Love Grows Here

The Love Grows Here Wellness Center was founded in 2008 through key partners in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood of East St. Paul to respond to the growing health and wellness needs of a diverse, underserved community. The initial group of community partners included First Lutheran Church, Metropolitan State University/Nursing Program and Students, the Police Homeless Outreach Project (P-HOP) and the Dayton’s Bluff Block Nurse Program. We now include congregational partners, as well as a community of volunteer healers and alternative wellness providers. To summarize, the scale of this project includes key neighborhood partners, advancing health and wellness care in order to strengthen individuals and families. Together, we provide wellness checks, health education, health referrals to bridge relationships to health providers for more acute or chronic care. Since our first steps, we have built a wellness community network that reaches over 2000 people.
This unique, public and private collaboration takes place just outside of downtown St. Paul, near East 7th Street and Maria Avenue. Our inner city neighborhood in Dayton's Bluff represents one of if not the most racially and culturally diverse neighborhoods in the Twin Cities, with citizens representing African-American, African immigrant, Caucasian, Hmong, and Latino/Hispanic heritage.
This new model crosses public and private boundaries not typically associated with wellness and health care. The model: an educational institution looking for community/hands-on engagement, private partners seeking health and wellness for participants who can't afford access to ongoing wellness needs, and a system which needs creative problem solving to reduce the financial burden on society.