Let's Do
Better!

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Who is Brenda Short?

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I was born in a small town called Waterloo, Iowa. Yes, I said Iowa! Like children in Iowa, you  grew up working on the farm for free child labor. I  used to work in a  corn field, bean field and  on a chicken farm. I graduated from West high and afterwards attended Hawkeye Tech pursuing a degree in criminal justice. There was a great deal of mental anguish and discrimination that came from studying criminal justice.  Fate quickly changed and I now found myself stranded in the Twin Cities; a far cry from the small town I grew up in.  I was homeless with my three children for the second time in my life. We initially stayed in the Drake hotel and subsequently the  People Serving People facility. While living in  this facility, my  youngest became very ill and was admitted into HCMC and while there I was told by the social worker that  if I did  not find a  place to stay by the end of the month, I was going to lose all my children to Hennepin County. I was fortunate enough to meet a great soul, James O’ Donald. James O' Donnell was a Minneapolis homeowner who was kind enough to let us stay in one of his empty units until we were approved for emergency assistance. We moved to the heart and soul of Murderapolis,  34th and Chicago Avenue.

 

Living in south Minneapolis was a big transition for a small-town girl like me. We quickly learned that sleeping on the floor was safer than sleeping in our own bed at night. I enjoyed walking around to get acclimated to the neighborhood. We always went to the  Rainbow food and afterwards the Target food court every day. I was lucky when one day when I was at Target, a lady from Target  walked up to me and offered me a job and that same day I also received a voicemail on my home phone from Kmart offering me a position. I worked both jobs, I worked at Kmart during the day and Target in the evening. A few weeks after I started my jobs, public transportation workers went on strike, leaving me with no way to get to work. Thankfully, Target started a rideshare program or I would lose both jobs. A few years later, I went to work for Wells Fargo  Mortgage during  the day and worked at Fairview hospital at night and during  weekends. I went back to school to study for my  Series 6 and 63. While I was in school I bought a house  in south Minneapolis  and in my house I started a home daycare. I later paused going to school and started working for  Wystar Global Retirement Solutions. After working at Wystar, I moved on to  ING for 5 years. After resigning from ING, I worked at Best Buy Corporate office. I stayed there for 7 years. Shortly leaving Best Buy Corporate I returned home to Iowa to take care of  my mother.

I ended up moving back to Minneapolis a few years later  to transition my mother to move to Minneapolis with me. While taking care of my mother I worked at  Park Nicollet for 5 years . I started working at Allina Healthcare where I am currently working today as a Financial Clearance Representative. Also, I recently opened a Respite service business in 2020, but due to covid-19  I could not actively work on my business.

As a homeowner, a caregiver and activist I have earned my stripes. I have seen Minneapolis at its worst and  want to bring Minneapolis to be Better!