NEWS: $12.1 Million in Funds Dedicated to Disrupting Racial Inequities in Minnesota
(April 13) — Greater Twin Cities United Way announced today $12.1 million in grants that includes a shift in its grant-making.
It continues to support 89 organizations with $10.5 million in multiyear operating support for nonprofits with proven practices in equitable access to housing, food, education and the workforce. It also is making investments toward innovative approaches to disrupt racial inequities as well as to provide training for trauma-informed child care.
In addition, $400,000 is committed to Purpose-Driven Paychecks to fund partnerships between schools and employers, part of its ongoing Career Academies initiative. The Career Academies initiative partners with school districts across Minnesota to build career pathways for teenagers, ensuring students have access to meaningful work experiences, college credits with zero debt, and wealth-building careers.
A new initiative, 80×3: Resilient from the Start. will share $1.2 million in grants. The name 80×3 is a nod to brain science that indicates 80 percent of a child’s brain neural pathways are established by the age of three. Functioning in adulthood is dramatically impacted by the trauma of adverse childhood experiences — which includes prolonged poverty, encountering violence in the home, violence in the community, structural racism, sexual abuse, physical abuse, having a parent with a mental illness or who is incarcerated, alcoholism and neglect in the home environment, and other factors.
In a conversation with Acooa Ellis, Senior Vice President of Community Impact, Greater Twin Cities United Way, she noted that data estimates there are 120,000 children under the age of five in Minnesota at risk of experiencing trauma.
Funds will be used to enhance training for trauma-sensitive care providers in providing healing-centered and resiliency-focused environments.
Greater Twin Cities United Way, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health, offers a suicide prevention lifeline for a large portion of the state. She says about 10 percent of those calls are people under the age of 15 — and that reflects only the children who are old enough to make a call about what they are experiencing. “The well-being of adults around children is a major indicator of youth well-being,” Ellis adds, which is a factor that has been exacerbated by the stress of the past few years.
Housing continues to be the top reason Minnesotans call the United Way 211 resource helpline. Preventing homelessness, and helping people transition to stable housing, continues to be part of United Way funding and policy work. “We have long advocated for changes in eviction policy,” Ellis says. “Eviction prevention is homelessness prevention.”
A hallmark of the future strategy for United Way, Ellis adds, is to co-create programs with grantees, who will have the space to determine and measure success in ways that reflect their unique perspectives and approaches. “We are looking for transformation from Point A to Point B, and see this as an opportunity to learn.”
Grantees to be Awarded
| 30,000 Feet |
| African Development Center of Minnesota |
| African Economic Development Solutions |
| Ain Dah Yung Center |
| Al-Maa’uun |
| American Indian Development Corporation |
| American Indian Family Center |
| American Indian OIC, Inc. |
| Amherst H. Wilder Foundation |
| Appetite for Change |
| Asian Economic Development Association |
| Avenues for Youth |
| Avivo |
| Baby’s Space: A Place to Grow |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Twin Cities |
| Breakthrough Twin Cities |
| CAPI USA Catholic Charities – Northside Child Development Center |
| Centro Tyrone Guzman |
| Children’s Defense Fund – Minnesota |
| Clare Housing |
| Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio, Inc. |
| Connections to Independence |
| Division of Indian Work |
| Dream of Wild Health |
| Emma Norton Services |
| Esperanza United |
| FamilyWise |
| Frogtown Farm |
| Frogtown Neighborhood Association |
| Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, Inc. |
| Hmong American Farmers Association |
| Hope Community, Inc. |
| International Institute of Minnesota |
| Irreducible Grace Foundation |
| Isuroon |
| Jeremiah Program – Minneapolis |
| Joyce Preschool |
| Juxtaposition Arts |
| Ka Joog |
| Karen Organization of Minnesota |
| Keystone Community Services |
| Latino Economic Development Center |
| Launch Ministry |
| Liberty Community Church |
| Merrick Community Services |
| Merrick Community Services-East Side Employment XChange |
| Mid Minnesota Legal Aid |
| Minneapolis American Indian Center |
| Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center |
| Model Cities of St. Paul, Inc. |
| Muslim American Society of Minnesota |
| Neighborhood House |
| Network for the Development of Children of African Descent |
| New Vision Foundation |
| NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, Inc. |
| Northside Achievement Zone |
| Northside Economic Opportunity Network |
| Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust Initiative |
| People Serving People |
| Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, Inc. |
| Pillsbury United Communities |
| Prepare + Prosper |
| Project for Pride in Living, Inc. |
| Sabathani Community Center, Inc. |
| Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood |
| Scott-Carver-Dakota CAP Agency, Inc. |
| Simpson Housing Services, Inc. |
| Solid Ground |
| Somali Success School |
| Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc. |
| Southside Family Nurturing Center |
| St. Paul Youth Services, Inc. |
| Summit Academy OIC |
| The Bridge for Youth |
| The Center for Victims of Torture |
| The Family Partnership |
| The Link |
| Tubman |
| Ujamaa Place |
| United Cambodian Association of Minnesota, Inc. |
| Urban Roots MN |
| Urban Strategies |
| Way To Grow |
| Wayside House |
| Wellshare International |
| YouthLink |
| Youthprise |
| YWCA of Minneapolis |
| YWCA of St. Paul |
