Grantee Learning Logs

For further indigenizing, or bringing under control, Crisis Intervention Teams in Indian Country by integrating existing assets, strengths, cultural values and practices in the Native communities to improve the safety, health and well-being of the Native population

Furthering creative problem solving in Frogtown through transformative leadership and community engagement

To develop a sustainable model for individuals in recovery from mental illness and/or chemical dependency, which will be integrated into the East Metro's Mental and Chemical Health crisis care system through the Mental Health Crisis Alliance

To institutionalize a statewide system in North Dakota to solve addiction with an intersection of technology, private and public sectors

For the Placing Local First Initiative; economic diversification in nine Vision West ND communities that will increase understanding of local cluster development and test solutions that focus on creative place-making and local marketing

To conduct AGE to age: Bringing Generations Together for Breakthrough Solutions in three rural Northeastern Minnesota communities

The BrandLab would like to see the Twin Cities develop the most inclusive and diverse marketing industry in the nation. There is still a long way to go to realize that vision, but the BrandLab is committed to this cause through their Fearless Leaders work. This highly collaborative initiative, guided by a diverse group of professionals from Twin Cities marketing and creative firms, will focus on developing and facilitating workshops for local firms about diversity and inclusion. BrandLab’s biennial “State of the Industry” report is an important tool to measure and share the progress of this work.

Hungry For Change: food business incubation in North Minneapolis in partnership with NEON

Oglala Lakota Artspace: Native Arts & Business Incubator administered in partnership with The Lakota and First Peoples Fund

Mobilizing and empowering immigrants and refugees in the Fargo-Moorhead region to reduce racial, social and economic disparities

By 2030 more than 1 in 5 million Minnesotans will be over the age of 65. A significant portion of them will be people without traditional family support, or “solos” – those who are aging alone. The Citizens League, Minnesota Elder Justice Center and two “solos” have joined forces to address this critical issue. Together, they will form a taskforce to explore the existing resources and policies relevant to solo health care decisions, identify core elements of a “Backup Plan” for solos to assure personal health and wellbeing, and create a recommendation plan for future work to implement solutions.

To conduct a 'Race Equity and Excellence in Education Action Planning' process with the goal of identifying specific strategies to address race equity in education

To implement a Community Paramedic program that will fill gaps in and improve the region's health care system

Many Muslim women face significant barriers when trying to engage and lead in their communities, but RISE is working to change that. RISE will create online and offline spaces for Muslim women to connect, build training models to help them strengthen leadership skills and provide opportunities to step into leadership positions in their communities. Through this work, RISE hopes to change the public narrative about Muslim women, so that their story is no longer told for them, it’s told by them.

Nonprofits Assistance Fund serves as fiscal sponsor of Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE) and expects to work with RISE on this grant.

Affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues in Western North Dakota. The influx of people arriving in Western North Dakota in search of jobs in the oil fields created an unprecedented demand on service providers. Williston, a community at the center of this rapid growth, experienced extraordinary burdens on services. In response, six churches in Williston, together with Community Action Partnership, Job Service ND, Veterans Administration, ND Veterans Department and the Williston Basin Resource Coalition, will collaborate on an effort to better understand and respond to this issue in their community and surrounding rural areas. Together, they will collect data about the homeless population in the area, present findings to community stakeholders, develop a plan to address the issue and test some of their ideas.

To create the Upper Midwest Indigenous Seed Keepers Network

To bring together diverse stakeholders from medical, insurance, advocacy and cultural communities to create and test maternal health solutions which are accessible, culturally acceptable and financially sustainable

Energy poverty, or a lack of access to modern energy services, affects one out of eight families in the United States. Rates in some communities like Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (Leech Lake) are even higher. In communities where households are on a fixed income, even a modest increase in the cost of heating or cooling can force families to make difficult choices about their resources. While energy assistance is available, funds are limited. Rural Renewable Energy Alliance will collaborate with Leech Lake partners to build a local, sustainable and shared alternative energy infrastructure. This partnership engages energy insecure households through the Tribal Government Community Action Agency, sustains an education and workforce pipeline with Leech Lake Tribal College and consult local utilities agency expertise. Developing and demonstrating this model has the potential to be transformative at the regional and national scale.

To develop a model for capacity building to provide medical respite for persons experiencing homelessness in Hennepin County

To increase civic and social engagement of the American Indian community in order to build community leaders who can collectively address the pervasive, negative socio-economic disparities of the American Indian population in Bismarck-Mandan

Northfield Promise' is a collective impact initiative designed to achieve community-level change for children and youth growing up in Northfield. By aligning all the major community institutions around a shared set of measurable benchmarks, assembling diverse action teams, collecting and sharing data, implementing action plans, and sharing progress with community stakeholders, the project seeks to ensure success for all Northfield youth.

To create a community collaboration centralizing the arts as an integrated asset for inclusivity, development and sustained outreach

To develop a blueprint of business environment that will engage and accelerate minority business entrepreneur growth

To develop a community plan to address mental health care needs through the ReThink Mental Health Initiative

To create North Market: building with, not for, to improve community health in North Minneapolis

To plan, establish and prepare to implement a 'one-stop-shop' family resource center to improve delivery, increase capacity, remove barriers and close gaps in family and social services

To create a 2 Generation Plan to End Violence that will incorporate community generated ideas, include outcome measures, and identify solutions to test

To continue the revitalization of indigenous languages through building families of Ojibwe speakers

To develop career pathways for Latino millennials through community-centered engagement

To develop a community-guided model of coordinated mental health care for youth and children

To support the Mille Lacs County Family Violence Coordinating Council in finding solutions to domestic violence and other types of abuse

To develop a creative, resilient and community-driven future for the diverse neighborhoods along the St. Louis River

To promote high quality research relevant to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians that will advance the tribe's economic development and uphold its positive images

To create a shared community vision for the Seven Mile Creek watershed, establish a watershed council to implement the community vision and build the relationships necessary to sustain watershed rehabilitation efforts into the future

To develop an appropriate legal entity under the Oglala Sioux Tribe to oversee water, sewer and solid waste operations and infrastructure improvement

To increase civic engagement within communities of color in the Northwest suburbs of the Twin Cities

To create an inclusive coalition that builds connections and engages community stakeholders, gathers data on youth, creates a data report with actions, and provides a Blueprint so that youth become more respected, empowered and engaged

To attract and retain more Native American nursing students through mentoring and expanded resources to address family and cultural needs of students