Originally published in the Park Bugle, February 2026.
In 2026, the St. Anthony Park Community Council (SAPCC) marks 50 years of community engagement – five decades shaped not by any single project or plan, but by neighbors showing up for one another.
SAPCC serves as the City of Saint Paul’s designated community engagement organization for District 12, working with residents, businesses, and partners across the St. Anthony Park neighborhood. That responsibility brings with it both public trust and real operational needs. Being transparent about how this work is funded is part of honoring that trust.
In 2025, SAPCC’s contract with the City of Saint Paul provided approximately $63,000 to support core community engagement responsibilities. For 2026, that funding is expected to increase to approximately $70,000, reflecting the City’s decision to strengthen baseline support for District Council work. This funding helps cover essential operations – staffing, communications, meeting facilitation, and coordination – that allow neighborhood engagement to happen consistently throughout the year.
Even with this City support, SAPCC’s work depends heavily on neighbors giving their time and contributing what they can.
In 2025, neighbors contributed $4,948 in direct donations to SAPCC. With matching support from our Community Champions, total community giving reached $9,896 for neighborhood programming and operations. Some gifts were small. Some were larger. Every one of them mattered. Together, they helped sustain community events, communications, committee work, and the day-to-day coordination that keeps neighbors informed and connected.
Volunteer time remains just as essential. From attending committee meetings and helping at events, to sharing feedback or lending professional skills, that neighbor-to-neighbor effort is the backbone of SAPCC. As SAPCC Treasurer and Equity Committee member John Maurer shared, “A neighborhood council works when people feel like it belongs to them. Every hour volunteered and every contribution is a way of saying: this place matters.”
In addition to individual giving, SAPCC’s work is supported by a mix of public and private funding partners. In 2025, the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation provided $1,500 to support SAPCC operations and an additional $1,500 to support the SAP Community Garden. In 2025 and 2026, SAPCC was also awarded a total of $2,000 from the St. Paul Bird Alliance to support habitat, garden expansion, and orchard land reclamation work at the SAP Community Garden.
SAPCC also received $12,500 in programming support from the University of Minnesota’s Good Neighbor Fund, helping make neighborhood-based programs possible. In addition, SAPCC was awarded $15,000 from the State of Minnesota to support foundational work on a free, online Home Energy Audit course. This course is being developed as a long-term educational resource for the community and will complement SAPCC’s Tenant Rights course, which will also be available online this year at no cost.
We also want to recognize the work that helped strengthen District Council funding citywide. District Council leaders across Saint Paul collaborated to make the case for the value of neighborhood-based engagement.
SAPCC especially thanks Shevek McKee of District Council 10 (Como Community Council) for his leadership in that effort, along with Councilmember Molly Coleman and former interim Councilmember Matt Privratsky from the Ward 4 office for championing increased support for District Councils.
Even with this combination of City funding, grants, and individual donations, SAPCC continues to rely on community support to fully meet our programming and operations needs. In 2026, we expect to increase our overall funding to sustain and grow this work. To support that goal, SAPCC will be launching a spring fundraiser beginning in April.
As we celebrate 50 years of community engagement, we are reminded that SAPCC has always been powered by neighbors. Whether you give your time, share your skills, attend meetings, make a financial contribution, or simply stay engaged, it all matters.
We invite neighbors to stay tuned to sapcc.org/ for more information about the spring fundraiser and ways to get involved. Every contribution – of time or resources – helps shape the next chapter of St. Anthony Park.