching a show at the Mixed Blood Theater or the Cedar Cultural Center–if you haven’t had the great pleasure of seeing Black Market Brass make your way there this Friday!
• The Sahan Journal and Minnesota Reformer are good local media sources for keeping apprised of what’s happening.

We will continue to post opportunities to engage here on the Sabo Blog and in A-Mail. Please reach out to Jenean Gilmer, Community Engaged Learning Community Manager in the Sabo Center (gilmerje@augsburg.edu) with any questions or concerns.

Over the last two months, the Sabo Center has hosted our inaugural Community Changemakers collaborators, the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, for six talks and three workshops with EPNI staff. We’re now inviting proposals from our campus community, including students, staff, and faculty, for projects to be completed in collaboration with EPNI in the spring semester. 

These projects work to build relationships with EPNI staff and community members and bring their knowledge and experience to campus while providing experiential and community engaged learning experiences for our campus communities. Proposals may be organized around an event, course development, lesson plan, campus project or whatever else you might imagine. 

Some examples for potential projects might include:

• connecting a student group or class to work with Forest Hunt to revitalize the Indigenous Student Plot in the Community Garden
• bringing Sean Lim to your class or student organization to collaboratively plan and complete an art project (banner, screen prints, stickers, buttons) around an issue or event
• invite Kieran Morris to class to talk about the uses and importance of community gardens and urban farms for building and sustaining communities

Applications will be accepted until Friday, December 12th. Applicants will receive responses on Friday, December 19th. Please submit your proposal using this short Google Form or email Jenean Gilmer to discuss your ideas. You can find additional details in the form to submit proposals. Please reach out to Jenean with any questions or concerns at gilmerje@augsburg.edu.

Join the Sabo Center Community Engagement Council’s Community Changemakers this week for a talk and workshop with Forest Hunt and part two of Kieran Morris’ talk on community power and urgan agriculture! Stay tuned to A-Mail and the Community Changemakers page for more information about upcoming events for Fall 2025! If you’re interested in learning more please email gilmerje@augsburg.edu.

by Ethel Zidenga

When I first began my internship at the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew I’d be challenged. I hoped I’d be changed. What I didn’t anticipate was how deeply this experience would shape not only my understanding of community engagement, but also my place within it.

One of the most transformative parts of this internship was the opportunity to explore the meaning of community engagement. I spent time researching how it is defined and practiced, and I quickly realized that true community engagement must be intentional. Whether it’s a partnership between an institution and a community, or among individuals, both sides need to be fully invested and both must receive equitable benefit. Just as importantly, both parties must have an equal voice in setting the goals and defining what success looks like.

Too often, institutions hold the upper hand in these relationships, directing the terms and outcomes. But if we are serious about creating anti-oppressive and anti-racist models of engagement, we must center the voices of marginalized communities. Their leadership, knowledge, and lived experiences must guide the work, not be tokenized or added on as an afterthought. This shift in power is not optional; it is essential.

During my time at the Sabo Center, I also had the opportunity to dive into powerful readings that pushed me further in my thinking. One that left a lasting impact was Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira. I truly believe everyone should read this book. I only wish I had encountered it at the beginning of my MSW journey, but perhaps it wouldn’t have impacted me the way it just did. Sometimes the right book finds you when you’re ready.

In Hospicing Modernity, Vanessa challenges us to unlearn everything we’ve been taught by oppressive systems. She calls on us to recognize the harms embedded in modernity, systems that reward domination, extraction, and control, and instead be part of birthing something new. Her words awakened something in me: a deeper responsibility not just to question oppressive systems, but to actively participate in creating liberatory ones. She reminded me that being uncomfortable is necessary and that unlearning is a lifelong process.

I am also incredibly thankful for the mentorship and support I received from my field supervisor, Dr. Alex Fink, and my task supervisor, Ms. Jenean Gilmer. They created a brave and safe space where I could make mistakes, ask hard questions, cry when I needed to, and grow into a more critical and reflective practitioner. Their encouragement helped me find my voice and stay grounded, even when I was struggling to extend grace to myself. I will forever be grateful for the compassion, honesty, and guidance they offered throughout my internship.

Reflecting on this journey, I truly believe that the MSW program and the Sabo Center are a perfect partnership at Augsburg University. I may be biased, but the way both programs embrace holistic approaches to learning, justice, and community makes them a powerful team. The MSW program gave me the theoretical foundation, while the Sabo Center gave me a living, breathing classroom in the real world. Together, they shaped an experience that was not just educational but transformative.

As I close this chapter, I carry with me more than new skills. I carry a renewed sense of purpose and commitment. I will continue to unlearn, to listen, to act with intention, and to walk alongside others as we collectively build a more just and compassionate world.

Ethel Zidenga completed a Master of Social Work in Spring of 2025. She spent a year as an intern in the Sabo Center with Jenean Gilmer and Alex Fink, developing an extensive Community Partner Database, researching definitions and practices of community engagement, participating in relationship building and community development in the Cedar-Riverside Neighborhood. Her contributions are deeply appreciated and continue to provide meaningful support.

Author: Greta Klawiter-Lein, Community Garden Coordinator

Fall is the perfect time to harvest veggies. And as the weather cools, stews and soups are a wholesome way to utilize these garden goodies! This fall, the Augsburg Community garden got to play host for a super special plant-based cooking class. In collaboration with Edible Boulevards; a food initiative focusing on supporting Green Zone residents, and the amazing Ifrah Hashi, we saw how to turn a bountiful fall harvest into a warm, delicious meal. It was such a warm, cozy early afternoon full of good food, good people, and beautiful stories.

Ifrah walked us through how to make a vegan lentil stew that hit all the right fall notes—hearty, flavorful, and perfect for chilly evenings. While she chopped garden kale and peppers, she shared about growing up cooking and peeling potatoes with her Somali mom in London. Her stories were personal and heartfelt, and made the food feel even more meaningful and filling.

The class brought together a really lovely mix of people—gardeners, students, neighbors, and community members, all learning together. The room was relaxed and welcoming, and of course, there were door prizes of dried lentils and culinary spices!

Big shoutout to Edible Boulevards for the work they do helping people grow food right in their boulevard spaces, and for hosting monthly plant-based cooking classes that bring folks together around healthy, accessible meals. Every month is a different cooking class, in a different community garden with rotating hosts. While the location and chef might change, the meal prepared is always vegan and focuses on elements of the chef’s cultural heritage.

Events like this remind us why the Augsburg community garden exists in the first place—to connect, to learn, and to grow (literally and figuratively).