NORTHFIELD, Minn. (June 2, 2017) – The Northfield Area United Way will allocate grants totaling $263,000 to 19 nonprofit partners in 2017-18. These organizations play an essential role in Northfield Area United Way’s commitment to advancing financial stability (basic needs), education and health – the building blocks for self-sufficiency and a good quality of life – in our community.
Grant allocations were made with the help of panels made up of 21 community volunteers and Northfield Area United Way board members. Seven financial professionals from the community donated their expertise to conduct financial reviews of the applicants. Priority was given to programs that serve the greatest need and help the greatest number of community members.
Following are this year’s grant recipients, awarded for the period July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018.
FINANCIAL STABILITY (BASIC NEEDS) – $131,000 awarded
- Community Action Center, offering emergency assistance, needs assessment, advocacy, case management and employment support to people in crisis with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
- Hope Center, offering 24-hour services to victims of domestic and sexual violence.
- Ruth’s House, Ruth’s House provides shelter and supportive services for women and children experiencing homelessness, with the goal of helping families work toward stability and self-sufficiency.
EDUCATION – $76,500 awarded
- Camp FRIENDS, providing social, recreational and educational programming for middle school and high school students with disabilities.
- Northfield Union of Youth, giving power and voice to area youth by creating a caring and enriching community for youth and helping connect youth to each other, caring adults and the Northfield community.
- Peer Helper Program at Northfield High School, training peer leaders to be contacts when students with problems seek out other students whom they can trust.
- PRIMEtime, providing low-income and at-risk Northfield children with free mentoring, tutoring, skill-building workshops and cultural enrichment programs after school and over the summer.
- Project ABLE, providing social, recreational and educational opportunities for adults with disabilities.
- Project Friendship, pairing youth in grades two through seven with college-aged mentors for one-on-one mentorship, and providing ongoing support and guidance to ensure lasting mentoring relationships with adults who care.
- Serve Minnesota, mobilizing AmeriCorps members through Reading Corps to provide evidence-based tutoring to help students, age 3 to grade 3, get ready for kindergarten and be reading proficiently by the end of third grade.
- TORCH, seeking to increase the graduation and post-secondary attendance rates of Northfield’s Latino, low-income, minority and first-generation students.
HEALTH – $55,500 awarded
- Student Support Services Division, Northfield Public Schools, addressing the social and emotional well-being of students served by the district, including chemical and mental health services to students and their families.
- Exchange Club Center for Family Unity, a child abuse prevention agency providing supportive and educational in-home services to families at risk of child abuse and neglect, though a parent mentoring program.
- HealthFinders Collaborative, providing quality health care, advocacy and wellness education to people in our community who have limited healthcare alternatives.
- Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, serving as a backbone organization for youth and family efforts in Northfield and striving to: identify needs for youth and families in the community; build coalitions to develop and run programs; and write and manage large collaborative grants to bring additional resources into the community.
- Northfield Youth Sports Collaborative, working to increase the number of low-income youth in Northfield sports with a scholarship fund that makes it possible for all Northfield youth to participate in sports associations regardless of their families’ financial circumstances.
- Semcac Senior Dining, serving well-balanced, low-cost noon meals to people age 60+, Monday through Friday at the Northfield Community Resource Center.
- Northfield Area Family YMCA, working to strengthen the foundations of our community by supporting youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.
In addition to the allocations made via grant applications, this year the Northfield Area United Way is also supporting:
- Imagination Library, promoting early childhood literacy by giving free age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five.
- Character Playbook, co-sponsored by United Way and the NFL, teaching students the skills to cultivate character and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives.
- Northfield Public Library’s Bookmobile, improving literacy and success in school, especially for children who lack transportation, and reaching isolated seniors.
Northfield Area United Way also honors donor requests to designate their donations directly to other 501(c)(3) nonprofits.
About the Northfield Area United Way
The Northfield Area United Way’s mission is to mobilize the resources and caring power of individuals, organizations and networks to strengthen the community. We focus on strengthening the building blocks for self-sufficiency and a good quality of life: financial stability (basic needs), education and health. Donations to the Northfield Area United Way stay local, improving the lives of people who live and work in our community.
