Issues Dan Olson

The Rev. Floyd Beecham Sr. folds his 6-foot-plus frame into the passenger seat of a subcompact for a tour of Hawthorne — a neighborhood that, on paper, is the worst in Minneapolis. Beecham doesn't quite see it that way. He's ministered in the neighborhood for decades. He and his wife are founders of Hawthorne's Faith Tabernacle Gospel Fellowship. While he doesn't sugarcoat the problems, he knows the numbers don't reveal the whole story and they can't see the flickers of opportunity.

A Minneapolis mosque damaged by fire nearly a year and a half ago will reopen Saturday, June 6. Abdisalam Adam said the mosque on Cedar Avenue near the University of Minnesota serves about 300 people, making it one of the busiest in Minneapolis. After being displaced by the fire, worshipers found temporary spaces throughout the neighborhood to carry on the mosque's activities.

Forensic nurse Linda Walther provides care to victims of sexual assault. Compassion defines her approach to every exam. Linda Walther has been a registered nurse for four decades, but it's in the past eight years that she's found her calling: working with survivors of sexual assault. "If I had found that job 20 years ago, I think I would have been able to do so much more in my career as a sexual assault nurse examiner," Walther said, standing in an exam room at Hennepin County Medical Center.