Collaborative Community Care: Checking in on Northside Community Support Program
March 3, 2021

Northside Community Support Program is a unique program rooted in building a safe, welcoming community for residents in the North Minneapolis area working to overcome the challenges of mental illness, trauma, COVID and more. It is a free membership-based program. Prior to COVID, individuals could drop-in for support, get help accessing community-based services, therapy, or sometimes just a friendly ear. These services are still available, but due to the pandemic, the program has moved to being appointment-based. The program works closely with many local community partners to ensure people have access to emergency food, employment supports, legal assistance, and more.
Northside Community Support Program takes a community-healing approach to providing mental health support. Each week, the program hosts weekly meetings to identify new ways the program might support the community and how they can collaborate to make it happen.
Being a part of the Northside program is deeply personal for Markevius.
“I’m super passionate about mental health. It changed my life, and I want that for our members. I love being able to share that knowledge with my community. I love being able to stand back and see someone blossom – to see people have a better grasp on their mental health. Everyone deserves that freedom.”
When asked what the Northside community looks like, the passion for the work they do and the connections they build together is evident:
“It’s young. It’s old. It’s happy. It’s strong. It perseveres. It’s all walks of life. It’s all different kinds of backgrounds with one goal in mind – to find the best way to better serve each other. It looks like a team. It looks like forgiveness. It looks like empathy,” says Markevius.