Recent Community Grants
 
The Minneapolis Foundation and our funding partners awarded the following Community Grants in July 2008.
 
 
Systems and Policy Change Grants

The following grants were made for systems and policy change activities within the Foundation's funding areas:

Greater Twin Cities United Way
$40,000
for the Statewide Early Childhood Business Plan

State of Minnesota
$50,000 (2 yr grant)
for staffing of the Early Childhood Care and Education Council

Affirmative Options Coalition
$50,000
general operating support for policy advocacy at the State level and to promote a Legislative Commission to End Poverty engaging diverse citizen participation to achieve Minnesota's anti-poverty goals

African Chamber of Commerce
$50,000 (2 yr grant)
for start-up of chamber of commerce promoting African businesses through partnerships with mainstream financial institutions and businesses

African Development Center
$75,000
for homeownership, entrepreneurship and business development, financial literacy, wealth creation and loan counseling programs assisting African immigrants and refugees

Centro Campesino
$70,000
for immigration and workers' rights programs to increase economic opportunities and increase social capital among Latinos living in central and southern Minnesota

Corporation for Supportive Housing
$50,000 (2 yr grant)
for The American Indian Supportive Housing Initiative to end American Indian homelessness in communities on and off reservations

Family & Children's Service
$75,000 (2 yr grant)
for the first year of “ MOVE Voices” initiative to tackle policy issues crucial to immigrants in Minnesota

Great Neighborhoods! Development Corporation
$50,000
for pre-development costs for project on West Broadway in North Minneapolis between Lyndale and Bryant Avenues, the future location of Broadway Plaza, a mixed-use commercial development anchored by a new Minneapolis YWCA, a 24-hour full service health and fitness facility

Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
for the North Minneapolis Initiative to respond to foreclosures in North Minneapolis

Headwaters Foundation for Justice
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
for capacity building activities to strengthen grassroots social change organizations

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
$40,000 (2 yr grant)
for Rural African Organizing project to build connections among rural African immigrants to address critical community issues

Itasca Project
$100,000
for management and initiatives

Latino Economic Development Center
$65,000
general operating support for a statewide Latino-led community development agency supporting Latino business development, partnering with mainstream organizations on major development projects and providing community organizing and advocacy to increase Latino community assets

Lutheran Social Service
$50,000 (2 yr grant)
for mobilizing and advocacy for public policies to prevent youth homelessness

MAD DADS
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
for Restoring Families, Preventing Crime, an expanded collaboration with two faith-based organizations, to decrease violence in North Minneapolis neighborhoods with high crime rates, gang and drug activity

Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers
$150,000 (2 yr grant)
operating support for the merged metro-wide consortium of regional, neighborhood-based and ethnic-specific nonprofit developers to advocate for affordable housing and emerging business development across the Twin Cities

Minneapolis Community & Technical College Foundation
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
for The Power of YOU program, to make the first two years of college available tuition-free for graduates of Minneapolis or St. Paul public high schools, charter schools or alternative schools, as well as for residents of those two cities

Minnesota Home Ownership Center
$50,000 (2 yr grant)
for the implementation of foreclosure prevention counseling and culturally-competent home buyer education

Minnesota Minority Education Partnership
$75,000
for development of research reports, conference and follow-up convenings to engage communities in developing policy solutions to resolve the persistent achievement gaps for students of color and American Indian students in Minnesota

Minnesota Housing Partnership
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
for informing and influencing public officials and the general public about the benefits of affordable housing in order to promote increased resources and better policies for the development of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income people

Organizing Apprenticeship Project
$50,000
capacity building for community based organizations of color to address racial disparities and influence public policy changes that will result in greater economic, social and racial equity for all Minnesotans

Outfront Minnesota
$50,000
overall support for the organization which provides services and advocacy for the GLBT communities of Minnesota

PEACE Foundation
$40,000 (2 yr grant)
for engaging and mobilizing residents of North Minneapolis in public policy advocacy efforts

Project for Pride in Living
$75,000 (3 yr grant)
for participant engagement in PPL 's Public Policy Project

Rondo Community Land Trust
$50,000 (2 yr grant)
for leaseholder Stabilization and Foreclosure Intervention Project to assist current land trust homeowners and others remain in their homes

St. Paul Foundation
$100,000
for the Central Corridor Funders' Collaborative Catalyst Fund

Search Institute
$50,000 (2 yr grant)
for The Fund for Innovations in Human Development to support its Great Places to Teach Institute

Summit Academy OIC
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
for the Minnesota Construction Consortium to promote structural changes in the construction industry so that greater numbers of low-income and people of color can attain the higher paying jobs in that industry

TakeAction MN Education Fund
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
general operating support for multi-year, community-based advocacy campaign to build critical momentum toward making Minnesota a new national model for health care reform

The Advocates for Human Rights
$100,000 (2 yr grant)
general operating support for human rights policy, education, and activism in Minnesota

White Earth Land Recovery Project
$50,000 (2 yr grant)

overall support for an organization which is creating a model of sustainable economic development opportunities for Native Americans

 
Capital Grants

Boys & Girls Club of the Twin Cities
$100,000
for building renovation of the Jerry Gamble Club – part of an overall capital campaign for Boys & Girls clubs of the Twin Cities metro wide

Cabrini Partnership
$50,000

for the Leading the Way Home capital campaign for renovation and maintenance of its transitional housing facility

 
 
Recent Grants

Summit Academy OIC

Employment

Summit Academy OIC will promote changes in the construction industry so greater numbers of low-income people and people of color can attain higher paying jobs in the industry. This is an extension of Summit Academy OIC’s efforts to help more people become self-sufficient.

One of those efforts, the 100 Hard Hats program, trains adults from depressed neighborhoods and difficult circumstances to "enter the mainstream of economic and family stability."

Participants are trained and apprentice in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and construction labor. A high school diploma or G.E.D. is required, as is regular attendance. The average annual income of participants upon entering the program is $5,500. Twenty weeks later, they are qualified to earn $36,000.

Founded in 2003, 100 Hard Hats has graduated 75% of its participants. Graduate Eddie Jackson, now helping to construct the Twins Stadium, says, "I can lead a meaningful life and provide support for my 17-year-old daughter."  View a video about the program

Housing

Greater Minnesota Housing Corporation will help 550 North Minneapolis homeowners maintain and rehabilitate their homes, and will provide affordable single-family homeownership opportunities to qualifying neighborhood residents. Stemming the tide of foreclosures – a shocking 200 homes per half-square mile in Minneapolis’ Jordan neighborhood – is a critical strategy for neighborhood safety and stability.

Thousands of "distressed homeowners" will receive assistance through the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. A grant will help 31,000 homeowners receive individual counseling to stabilize their finances and prevent foreclosure for at least 50% of participants, while another 3,000 will be counseled through workshops. The Home Ownership Center is also building a network of Latino, Somali, and Hmong agencies to create culturally-competent homebuyer education programs.

education
Education

A 2008 grant to the Minneapolis Public Schools to promote the Great Schools, Great City referendum appears to have been well-spent. The referendum received more than 71% of voters’ support. That means dedicated resources for providing quality learning opportunities for all students – especially critical in light of the state’s budget shortfall.

Additional grants made to the Greater Twin Cities United Way, the State of Minnesota, Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, and Minneapolis Community Technical College will help strengthen Minnesota’s educational system. The grants will ensure equal opportunities for quality education for all of our students from pre-school through higher education.
 
peace foundation

Children, Youth, and Families

Peace Foundation will continue to “build economic, political, and community power on the Northside” by: inspiring youth leaders; supporting neighbor-to-neighbor engagement; and establishing a Northside lobbying presence at all levels of government.

Peace Foundation organizes Northside residents in efforts to strengthen their own community, intensively recruiting individuals who have been isolated due to poverty and violence. In addition, Peace Foundation events foster personal connections and citywide unity and promote patronage of Northside arts and businesses (such as the Flow Northside Arts Crawl). 

Last year Peace Foundation’s Northside Youth StandUp! members led KARE-11 reporters on a bus tour. These young people make positive changes in their neighborhood and on policies that impact their lives. View the news footage here.

One Northside Youth StandUp! member says, “I want to see a change on the Northside so my little sisters can grow up and be able to walk to the store without a worry in the world.”
 
 
 
 
The Minneapolis Foundation is Confirmed in Compliance with National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations.

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