Star Tribune
Minnesota Legislature approves $4 million in grants to small, cultural nonprofits
Small culturally specific nonprofits across Minnesota will soon be able to apply for funding from a $4 million grant program approved with bipartisan support last month by the Legislature.
The Nonprofit Infrastructure Grant Program has given out 70 grants since launching in 2017, totaling $3.5 million to small organizations led by people of color who work with underserved communities. Lawmakers this session not only approved program funding for the next two years, they doubled the annual allocation to $2 million.
Dozens of nonprofits statewide will use the grants to hire staffers or consultants, invest in technology or expand initiatives. Kate Barr, CEO of Propel Nonprofits in Minneapolis, which administers the grants with funding from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), said many more organizations will be served.
“It’s a proven program,” she said. “Some organizational leaders have said it’s a game changer for them.”
Nonprofits led by and serving communities of color, with annual budgets of less than $1 million, will be able to start applying for the new grants as early as August. Nearly 20% of past grants have gone to nonprofits outside the Twin Cities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesotans turned to nonprofits more than ever for services such as food assistance and housing aid. As a result, Barr said, investing in small nonprofits pays off, helping Minnesotans — especially people of color.
The program drew scrutiny from legislators in light of a Legislative Auditor’s report this year that showed lax oversight of grants to nonprofits by state agencies. The massive Feeding Our Future fraud scandal — which involved federal funding, not state aid — also cast skepticism on the nonprofit sector.
“It was really heavy on legislators’ minds,” said ThaoMee Xiong, executive and network director of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders, a St. Paul nonprofit that proposed the Nonprofit Infrastructure Grant Program in 2017 and supported it this year. “It’s understandable, but also unfair to paint a broad brush of scrutinizing all nonprofits.”
Propel employees work with applicants and grantees throughout the process to ensure they provide the proper paperwork and are good stewards of state money.
“Funding small cultural nonprofits is really important because they usually have access and trust of the communities most distrustful of government,” Xiong said, referring to immigrants and refugees. “It’s about building our nonprofit infrastructure to be able to serve the growing diversity within our community and across the state.”
The program lowers the barriers that small nonprofits face in applying for state grants, she added, and addresses disparities in philanthropy. Foundations often underfund small, grassroots cultural organizations, she said, citing a report by Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy that found that, for every $100 that Twin Cities foundations give to nonprofits, only 42 cents goes to support Asian American/Pacific Islander communities.
Advocates had sought $6 million for the program. Demand typically outstrips funding, Barr said, with about 20% of past applicants getting grants averaging $40,000 each.
The St. Cloud-based Jugaad Leadership Program received $22,000 last year from the program, which paid for a fundraising consultant and weekly training to help bolster fundraising. It was the first state grant Jugaad has received since it was formed three years ago to train and mentor leaders of color.
“It brought us to the next step in growing our programs, services and even our staff,” said Eunice Adjei, Jugaad’s executive director. “It’s been a gift.”
In St. Paul, Foster Advocates received $40,000 last year to fund operations at the organization, which works with people in the foster care system and advocates for policy changes.
“Folks talk about support for small businesses, but they often don’t recognize that there are also small nonprofits that are just as important in our employment landscape,” said Hoang Murphy co-executive director of Foster Advocates. “This is a way to scale [up] really great organizations doing really important work.”
“In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Benson said. “Events like this just help keep that hope alive.”
While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden, and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison’s newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.
When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers. Then inmates were guided back to their cells.
Hennepin County Board candidate Marisa Simonetti was arraigned in District Court on Thursday morning on a misdemeanor charge of 5th-degree assault after a dispute with a tenant of her Edina home.
Simonetti, who was arrested and jailed in June on allegations that she assaulted the tenant by throwing a live tarantula and other objects at the woman, stayed in the court hallway Thursday while her attorney John Daly handled the routine appearance. Simonetti was given a Jan. 9 pre-trial date and plans to plead not guilty.
Wearing a campaign T-shirt, Simonetti said after the court proceeding that she’s done nothing wrong and plans to fight the charge “to the death.”
Simonetti said her campaign for the District 6 seat is going well and that she sent out “a ton of texts” last week. “We’re getting feedback, positive feedback. It’s going to be very exciting to see what happens on Nov. 5,” she said.
An email to Simonetti’s opponent, Commissioner Heather Edelson, was not immediately returned Thursday.
In April, Simonetti came in second in a six-candidate special primary for an open seat on the board and then lost the special election Edelson, a DFLer and former state representative. Simonetti has campaigned as a Republican, although some local Republicans have since pulled their support for her.
The board oversees the county’s $2.7 billion budget and 10,000 employees. Commissioners earn $122,225 annually.
District 6, which covers cities including Edina, Hopkins, Mound, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Long Lake, Shorewood and the northern portion of Eden Prairie.
“I wanted to be just like him, to love every part of the competition, to be the first to show up and the last to leave, to love the grind, to be your best when you don’t feel your best and make other people around you the best version of themselves,” Ionescu said. “And to wake up and do it again the next day.”
In her final season with the Ducks, Ionescu became the first NCAA Division I basketball player to record more then 2,000 career points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She dedicated the performance that put her over the edge to Bryant. “That was for him,” she told ESPN.
“I can’t really put it into words,” Ionescu said. “He’s looking down and really proud of me and just really happy for this moment with my team.”
Ionescu is a menace from behind the 3-point line like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and Caitlin Clark
Ionescu has made more three-pointers during the regular season than any other WNBA player in history.
Ionescu’s clutch three might give Minnesota basketball fans deja vu. It was reminiscent of the three-pointer Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks sank in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to win that game 109-108 and put the Timberwolves on their heels. The Mavs ended up winning the series 4-1.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings