fourth sector

Reed

2010-05-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

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LBA Logo's properly sized

2010-03-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

LBA Logos properly sized

2010-03-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

...And This Is My Garden

2010-03-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Nicole !

2010-02-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

from Marco and Konnichiwa

Brooklyn Center Demographics

2010-02-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.americantowns.com/mn/brooklyncenter-information#information
BROOKLYN CENTER CENSUS DATA CENTER
BROOKLYN CENTER GENERAL POPULATION

Total Population in Brooklyn Center, MN
At the time of the most recent United States Census Survey, the number of people in Brooklyn Center, MN was 29,172.

Brooklyn Center Male Population
At the time of the last full census survey, the number of men in Brooklyn Center was 14,205, which represents 48.7 percent of the total for the community (The national average is 49.10%).

Male Population, Married in Brooklyn Center, MN
There are an estimated 5,840 married men in the town. 53.7 percent of men over 15 years old in Brooklyn Center are married, compared to the national average of 56.70%.

Female Population
The estimated female population in Brooklyn Center is 14,967 which is 51.3 of the total population (Compared to the national average of 50.90%).

Female Population, Married in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
There are an estimated 5,938 married women in the community. 49.2 percent of females over the age of 15 are married, compared to the national average of 52.10%.

AGE

Median Age in Brooklyn Center, MN
The median age of people living in Brooklyn Center, MN was 35.3 at the time of the last full census survey. (The United States average at the time was 35.3)

At that time, the number of people under the age of 5 living in Brooklyn Center was 1,957. There were 21,862 people above the age of 18, which represents 74.9 percent of the entire population (compared to the national average of 74.30% ). 15.4 percent of the population (4,507) in the community was 65 years and over, compared to 12.40% nationally.

RACE

One Race Percent in Brooklyn Center, MN
At the time of the last census survey, the number of people of one race in Brooklyn Center, MN was 28,191.

White Population in Brooklyn Center, MN
The estimated White population in the Brooklyn Center community is 20,825, which is 71.4 percent of the total population (The U.S. average is 75.10%).

Black Population in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
The estimated Black/African American population is 4,110, which is 14.1 percent of the total population in town (The U.S. average is 12.30%).

American Indian and Alaska Native Population in Brooklyn Center, MN
In 2000, the number of American Indians or Alaska Natives in Brooklyn Center, MN was 253.

Asian Population in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
At the last survey, the total Asian population in the community was 2,565.

Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander Population in Brooklyn Center, MN
The number of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders living in Brooklyn Center was an estimated 4.

Other/Multiple Races
The number of residents identified as “some other race” was 434, while those of “two or more races” was 981 at the time of the last census.

Hispanic Population
The Hispanic population in the Brooklyn Center community was 823, or 2.8 percent of the total population (compared to the national average of 12.50% percent).

HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS

Household Population in Brooklyn Center, MN
The household population number in Brooklyn Center was 28,785.

Group Quarters Population in Brooklyn Center, MN
Group Quarters population in the community was 387.

Average Household Size in Brooklyn Center, MN
The average household size in Brooklyn Center is 2.52 (The average household size in the United States is 2.59).

Average Family Size
The average family size in the community is 3.11 (The average family size in the United States is 3.14).

HOUSING

Total Housing Units in Brooklyn Center, MN
At the time of the last census survey, there were 11,598 total housing units in Brooklyn Center.

The number of occupied housing units was 11,430, or 98.6 of the total units in town. Of these, 7,855 were owner-occupied (68.7), and 3,575 were renter-occupied (31.3, compared to the national average of 33.80%). There were also 168 vacant homes in Brooklyn Center at the time of the last complete survey.

Median Home Values in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
The total number of single family, owner occupied homes in the community was 7,407, with a median value in dollars of 105,600.

Monthly Owner Costs in Brooklyn Center, MN
For homes with a mortgage, average monthly owner costs were $949 (national average was $1,088). For homes without a mortgage in Brooklyn Center, average costs per month were $269 (national average was $295).

EDUCATION

High School Graduate or higher
At the time of the last survey, 16,577 people in the community had a high school degree, or 86.9 of the population (compared to the national average of 80.40%).

Bachelor's Degree or Higher in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
3,181 people in Brooklyn Center also had a Bachelor’s degree or higher, which represented 16.7 of the total population (National average was 24.40%).

MISCELLANEOUS

Civilian Veterans in Brooklyn Center, MN
The number of Civilian Veterans in Brooklyn Center was 3,434, or 15.7 percent of the total population (National average is 12.70%).

Disability Status in Brooklyn Center, MN
In 2000, there were 4,914 people in Brooklyn Center, MN listed as disabled.

Foreign Born in Brooklyn Center, MN
At the time of the last complete survey, there were 4,315 people in Brooklyn Center who spoke a language other than English at home. This represented 15.9 of the total population, compared to the national average of 17.90%.

LABOR STATISTICS

Percentage In Labor Force in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
There were 15,762 in the labor force in Brooklyn Center at the time of the last complete survey. This represented 70.1 of the total population, compared to the national average of 63.90%. Mean Travel Time to Work in minutes
From the most recent complete survey, the average commute time to work for local residents in Brooklyn Center was 22.7 minutes, compared to the national average of 25.5 minutes.

Median Household Income in Brooklyn Center, MN
The median household income in the community at the time of the last survey was $44,570. The median household income in the U.S. was $41,994.

Median Family Income in Brooklyn Center, MN
In the last complete census survey, the median family income in the community was $52,006. Median family income in the U.S. was 50,046.

Per Capita Income in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Per capita income in Brooklyn Center in the last full census was 19,695. Per capita income in the U.S. was 21,587.

Families below poverty level
According to the most recent survey,families living below the poverty line in Brooklyn Center numbered 349, or 4.7 percent of the population. The percentage of families in America living below the poverty line was 9.20%.

Individuals below the poverty level in Brooklyn Center, MN
Individuals living below the poverty line in the community was 2,143, or 7.4 percent . The percentage of individuals living beneath the poverty level in the country was 12.40%.

raised bed on asphalt

2010-02-11T10:12:00.000-08:00

Surly Brewery

2010-02-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn Center Urban Ag Planning

2010-02-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

Your Stories: Kristine Smith and Sand Diego Head Start

2010-01-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

editors note: the following is a sample profile for the Lunch Box Project's Your Stories campaign

Kristine Smith, RD Displays a Few Healthy Meal Options that Appear on the Head Start Menu

Everyone knows that young children are impossibly finicky eaters, and often the most difficult to please. Persuading these petit gourmets to eat fresh fruits and vegetables is no small task, which is why Kristine Smith should get extra kudos for her work as Nutrition Services Director for Sand Diego’s Neighborhood House Association. Responsible for organizing and implementing food services to 45 Head Start sites serving 5,000 freshly-prepared meals daily, Kristine has a lot of young customers to please, and from what we’ve heard, she’s won over more than a few converts.

What makes this accomplishment even more impressive is that Kristine, working with Armen Rodriguez, food production manager for Neighborhood House Association, was able to completely re-design and reconfigure what just two years ago had been essentially a “re-heat and serve” kitchen into a streamlined and efficient operation that now makes most of its meals from scratch with original recipes and nutrient dense local produce. Additionally, she has proven that eliminating frozen, canned and mass-produced foods in favor of fresh, wholesome and diverse offerings can also be cost-effective and not nearly as daunting a task that most would assume.

“People think processed food is cheaper, but it’s actually cheaper to make things from scratch,” Kristine says. But proving this to be true took a lot of hard work and determination, and it didn’t happen overnight. Education was a key piece of Kristine’s change strategy, and the first students were the kitchen staff, many who had been working the same way on site for decades. The staff was initially accepting, but also reserved some skepticism-major transformations never come easy. But after using the summer months to reconfigure and educate the team about nutrition and healthy eating, the mission became clearer to them, and the cooking talent that was not being utilized previously had a chance to develop recipes and participate directly in the change process. Kristine acknowledges that nothing would’ve been possible without the hard work and dedication of the kitchen team.

NHA Nutrition Services Staff Chop and Prepare Fresh Vegetables for Head Start Lunches

Additional streamlining of the kitchen layout and consolidation of the workflow was also a key element to the new setup, and together with the staff, Kristine worked towards creating a fast and efficient procedure that was able to meet the crucial time constraints and deadlines that such a large operation requires and come in under budget. Cutting down on waste by not using canned food, and sourcing seasonal produce in bulk is also crucial for staying in the black.

The new menu represents a radical departure from what one would expect from school lunch service, and the reception has been almost universally positive (you cant get kids to like everything after all). Sample dishes include salmon nicoise, couscous, mandarin chicken salad, and sweet potato yogurt. Kristine also emphasizes that the menu is as diverse as the population that it serves, and that part of the mission is to expose children to new things that their families may not have heard of before. Teachers played an integral part in the introduction of the new menu and they began to integrate lessons about nutrition and diet during mealtime to make sure that the children learned about food in a direct way.

It turns out that kids do like “adult” food, and Kristine likes to tell a story that proves this point. A Head Start teacher called one day to describe the shocked reaction of a mother after a little boy told his mother how much he loved his salmon and spinach lunch and had been pestering her to prepare similar meals rather than purchase the sugary snacks one would expect a young child to demand.

Head Start Children Enjoy Their Fresh, Healthy Lunch While Their Teacher Explains to Them What They're Eating

Kristine believes that education is the most important piece of the entire process, and that reaching out to teachers, children, and parents is crucial for forming healthy eating habits that will spill over into the home-life. Change happens one school at a time, and Kristine’s story proves that with vision, courage, and determination you too can make a difference in your own community. Although Kristine lit the fire of inspiration at San Diego Head Start, she had the benefit of working with a terrific and supportive group of teachers, kitchen staff, and managers who all pulled together to implement the new plan. The benefits of healthy last a lifetime, and school lunch crusaders like Kristine Smith and Sand Diego Head Start are on the frontlines of this battle for our nations health. Kristine Smith and Sand Diego Head Start are truly Lunch Box Heroes!

All photos courtesy The Neighborhood House Association

profile by Jacques de Beaufort

School Lunch Photos by Nicole de beaufort

2009-12-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

Nicole Photos

2009-11-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

Katie photos

2009-11-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

Maggie photos

2009-11-23T08:16:00.000-08:00

Fourth Sector Planning Notes

2009-11-18T08:31:00.000-08:00

NORTHSTAR

2009-11-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

Renovation Nation

2009-11-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

Fourth Sector, new digs and the surrounding environs

2009-09-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

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