ST. PAUL, Minn. (March 9, 2017) — The Otto Bremer Trust has awarded $7,943,122 in grants as part of its most recent grantmaking cycle to invest in people, places and opportunities in the Upper Midwest.
“We continue to respond to a diversity of programs and needs throughout the region,” said Daniel C. Reardon, co-CEO and trustee, OBT. “These grant recipients are making a positive impact in their communities and we are pleased that we can support the good work they do.”
Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Otto Bremer Trust is a private charitable trust established in 1944 by founder Otto Bremer, a successful banker and community business leader. The Trust is a bank holding company that owns 92 percent of Bremer Bank and also manages a diversified investment portfolio. In 2016, OBT invested more than $47 million in grants and program-related investments throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and western Wisconsin.
Twin Cities Metro Area
AccessAbility, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $150,000. For general operating support and capital needs to provide services to individuals with disabilities and those recently released from incarceration.
African American Leadership Forum, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $60,000. For general operating support to increase capacity and effectiveness in promoting systemic changes to advance the educational, economic, and health needs of their community.
At Home Group, Inc. dba Small Sums, Saint Paul, MN, $37,500. For general operating support to provide Twin Cities homeless clients who have found jobs with the required work clothes and shoes, trade tools, professional licenses, and/or bus passes necessary to transition to more stable lives.
Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, Saint Paul, MN, $40,000. For general operating support to provide services in different areas of the asset-building arena, including networking, financial capability, affordable housing, job preparedness and job creation, business consulting and business development, etc.
Cedar Riverside People’s Center dba People’s Center Health Services, Minneapolis, MN, $100,000. For general operating support to provide comprehensive integrated health services to uninsured and under-insured patients.
Central Minnesota Legal Services, Minneapolis, MN, $65,000. To provide legal advice and representation to victims/survivors and their children in a specialty Domestic Violence Child Related Relief Court in the Fourth Judicial District.
CommonBond Communities, Saint Paul, MN, $100,000. For general operating support for this organization that provides affordable, supportive housing.
CROSS Christians Reaching Out In Social Service, Rogers, MN, $20,000. For general operating support to provide food, housing, clothing, and outreach to the poor, elderly, and disabled in the northwest metro.
Dayton’s Bluff District 4 Community Council, Saint Paul, MN, $50,000. To expand access to social and economic opportunities in communities of color that live and work on St. Paul’s East Side.
DinoMights, Minneapolis, MN, $12,500. To provide out-of-school programs for at-risk urban youth.
Dunwoody College of Technology, Minneapolis, MN, $500,000. To create new classroom, office, and collaborative learning spaces on campus in support of the College’s strategic plan.
Elpis Enterprises, Saint Paul, MN, $25,000. For general operating support to provide job readiness and paid work experience for homeless youth and young adults.
Gigi’s Playhouse Twin Cities, Saint Louis Park, MN, $30,000. To provide developmental programs for youth with Down Syndrome.
Groves Academy, Saint Louis Park, MN, $35,000. To provide transformative learning experiences to young people who need them the most in order to improve literacy levels and close the reading achievement gap.
Hamm Clinic, Saint Paul, MN, $50,000. For general operating support to provide mental health services to under-served adults.
Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia, Minneapolis, MN, $25,000. To support the Tenant Assembly Project, which helps gain improvements to housing conditions, protects tenants from displacement, and develops a base of empowered tenant leaders that can ensure existing housing law is enforced.
Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul, Saint Paul, MN, $62,500. To address the social and nutritional needs of the vulnerable elderly by delivering nutritious kosher meals.
Ka Joog Nonprofit Organization, Minneapolis, MN, $25,000. For general operating to provide youth development programming for East African youth.
Kaleidoscope Place, Minneapolis, MN, $50,000. For general operating support to provide afterschool, summer enrichment, and academic support programs for low-income children and youth in the Phillips neighborhood.
La Oportunidad, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $50,000. For general operating support to provide supportive services and educational enrichment programs for low-income Latino immigrant youth and their families.
Language Central, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $12,000. For general operating support to provide empowering language and life skills that build economic opportunities and self-reliance for the immigrants and refugees of Minneapolis.
Listening House of St. Paul, Inc., Saint Paul, MN, $40,000. To support the remodeling of a new site to enable the organization to serve a broader constituency and launch new creative arts and enrichment programs for homeless adults.
Loaves and Fishes Too, Minneapolis, MN, $25,000. For capital support to address food insecurity.
Metro Meals on Wheels, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $75,000. For general operating support to address food insecurity within growing senior populations.
Nokomis Healthy Seniors Program, Minneapolis, MN, $20,000. For general operating support to enhance the lives of seniors by helping them continue to live independently in their own homes.
Normandale Center for Healing and Wholeness, Edina, MN, $30,000. For general operating support to provide health and wellness education, resource consultation, volunteer and other supportive services for seniors and their families.
Northeast Youth and Family Services, Shoreview, MN, $20,000. To support quality afterschool and summer programming for at-risk youth at the Unity Center at Roseville Middle School.
Open Arms of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, $60,000. For general operating support to decrease food insecurity among vulnerable low-income Minnesotans living with serious illness and to improve nutrition and promote better health outcomes.
People Reaching Out to Other People, Eden Prairie, MN, $50,000. For general operating support for hunger prevention programs and wraparound services to help individuals and families find a path toward stability.
Prevention Health Care Agency DBA Isuroon, Minneapolis, MN, $80,000. To strengthen the leadership, management and organizational structures of the eight health and social service member organizations of the Coalition of Somali American Leaders.
Project for Pride in Living, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $200,000. To provide a continuum of customized services for low-income individuals and families that empower them to achieve greater equity and self-sufficiency.
Rebuilding Together – Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, $60,000. For general operating support to preserve affordable homeownership for low-income families in the Twin Cities by providing critical repair and accessibility modification services.
Sabathani Community Center, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $20,000. To provide Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) education and empowerment programming for at-risk youth ages 13-18 in South Minneapolis.
Sojourner Project, Inc., Hopkins, MN, $35,000. For general operating support to increase the safety of domestic violence victims and foster safer communities through responsive services.
Solid Ground, White Bear Lake, MN, $75,000. For general operating support to provide housing and self-sufficiency services for families experiencing homelessness.
Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc., Saint Paul, MN, $65,000. To support a collaboration that addresses the social determinants of health in low-income individuals and families by integrating civil legal services into the primary health care model.
Southside Services, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $15,000. To support young adults with developmental disabilities through the Support, One-on-One, Awareness, Recreation (SOAR) program by meeting immediate needs, facilitating group experiences, promoting social awareness and encouraging self-sufficiency.
St. Louis Park Emergency Program, Saint Louis Park, MN, $50,000. For general operating support to provide food and essential basic needs in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.
Store to Door, Roseville, MN, $45,000. To pilot a new care-giver focused strategy for families supporting seniors.
Sub-Saharan African Youth & Family Services in Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, $42,000. For general operating support to expand programs and services for African immigrants and refugees in the Twin Cities.
Tasks Unlimited, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, $40,000. To provide paid, on-the-job training for people with serious and persistent mental illness for placement in their choice of competitive or peer-supported employment.
The Arc Greater Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, $40,000. For general operating support to protect the human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families so they may have a lifetime of full inclusion and participation in their communities.
The Blake School, Hopkins, MN, $20,000. To provide academic enrichment and college access support to high-potential students in Minneapolis Public Schools and train diverse college students to become excellent teachers.
The Center for Victims of Torture, Saint Paul, MN, $50,000. To address the underlying causes of poverty among refugees and asylum seekers by providing services that help torture survivors rebuild their lives and become productive members of the community.
The Food Group, Inc., New Hope, MN, $75,000. To support cultural equity programs and capital needs to address food insecurity.
The Link, Minneapolis, MN, $75,000. To provide seven site-based and scattered-site supportive housing programs for homeless youth.
The Open Door, Eagan, MN, $75,000. For general operating support for work to end local hunger in Dakota County through access to healthy food.
Urban Squash Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, $10,000. For general operating support to provide academic and leadership opportunities for under-served, low-income middle and high school Twin Cities youth.
Valley Outreach, Stillwater, MN, $50,000. For general operating support to provide basic needs and relieve poverty in Stillwater and the surrounding area.
Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, $70,000. For general operating support to provide comprehensive services and increase opportunities for Vietnamese and Karen immigrants and refugees in the Twin Cities.
Voyageur Outward Bound School, Saint Paul, MN, $55,000. To support low-income Twin Cities youth to develop their strength of character and leadership abilities through outdoor challenge and discovery.
Wayside House, Inc., Saint Louis Park, MN, $60,000. To support expansion of services at the Wellness Center, an outpatient substance abuse and mental health care clinic for women and their families.
Minnesota Statewide
Barbara Schneider Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, $40,000. For general operating support to provide training and build community collaboration between law enforcement, mental health professionals, advocates and community members in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, $50,000. To increase the organization’s capacity to provide technical assistance and develop infrastructure and policies that support safe and convenient bicycling.
Charities Review Council of Minnesota, Inc., Saint Paul, MN, $50,000. For general operating support to provide capacity building expertise to amplify the impact of nonprofit organizations and to strengthen the philanthropic community.
Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, Minneapolis, MN, $300,000. For general operating support to strategically build connections, promote civil rights, combat anti-Semitism, teach the lessons of and commemorate the Holocaust, and provide services to communities in Minnesota and North Dakota.
MacPhail Center for Music, Minneapolis, MN, $150,000. To expand and enhance music education opportunities for rural pre-K through 12th grade students through online learning experiences.
Minnesota Alliance with Youth, Saint Paul, MN, $100,000. For general operating support to provide youth development opportunities through the Minnesota Youth Council, GradMinnesota and AmeriCorps Promise Fellows.
Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce, Saint Paul, MN, $50,000. To identify and pursue viable joint purchasing opportunities for Minnesota tribes that provide immediate savings and support further economic investments.
Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance, Saint Paul, MN, $55,000. For the development of a trauma-based module for Community Health Workers to improve the health of African American, American Indian and refugee communities.
Mission Investors Exchange, Seattle, WA, $4,000. For membership renewal of this organization that helps foundations maximize impact in their communities.
The Saint Paul Foundation, Saint Paul, MN, $195,000. To expand the RealTime Talent public-private collaboration to prevent workforce shortages and improve alignment between employers and job seekers.
Wilderness Inquiry, Minneapolis, MN, $50,000. For general operating support to support inclusive outdoor experiences that transform individuals and communities.
For a complete list of grants, review the full release online.
