Fund for Safe Communities Awards Grants to Foster Resilience

This grant round was designed with the insight and recommendations of the Fund’s advisory committee, a group composed of emerging leaders who have personal experience with community violence.   

“These grantees display a great deal of strategy, mobilization, and action-based solutions to address community safety issues,” said Lewiee Blaze, an advisory committee member. 

The organizations supported by these grants offer violence prevention, intervention, restoration, and resilience-oriented services to people in Minneapolis. Funded projects range from mentor-mentee programming to activities that promote wellness and trauma healing, arts and sports programs, and services for justice-involved individuals as they re-enter the community. 

“The advisory committee designed this grant round to fund strategies that are grounded in the wisdom of community members,” said Sara Lueben, the Minneapolis Foundation’s Director of Collective Giving. “They leaned into the perspectives of people who work with youth and young adults across Minneapolis and the inner-ring suburbs.”

On the committee’s advice, the grant guidelines focused on projects that serve youth and young adults between the ages of 11 and 30, Lueben said. The goal is to serve a broad spectrum of young people, from middle school students who could benefit from prevention-focused programs to young adults in their twenties, an age group that is disproportionately affected by community violence. 

Established in 2018, the Fund for Safe Communities supports efforts to address and prevent community violence, defined by the Centers for Disease Control as violence that happens between unrelated individuals, generally outside the home. Examples of community violence include assaults or fights among groups and shootings in public places.

Photos courtesy of the Indigenous Protector Movement.

One of the Fund’s latest grants will support the Indigenous Protector Movement (IPM), which aims to protect, preserve, and support Indigenous people, communities, and cultures through direct, local, and collective action. “IPM is dedicated to creating a community where Indigenous youth and young adults feel safe, valued, and empowered to shape their own futures, the future of their families, and the future of our people,” said Rachel Thunder, a co-founder and board member of the Indigenous Protector Movement. With support from the Fund for Safe Communities, IPM is launching the Women’s Warrior Society, a program focused on empowering, educating, and protecting Indigenous girls and women based at Little Earth United Tribes in South Minneapolis.

• American Indian OIC: $30,000 to support the organization’s re-entry program for youth and young adults approaching release at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Red Wing. This program provides continuous support for transitions out of juvenile detention and facilitates a successful return to urban neighborhoods.
• Centro Tyrone Guzman: $30,000 to pilot a new component within the Raíces (“Roots”) youth development program, which focuses on violence prevention. The new component, “Círculos de Diálogo” (“Dialogue Circles”), is designed to offer safe, supportive spaces where Latine youth aged 11-18 can share their experiences and learn from each other while practicing conflict resolution skills.
• Circle of Discipline Inc.: $30,000 to expand the organization’s violence prevention framework with the Art of Sound program, which supports youth aged 11-24 as they learn to express their thoughts and feelings through poetry and music and provides opportunities for them to record and perform their work.
• Communities In Schools of the Twin Cities: $30,000 to reduce violence and promote academic engagement with Venture Academy’s middle and high school students. This program works to prevent youth from dropping out or participating in harmful behaviors by refocusing their attention on school and life through mentorship, tutoring, and mental health resources.
• Creative Kuponya: $30,000 to provide community healing sessions and no-cost therapy sessions for youth in need. These sessions incorporate psychoeducation, restorative justice, and wellness body practices to address community violence, bullying, anxiety, depression, intimate partner violence, self-harm, and suicide.
• East Side Neighborhood Services: $25,000 to offer youth at Menlo Park Academy a creative arts therapy program that helps students build adaptive coping strategies and recover from trauma. Menlo’s student population includes high school juniors, seniors, and “super-seniors” between the ages 16 and 21 who are facing significant educational, training, and employment challenges.
• Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church: $30,000 to support the Youth Empowerment and Re-entry Initiative, which supports young people aged 11-30, particularly youth who are justice-involved or at risk of engagement with the criminal justice system. This initiative offers a range of activities that promote physical, mental, and emotional health, alongside programs that facilitate successful re-entry.
• Hired: $30,000 to expand Journey Forward, a program for young people in Minneapolis aged 16-28 who have been affected by or part of gang or gun violence. Journey Forward offers a community-based approach to violence prevention that is based on trusting relationships and tailored to meet the unique needs of each young adult.
• Hmong American Partnership: $30,000 to support the organization’s Community Empowerment services, which lean into strong cultural traditions using a familial lens. These services use The Power of People Leadership Institute curriculum, tailored for youth whose families have been affected by family violence, substance abuse, or parental incarceration.
• Indigenous Protector Movement: $30,000 for the Women’s Warrior Society, a 12-month program aimed at empowering, educating, and safeguarding girls and women at Little Earth United Tribes in South Minneapolis. The Indigenous Protector Movement is dedicated to creating a community where Indigenous youth and young adults feel safe, valued, and empowered to shape their own futures.
• Legal Rights Center: $30,000 to support youth, community members, policymakers, and stakeholders engaged in issues related to community violence and the youth justice system through a process of honest conversation and collaborative problem-solving.
• McKinley Community: $30,000 to support Cultivating Community Spaces for All, a violence prevention program serving individuals in high-risk environments. This program combines mentorship, education, and community engagement to address the root causes of violence.
• Northside Boxing Club, Inc.: $30,000 for a state-of-the-art boxing gym, fitness, nutrition, and education center. Much more than a boxing gym, Northside Boxing Club operates with an innovative “Mind, Body, and Sport” framework and offers mentoring to more than 350 youth in North Minneapolis every year.
• Pillsbury United Communities: $26,543 to support the Cedar Riverside Youth Council, which is composed of East African community members aged 18-24. The council coordinates the annual Cedar Riverside Youth Summit and holds listening sessions to resolve issues faced by local youth.
• Somali Youth and Family Development Center: $25,000 to support the center’s programs serving Somali and East African immigrants. Its youth services include Somali Girls in the Kitchen, the Academics After School Program, East African Girls Taking Action, and East African Boys of Hope.
• Strangers Meeting Strangers LLC: $30,000 to counteract community violence by facilitating engaging, interactive events tailored for youth aged 11-18 through Kids Meeting Kids. This multifaceted program harnesses peer conversations, mentor-mentee relationships, skill-building workshops, and creative arts to cultivate understanding, resilience, and positive community impact.
• The Power of People Leadership Institute: $30,000 to offer programming for boys enrolled in grades 6–12 in Minneapolis Public Schools and/or living in North Minneapolis. These programs focus on fostering personal power, cultural awareness, manhood, leadership development, and service-learning.
• Urban Youth Conservation: $30,000 to support the organization’s Group Violence Intervention program, which aims to keep clients safe, free, and alive. Urban Youth Conservation works with the community, judicial members, and local police departments to help reduce violence and recidivism. It works closely with young people re-entering society by providing mentorship, access to mental health services, assistance seeking employment, and more.

Businesses and members of the public are encouraged to contribute to the Fund for Safe Communities. Learn more or make a tax-deductible online donation to the Fund for Safe Communities.