Supporting Our Community in Pursuing Justice, Healing
40 groups will receive $513,907 in funding
The Minneapolis Foundation today announced that it has awarded $513,907 in grants from its Fund for Safe Communities to support 40 community-based groups that are using a broad spectrum of approaches and strategies to serve Twin Cities residents in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing in police custody.
The grants announced today will support efforts to prevent further violence, address systemic inequities and heal individuals and families affected by this horrific tragedy. Grantee partners will use funding to provide wellness and trauma-informed health services, promote public dialogue to change narratives and advance possible policy solutions to violence.
“The impact of George Floyd’s killing created seismic waves that can be felt all over our community,” said Chanda Smith Baker, Senior Vice President of Impact at the Minneapolis Foundation. “Many of the grant requests we received were focused on community healing, and so these grants reflect the many ways that organizations are coming together to support community healing and elevate community voices into the public debate on police reform.”
In reviewing these grants, the Minneapolis Foundation prioritized applications from groups that are led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color and those engaged in efforts that are grounded in the needs of diverse Minneapolis neighborhoods.
Established in 2018, the Fund for Safe Communities supports tangible, specific, and meaningful actions to address and prevent violence. It emphasizes the importance of work led by young people and is advised by a committee of eight emerging leaders who have been personally affected by gun violence in Minneapolis.
The awards announced today will support the following groups:
Augsburg University
- $10,000 to elevate the voices of middle- and high-school students through debate on the topic of criminal justice reform.
Be Meditation Group
- $10,000 to support healing by educating individuals about the importance of meditation, building a community that is mentally and emotionally equipped to catalyze social change.
Black Table Arts
- $10,000 to commission and promote community dialogue about artistic projects that explore a police-free future in response to the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing.
Black Women Speak
- $15,000 to provide food, healing techniques and support for the Black community.
Center for Multicultural Mediation
- $15,000 to host workshops that will increase awareness, ownership, and active problem-solving in the Somali community to address violence and criminal behavior among Somali youth in the Cedar-Riverside area.
Centro Tyrone Guzman
- $15,000 to construct a community altar and virtual exhibit that promote healing in diverse communities affected by the killing of George Floyd, while also educating people about systemic racism.
Community Partnership Collaborative 2.0
- $10,000 to engage youth with their communities in deep, rich dialogue about ways to heal from trauma involving racism.
Conflict Resolution Center
- $15,000 to support the healing of those who have experienced harm or fear violence due to firsthand experiences of police brutality.
Dispute Resolution Center
- $15,000 to support restorative justice work through trainings, coaching and circles of support and accountability at Johnson, Como, and Irondale high schools.
Girls on the Run Twin Cities, Inc.
- $10,000 to expand structured activities, emotional support and positive development for young women, especially Black and brown girls.
HACER
- $14,000 to improve relationships between police and Latinx community members through dialogue in four Twin Cities neighborhoods.
Heart of America Foundation
- $15,000 to support an authentic and inclusive transformation process for Twin Cities areas affected by civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd.
Jewish Community Action
- $15,000 to support the involvement of community members in advocacy for a fundamental reimagining of public safety in Minneapolis.
Legal Rights Center
- $15,000 to support education about the basic civil rights of individuals during interactions with law enforcement, including arrests and searches.
Lutheran Social Service
- $15,000 to provide access to mental health counseling for individuals and families who lack effective insurance, undocumented immigrants, and those who can’t afford services.
Marnita’s Table
- $20,000 to bring together a multigenerational group of people from BIPOC and other underrepresented communities in the Twin Cities for conversation and action planning with city and county leadership to collectively address the scourge of police violence.
Metro Youth Diversion Center
- $15,000 to support the education of youth on the negative effects of involvement in the criminal justice system.
Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute
- $15,000 to support restorative justice training for 30 adults.
Minnesota Women’s Press
- $15,000 to support a solutions-based journalism series that aims to address systemic inequities by looking at challenges and possibilities of community-based safety and police reform.
More Than A Single Story
- $12,850 for public forum on experiences of living with cultural trauma.
Muslim American Society of Minnesota
- $15,000 to ensure that traditionally underserved immigrant communities of color make their voices heard by inspiring and mobilizing voters in the upcoming election.
National Alliance on Mental Illness of Minnesota
- $10,000 to enhance podcast capabilities, purchase equipment, and secure space.
Network for Better Futures
- $10,000 to support trauma-informed care for participants and staff.
New Africa Community Development Corporation
- $10,000 to engage, counsel, and redirect adult men involved in criminal activities into lawful, full-time, living-wage employment.
Northside Boxing Club, Inc.
- $10,000 to support youth healing through fitness and education.
Philanthrofund Foundation
- $15,000 to support access to healing and sustainability resources for LGBTQIA BIPOC leaders in Minneapolis.
Protect Minnesota
- $10,000 to reduce gun violence in North Minneapolis by providing firearm owners with the proper education, information, training, and tools to reduce the risk of accidental shootings in their homes, prevent children from gaining access to guns, and deter firearm theft.
RS Eden
- $15,000 to support the healing of individuals who have experienced harm or fear due to firsthand experiences of violence with police brutality.
Salaam Cultural Center
- $10,000 to host listening sessions, a forum for open dialogue, and crime prevention training courses for members of the East African Immigrant community.
Somali Community Resettlement Services
- $12,057 to bring East African voices to the table to co-create actionable steps in community to promote the understanding of culture.
Spokesman Recorder
- $10,000 to support a Twin Cities platform that encourages dialogue around injustices involving police violence, education opportunity gaps, and job and housing discrimination.
St. David’s Center for Child and Family Development
- $10,000 to expand community-based programs that provide mental health services to children and families impacted by the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing.
The Advocates for Human Rights
- $10,000 to launch an intensive study of the impact of race on the administration of justice in civil and criminal courts in cases involving crimes against women and children.
The Center for Communication and Development
- $10,000 to support community members who experienced trauma as a result of George Floyd’s killing but who cannot afford the cost of professional help, do not know about methods to cope with trauma, or do not recognize the source of their suffering or stressful emotions.
The DIAL Group
- $15,000 to train youth in media skills such as video production, enabling them to produce creative works that express their thoughts and feelings about community issues.
The Inner Hero
- $10,000 to create spaces and programs for youth that reduce violence, build trust, and encourage education that empowers youth to be productive citizens.
The Link
- $20,000 to support youth-hosted community efforts that provide a space for healing and a platform for addressing racial inequities within government systems.
The SEAD Project
- $10,000 to support restorative and transformative justice by addressing barriers that restrict the acknowledgement of systemic inequities and the support of social justice work.
Twin Cities Media Alliance
- $15,000 to shares stories that illuminate the path toward a public safety system that works for everyone, particularly those most impacted by the inequities of the current system.
We Push for Peace
- $10,000 to reduce criminal activity in North Minneapolis by providing resources to individuals who are involved in gang activity.
Businesses and members of the public are encouraged to contribute to the Fund for Safe Communities. Contributions are welcome in any amount.
To make a tax-deductible online donation or to learn about future funding opportunities from the Fund for Safe Communities, go to:
