MINNEAPOLIS — On 4th Ave. and Lake St. in South Minneapolis, the Colin Powell Community Center serves high school students and neighborhood families. Before it was built, Colin Powell approved a request for the center to be named after him.
Completed in 2007, the center was home to a new school, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, and to the organization Urban Ventures. The two entities continue to share the space today.
"All of our students have their regular school classes and they also all have an internship at a corporation," Cristo Rey president Jeb Myers said. "(Powell) wanted to see more places that provided hope for talented people to get high quality education and rise above their circumstance."
Meanwhile, Urban Ventures provides support for students and their family members not only from Cristo Rey but also other schools.
"We offer programs really literally from cradle to career," CEO Dave Hawn said.
Over the years, Powell visited many times.
"He got involved ... because he cared deeply about what we were doing in this community," Hawn said. "I wrote back and forth with him a lot because, once a year, he would send a little note just saying thinking about us and wanting to support us financially and I thought that was pretty special."
There will be no more notes. Powell passed away Monday from complications of COVID-19.
But his legacy lives on in the shared space.
"Students are talking about it in school," Myers said. "It's a point when students walk into the building. They know the name. They know who the person is."
"Powell played such an important role," Hawn said. "He was all about finding the next group of leaders.