Grants totaling up to $60,000 were recently awarded to 12 local affiliates as part of our new Grow Our Own efforts. Each of these affiliates will receive $2,500 for a local organization they have chosen to partner with. The grants are the start of a year-long collaboration to support youth in their community. These partnerships will build and strengthen relationships between affiliates and those working with youth, broaden community awareness of the opportunity gap, and directly impact the lives of our kids.
The recently released Carsey Brief, commissioned by SWIF, shows some of the challenges youth in our region face:
- More than 1 in 6, or roughly 11,000 children in Southwestern Minnesota are poor.
- 18.9 percent of SW Minnesota high school students report that a parent has been in jail or prison.
- While children in southwest Minnesota fare better than children across the nation in terms of poverty, the poverty rate has steadily increased between 1999-2014.
- Compared to the foreign-born population in the rest of the country, the foreign-born population in SW Minnesota is less likely to speak English well or to speak it at all.
Thank you to the following affiliates that stepped up to the challenge of addressing the opportunity gap in their communities!
- Balaton Area Community Foundation and Little Panthers Preschool Project will supply equipment and increase learning opportunities
- Benson Area Community Foundation and Swift County Human Services Project will help families coping with addiction and develop a mentoring program
- BIO Legacy Foundation (Bird Island and Olivia) and Christian Community Outreach Center Project will create a mentorship program and raise funds for the center
- Dawson Community Foundation and Dawson-Boyd School District Project will develop a REACH program for the district
- Heron Lake-Okabena Community Foundation and Heron Lake-Okabena School District Project will fund lunches for the summer school program
- Hutchinson Area Community Foundation and Hutchinson Center for the Arts Project will create a “Creative Families Fund” to eliminate barriers to arts participation
- Lake Benton Area Foundation and Lake Benton Volunteers for Education Project will provide nutritious snacks and scholarship fund for after school program, as well as develop an adopt-a-grandparent program
- Milan Community Foundation and Greater Milan Initiative Project will develop a youth center
- Montevideo Area Community Foundation and Chippewa Valley Youth Club Project will expand, raise funds and develop a mentor coordinator position for the club
- Mountain Lake Area Foundation and Mountain Lake Public School Project will cover registration feels for low-income students to participant in the Invention Project workshop
- Walnut Grow Area Foundation and Westbrook-Walnut Grove Elementary School Project will develop a weekend food program for students
- Worthington Area Foundation and Worthington YMCA Project will expand mentoring program to include family-to-family mentoring
In addition to the $2,500 grant for these projects, SWIF has challenged these affiliates with a $2,500 dollar-for-dollar matching grants. Any gifts given to their general endowment funds before June 20, 2017 will be matched by SWIF.
To read the full Carsey Brief click here.
