Neighborhoods Now! graduate Katrina Mendoza Garcia's story demonstrates how community leadership and organizing can transform individuals and communities

When Katrina Mendoza Garcia joined the board of the West Side Community Organization (WSCO) in 2018, she couldn’t have predicted how it would shape not only her future but the landscape of tenant rights in Saint Paul. Shortly after joining the board, she was selected to participate in Neighborhoods Now!, a project of CURA’s Neighborhood Leadership and Organizing (NLO) program. The program creates spaces where community organizers at various experience levels can share and learn organizing skills together.

“Neighborhoods Now! was the first learning space I entered as an organizer,” Mendoza Garcia reflected. “It felt like an investment in my growth and also an investment in my reach.”

What distinguished the program for her was its collaborative approach. “All of us were joining at different levels of knowledge around organizing. It was really helpful being on that journey together, strengthening and deepening our connection with each other.”

From Training to Transformative Action

The skills Mendoza Garcia developed through Neighborhoods Now! directly translated to concrete community organizing. In 2022, now in a staff leadership role at WSCO, Katrina helped build a strong team of organizers to deepen and expand the organization’s work on issues of housing justice, equitable development, and community care. Organizers Mayra Avila (Neighborhoods Now! Spring 2023) and Joshua Toor (Neighborhoods Now! Spring 2022) worked with neighborhood residents and leaders to conceptualize and establish the West Side Tenants Union, creating a powerful platform for neighborhood renters to share experiences, combat landlord abuses, and assert their rights.

This groundbreaking work didn’t happen in isolation. Mendoza Garcia credits the “continuous support, coaching, and mentoring from Ned Wik Moore and Ishmail Malik Holt-Shabazz,” NLO’s Program Directors. Their guidance exemplified CURA’s commitment to partnership, collective learning, and community leadership—values embedded in the Neighborhoods Now! approach.

“This was all a direct result of the work and the skills that we learned in Neighborhoods Now!,” she emphasized. “Being able to send our leaders there—it was a model for us.”

Building Lasting Networks

The connections formed through Neighborhoods Now! have proven invaluable for alumni like Mendoza Garcia. These relationships transcend individual organizations and campaigns, creating a robust support system of like-minded organizers across the Twin Cities.

Mendoza Garcia has maintained strong ties with the program, serving as a graduation speaker, guest trainer and participating in the planning for the inaugural Neighborhoods Next! Summit in 2024, NLO’s new initiative for program alumni.

“You build deep relationships with other folks who then are your allies across the state, and you can lean on those folks to help move the campaigns that you’re working on,” she explained. “It’s a blessing—I cannot think of another word to describe it.”

Resilience and Healing through Organizing

Perhaps most poignantly, Mendoza Garcia found that organizing skills served her during the profound personal tragedy. Following the murder of her son, Gabe, she applied what she had learned about power mapping to seek answers and demand justice.

“The skills I learned through Neighborhoods Now!, they became a part of who I am, and then I was able to transfer those skills in all these different areas of my life,” she said. Her organizing background enabled her to coordinate phone and email campaigns targeting local officials and to mobilize community members, spread flyers, and conduct door-knocking efforts.

The Lasting Impacts of Community Leadership

Mendoza Garcia's story illustrates how investing in community leadership creates a far-reaching impact. From her initial experience with Neighborhoods Now! to the present, her journey demonstrates how equipped community members can transform neighborhoods.

“The program is transformational, both professionally and personally,” she concluded.

Continuing the Journey: New Ventures in Community Building

Katrina Mendoza Garcia left WSCO in the summer of 2024 to pursue new avenues for community impact. Today, she focuses on launching The Blue House (TBH), an organization born from her personal experience with tragedy.

The Blue House’s mission is to provide “a compassionate sanctuary for those suffering from the sudden loss of a loved one to violence.” Through peer-led advocacy, the organization supports people navigating complex systems during times of overwhelming heartache. Their creative support programs aim to build strength, skills, and permission to cope, fostering resilience, connection, and hope.

story by Cirien Saadeh and Somayeh (Nikoo) Nikoonazari

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