Generous Grants from Two Foundation Partners
Blue Cross and Blue Shield awards $200,000 Healthy Start grant
With the new funding from a longtime funder, the Northland Foundation aims to advance locally-informed early care and education community connections to ensure high-quality programs, services, and resources are available and accessible for young children and their families/caregivers regardless of race, place, and class in northeast Minnesota.
A $200,000 Healthy Start grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation will assist efforts to ensure quality early childhood programs and services are available and accessible, especially for young children and families from under-served and under-resourced communities in northeast Minnesota.
“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation shares our deep commitment to improving well-being for young children, their families, and other caregivers.” — Zane Bail, Northland Foundation Chief Operating Officer
The Northland Foundation is focusing on culturally responsive, trauma-informed trainings for child care providers; increasing outreach to families with young children through early childhood screenings and home visiting programs; strengthening the links between child care and early elementary programs, and strengthening local and regional partnerships to support young children, families, and their caregivers.
Target Foundation renews support to advance economic opportunities
The Northland Foundation was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the Target Foundation. This is the third grant from Target aimed at fostering vibrant communities and economic opportunities for all people in northeast Minnesota and nearby Native nations.
Past funding awards from the Target Foundation have helped Northland increase outreach to and business consulting for entrepreneurs who are Native American, Black, and other people of color, develop a program to help entrepreneurs tap into Kiva microloans, and more. With the newest Target Foundation support, the Northland Foundation will:
- Provide culturally relevant business consulting to small businesses owned by Native American, Black, Asian, Latino and other entrepreneurs of color to help them access capital and grow.
- Expand the reach of the Maada’ookiing program to support Native American communities and individuals in asserting their self-determination, achieving their full potential, and promoting economic diversification.
- Design and pilot a nonprofit capacity-building program offering training, expert technical assistance, and financial resources to nonprofits serving rural and other traditionally under-served populations.
“We are grateful to the Target Foundation for investing in our organization and region, to build more paths for people to achieve economic stability and thrive.” — Tony Sertich, Northland Foundation President