Dedicated to presenting the Hillside neighborhood’s voices on health and safety concerns.

ABOUT HEALTHY HILLSIDE

Zeitgeist’s Healthy Hillside team works to identify and present the needs and vision of the Hillside neighborhood. These team members are all deeply connected to the neighborhood through lived experiences and/or work within local organizations and agencies. Their input and experiences inform approaches to improving and developing programs and policies that address health disparities in direct and systemic ways.

HEALTHY HILLSIDE VISION GUIDE

Since 2020, the Healthy Hillside Team has gathered resident input to identify Hillside’s strengths, needs, and concerns. The 2022 Healthy Hillside Vision Guide was developed to share concerns from Hillsiders in four major themes: Safe & Accessible Housing; Support Systems & Resources; Natural & Built Environments; and Social Connection. The 2024 Healthy Hillside Vision Guide presents visions of community members ranging from grassroots initiatives to policy-level changes. Hillsiders’ feedback overwhelmingly points to their lived expertise and suggests that those closest to a problem are often closest to the solution.

2022 VISION GUIDE
ACTIVATE YOUR VISION!

upcoming eventS

Check out all of our upcoming Transforming Transportation events HERE!

The Hillside neighborhood is the heart of Duluth in more than just geography. Home to decades of grassroots organizing, racial justice, and community care, the Hillside holds a rich history that all can learn from and celebrate. These interviews represent a sample of that history, with Hillsiders who have made remarkable contributions to the neighborhood over the last 50+ years. These oral histories aim to uplift Hillside strengths, and create an invaluable record of one of the region’s oldest, most diverse neighborhoods.

Claudie Washington

Debbie Strop

Deyona Kirk

Gene Johnson McKeever

Louise Hawley

Melissa Boyle

Naomi Yaeger-Bischoff

Portia Johnson

Rev. Anthony Galloway

This publication was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Any views, findings, opinions, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the State of Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society, or the Minnesota Historic Resources Advisory Committee.

OUR TEAM

Thomlin Swan

Thomlin Swan

READ BIO
Cullen Cusick

Cullen Cusick

READ BIO
Marah Evans

Marah Evans

READ BIO
Tiffany Fenner

Tiffany Fenner

READ BIO
Cyndy Klinksiek

Cyndy Klinksiek

READ BIO
Moss Kupper

Moss Kupper

READ BIO
Benjamin Turner

Benjamin Turner

READ BIO
Britteny Gustafson

Britteny Gustafson

READ BIO
Kevin Anderson II

Kevin Anderson II

READ BIO
Sophia Clements

Sophia Clements

Emeritus

READ BIO
Andy Frye

Andy Frye

Emeritus

READ BIO
Naomi Gordon

Naomi Gordon

Emeritus

READ BIO
Vanni Hayden

Vanni Hayden

In Memoriam

Rachael Kilgour

Rachael Kilgour

Emeritus

READ BIO
Tony Maras

Tony Maras

Emeritus

READ BIO
Miranda Pacheco

Miranda Pacheco

Emeritus

READ BIO
Millie Richard

Millie Richard

In Memoriam

READ BIO
Christina B. Trok

Christina B. Trok

Emeritus

READ BIO
Justin Wood

Justin Wood

Emeritus

READ BIO

4

years of grassroots activism

975

surveys

225+

vision boards

17,000+

conversations with Hillside residents

IT’S TIME TO GET YOUR BOOSTER!

How to get your shot:

Use the Minnesota Vaccine Locator Map to find vaccine providers near you.

Use the CDC VaccineFinder to find pharmacy appointments near you.

Contact your primary healthcare provider or a local pharmacy.

Your employer may also reach out with information about vaccination opportunities

 

BE A VACCINEIGHBOR

VACCINES ARE SAFE!

COVID-19 has caused over 2 million cases, 20,000 hospitalizations, and 200 deaths among U.S. children ages 6 months to 5 years old. Vaccination is safe and critical to protect against illness. 

COVID-19 vaccines and boosters help prevent catching COVID-19 and spreading it at home, daycare, and school. They can also protect you from severe illness and hospitalization, reduce the length of illness if you do get sick, and keep your child safe in school and at gatherings like playdates, sports, and other activities. The vaccines have been thoroughly tested and shown to be safe for young children, and there have been no reports of serious side effects.

Everyone is currently eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccine. 

ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE!
• AICHO: 218-722-7225

• Access North: 218-625-1400

• Lighthouse for Vital Living: 218-624-4828

• If you need to update your Vaccine Connector profile, contact the COVID-19 Public Hotline at 833-431-2053.

WHEN DO I GET MY COVID-19 BOOSTERS?

Since vaccine protection decreases over time, boosters are necessary to maintain maximum protection and stay healthy. Here is a guideline to know when you need to get boosted: 

6mo-4yrs: no booster needed. 5yrs-11yrs: Get your booster after 5 months. 12+: Get your booster after 2 months.

If you recently had COVID-19, talk to a medical professional about the best time to get your booster.

CONTINUE TO STAY SAFE!

It is still very important to continue taking easy steps to slow the spread of COVID-19. Even with vaccinations and boosters, continue to stay safe by masking up (especially around elders, babies, and immunocompromised people), washing your hands, and getting tested if you have symptoms and/or have been exposed to COVID-19.

Download Our Coloring Book!

RESOURCES + INFO

Resourceful
Resourceful is a free community resource guide to help you find free and reduced cost services in your area. Find help locating housing assistance, food banks, transportation, and other community resources.  
CDC
MDH
AICHO
NAACP
St. Louis Co. Public Health
Health Equity Northland
Arrowhead Aging
Human Development Center Crisis Line
Lake Superior Community Health Center
Duluth Parks + Rec Info
Duluth Aging Support

SPONSORS

Q

Thomlin Swan

Thomlin Swan (they/he) is the Creative Community Collaborator at Zeitgeist and has been the facilitator of the Healthy Hillside Leadership Team since fall 2024. He loves working with people from diverse backgrounds who care so deeply about their community and who are dedicating their lives to changing conditions on the ground for the wellbeing of all people. Thomlin has a background in using community change theatre and documentary filmmaking to bring to light issues of environmental racism and subliminal genocide around the Great Lakes. They help run a creative community space in downtown Duluth called Waterstop Infoshop and they are co-convening a community of artists, educators, and activists around the Great Lakes called Emergent Seas that is helping shift the cultural tides towards relationship, responsibility, and repair. Thomlin has two kids that are clowns-in-training and a partner who is an independent filmmaker. They have lived in Cloquet/Fond du Lac since 2021 and are excited to support the shoring up of Hillside’s rich historical records, cultural expression, and connective tissues for neighborhood wellbeing.

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Cullen Cusick

My name is Cullen Cusick and for (nearly) five years I have worked a clerical position within Saint Louis County and am a proud AFSCME member. Prior to this, I held management roles across industries for many years while attending the University of Minnesota–Duluth. There I majored in philosophy and political science. I am also a product of local public schools: both Myers-Wilkins and Duluth Central. The Hillside neighborhood is where I have lived nearly my entire life, and I currently reside near Chester Creek in the East Hillside with my lovely wife Andrea, an artist and graphic designer. My family also goes back a long time in this neighborhood–you can find my great-great grandfather in the 1900 census living on East 4th Street–and I consider myself blessed to have roots here. The upcoming work led by Zeitgeist to develop a Hillside oriented response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be a vital aid to our community. I am enthusiastic in my own efforts to help and feel honored to be given the opportunity.

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Marah Evans

My name is Marah (like Sarah but with an “M”) and I have lived in the Duluth hillside for 4 years! I have my Masters in Social Work and am currently working as a School Social Worker. I am a strong relationship builder and advocate. My favorite part of being a social worker is seeing the resilient nature of humans and assisting them through difficult times. I love spending time getting to know new people, playing outside, working with my hands and hanging out with my cat! I am excited to be able to work on behalf of the Duluth Hillside! 

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Tiffany Fenner

As a local community member, I look forward to being a part of the Central Hillside Steering Team. I hope to utilize my human services, leadership,organization, customer service, marketing, and communication skills to assist in creating a stabilized community. As a single mom of three, I aspire to inspire those in my community to come together, work together and grow together. As a proud and dedicated local grassroots group member, I have successfully met some of the many and ever growing needs of multiple families during this covid pandemic. In my personal time I enjoy multimedia arts. My gift is creativity—specifically being able to take information in and combine it in a new way and to something new. I am hardwired to create beauty all around me.

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Moss Kupper

Moss Kupper is a member of the Healthy Hillside Leadership Team focusing on environments and transportation. They have lived, loved, and labored all over the east and central hillside neighborhoods, and are deeply grateful to be able to hold a role of service for the Duluth communities that have supported them for so many years. Moss holds a Masters of Environmental Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth and was trained as a North Shore Naturalist at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning center. She is passionate about connecting people to their local place, eating good food, and jumping in the big lake all year long.

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Benjamin Turner

Benjamin Turner is a member of the Healthy Hillside Leadership Team focusing on community voice, power, and storytelling. Benjamin was born in Chicago where he lived for two thirds of his life. He spent four years in the military where he learned about different kinds of leadership and about his true passions: being in nature, navigating environments, and effective teamwork. He moved to Duluth in 2017 and has since done youth work, community engagement, and direct service with multiple organizations in the Hillside. He has experience traveling the world. His motto is: Think for yourself and don’t be afraid of truth.

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Britteny Gustafson

My name is Britteny Gustafson (she/her) and I am a passionate supporter of the Duluth community. I work as a Youth Career counselor for the City of Duluth full-time and I also work part-time at AICHO where I supervise gym time for some wonderful kids. I enjoy silly/purposeless crafting, being outside, and listening to live music. Duluth taught me what a community really can be and I feel grateful to have the opportunity to effect positive change in any way I can.

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Kevin Anderson II

Kevin Anderson II is originally from Oakland, CA, and the former Executive Director of the Family Freedom Center in Duluth, MN, where he planned, organized, and executed community outreach events that engaged community members in voter registration, food sovereignty and urban farming, COVID response, and financial literacy. He was instrumental in the creation, design, and implementation of Freedom Farms, specifically the Hillside location. Kevin is experienced in developing new community programming designed to address community in Duluth. Kevin has lived in Duluth four different times, and over the years he has built a strong connection and appreciation for the Northland. Outside of work, Kevin is also a homestead farmer and is developing a project called Duluthish, a brand that promotes local pride and ownership for all living in Duluth. Duluthish aims to support all the things that make Duluth special, like the natural environment, the iconic landmarks, and most of all, the diversity of the people. Kevin hopes Duluthish will capture the potential and future of the city he keeps coming back to.

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Sophia Clements

Hello, my name is Sophia! I am currently a senior at the University of Minnesota Duluth pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in studio art and communications. I am from St. Paul, Minnesota and am a resident of the Hillside neighborhood. I believe art plays a crucial role in connecting people with their built environments and community to create positive change. I am passionate about the ways in which art can bring agency to individuals to advocate for their needs and beliefs. In my free time, I enjoy being outside, reading, and spending time with animals. I am excited to use my experience as an artist to bring agency to my community at Zeitgeist!

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Andy Frye

I am a Minnesota based artist, focusing on storytelling through video and design. I hope to utilize my collaboration, production, videography, storytelling, design, and communication skills to help bring our communities together. As an artist, my artistic vision is to create colorful, vibrant work that serves as a “heart opener” for those that it reaches. Through vehicles of high quality video/design and heart forward storytelling, I hope to bring some light into the world.

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Naomi Gordon

I was born and raised in Duluth’s Central Hillside neighborhood. I have worked for several Hillside businesses throughout my life. Starting at 4th St. Market, now Niiwin Indigenous Food Market, where several of my relatives worked. I enjoyed getting to know the members of the Hillside community doing cashiering. I also worked at Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), now One Roof Housing. Through that organization I learned about the Northern Community Land Trust and bought my first home 13 years ago where I still reside.
I work for a local non-profit organization in Duluth helping families with disabilities. I love the work that I do and the relationships I can foster through bettering the community. I am a single mom of two kids, Tyriq and Niyah. When I am not working, I love spending time with them and the rest of my family. I am so excited to be a part of the Healthy Hillside Steering Team!
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Rachael Kilgour

Rachael Kilgour was born and raised here in Duluth and currently makes her home in the Central Hillside. When it’s not the middle of a global pandemic, she makes a living as a touring musician. With performance opportunities out the window for the foreseeable future, Rachael is happy for the opportunity to stay put and plug into her neighborhood and community. She has worked with Loaves and Fishes, CHUM, and Meyers-Wilkins in the past and is helping out at the Warming Center (emergency shelter) this winter.

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Tony Maras

I was born in the Duluth Hillside a couple of decades ago and after 15 years in a small town in Nebraska I am back and a proud resident of the East Hillside neighborhood. Despite growing up in Nebraska my family has deep roots in northern Minnesota and it holds a special place in my heart. I am currently a Junior at UMD, studying urban and regional studies. With minors in GIS and Sociology. Over the past few years in Duluth I have been a student leader with MPIRG (now known as SEE-Change), spearheading projects that range from Line 3 resistance fundraisers to a walk identifying anti-homeless infrastructure in the Central Hillside. This past summer I worked at the UMD Land Lab- campus’s organic research farm- both as a general farm worker and as a food access intern. Through the Land Lab, I helped with Community Action Duluth’s Lincoln Park Farmers Market and led our harvests for their mobile food market. My most rewarding experience was helping lead our Morgan Park Free Produce Giveaway, where I got to get to know community members and help make a small impact in the fight for food justice. I am super excited to be joining the Healthy Hillside team as it combines my passions for urban design, social/economic justice, and my community.

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Miranda Pacheco

Miranda Pacheco works at Life House as a Youth Outreach worker and Peer Support Specialist specializing in mental health and addiction. She also attends Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College where she is currently working towards an AAS in Human Services and a LADC counseling certificate. She hopes to go on to get her bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She is also involved in the community doing work to help build wealth within the BIPOC community, where her passion lies. Miranda likes to run/hike, go to powwows and attend traditional ceremonies. She is excited for the challenge of working with Zeitgeist!

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Millie Richard

On 11/14/2022 at 2:35 in the afternoon, Millie took her last breaths surrounded by family and near a window overlooking the woods and wildlife that she loved. She was and continues to be a strong force for healing and connection in the Hillside and will be deeply missed, though her work continues on through all those she impacted during here time with us. Her bio, as she wrote it for her work with Zeitgeist’s Healthy Hillside Team is below:

My spirit name is Spotted Bird Woman Going Around the Heavens from the Dakota/Ojibway first nation. Recently I began as a licensed peer recovery specialist with much support from RAD (Recovery Alliance Duluth). I became a Wellness in the Woods outreach associate for Northeast Minnesota. Now I am part of this team to spread information on how we can all take care of ourselves in the best way possible. My own wellness business Odiizeoon focuses on the tribal approach of getting well. I have been in Duluth, MN since the end of December 2015 when I arrived from Canada. Since then,  I have seen the many needs and wants of the Hillside’s poverty stricken people. I have remained in the same place of residence upon arriving at West 4th Street Hillside, my home.

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Christina B. Trok

I was born and raised in the Central Hillside neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota. After obtaining a B.S. in Child Psychology and Human Development at the University of Minnesota Minneapolis, I began working as a program coordinator in the Department of Ob/Gyn and Women’s Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School. In 2008, I returned to Duluth with my husband Benjamin to raise our children; Sterling, Vince, Cian, and Nina. I’ve stayed quite busy as a homemaker, an independent contractor for ISD 709 and Superior School District, and a volunteer for many different organizations including MN Environmental Partnership, City of Duluth, Area Youth Soccer Association, Superior Hiking Trail Association, Hermantown Youth Soccer Association, Area Youth Soccer Association, Hermantown Area Futbol Club, Hermantown Elementary School, NAACP, One Roof Community Housing (Formerly NHS), and the American Red Cross. I am excited to be joining the Healthy Hillside Steering Committee and I am thankful for the opportunity to serve my community.

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Justin Wood

Born in old New England, Justin came to know Duluth and its sweetwater sea on a transcontinental journey in 2010 and has lived here ever since. As an adherent to the ideals of a ‘Rucksack Revolution,’ he has traveled across continents searching for mountains, good stories and the kindness of strangers. An intrepid in his own time, he believes in global awareness and local action and has worked with such esteemed organizations as Amnesty International, Men as Peacemakers and most recently the Duluth Folk School. Justin’s passion for wellbeing and community building extend to issues of food security, urban agriculture and the utilitarian fundamentals & pleasures of cycling. Aside from his work with the Healthy Hillside Leadership Team, Justin helms the operations at Almanac Coffee in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. He resides in the Central Hillside with his lovely wife Kiah and is the proud father of two sons.

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