Today we welcome Amy Gauthier, member of Lift One; Lift All: Freeborn County Beyond Poverty – a group born out of our Leaders Partnering to End Poverty program. Lift One; Lift All members traveled to Homeless Day on the Hill last month to push legislation to benefit the homeless in their county. This is Amy’s …
Nichole Uzelac only has a few weeks of high school left. Her clear vision for life after high school, paired with hands-on experience she gained in classes at Grand Rapids High School, has her future plans – to become a diesel mechanic – humming. That’s right. Diesel mechanic. What drew this articulate, highly motivated and …
You need to go slow to go fast. This mantra reverberates off Ethan Seaberg’s lips as he recounts the genesis story (as he calls it) of Red Wing’s community branding work. He heard the phrase while attending Blandin Foundation’s Academy of Community Engagement (ACE) in 2014 and it stuck. The ACE program built on Ethan’s …
Rural Minnesota communities stretching from the Iowa border all the way up to Canada are starting to feel the bite of the housing crunch. Places like Worthington and Roseau that have generated a wealth of good-paying jobs for the last decade, and have attracted diverse workers from across Minnesota and beyond, are wondering how far …
The power of community leadership took center stage in President Obama’s preview of his appearance yesterday in Cedar Falls, IA, where he talked about his plan to increase access to affordable, high-speed broadband in rural and urban communities across the country. The President featured Cedar Falls, or Iowa’s first “Gigabit City,” in the preview, comparing …
Nonprofits and funders are finding new ways of working together to achieve greater impact, a survey conducted by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations found. Forging partnerships through authentic communication is crucial to understanding the needs of both grantees and those they serve. Building deeper relationships was the focus of a recent visit between Blandin Foundation trustees …
Did you know that 51 million hours of school time is lost each year due to dental illness? That’s a staggering number! “A lot of people don’t realize dental disease is the most common disease in kids and it’s completely preventable,” says Sarah Wovcha, executive director of Children’s Dental Services (CDS), a nonprofit organization dedicated …
In Minnesota, 826,000 jobs, $18.3 billion in wages and 16 percent of our GDP comes from manufacturing. Last week rural communities across Minnesota celebrated Manufacturers Week, “a statewide celebration that puts the spotlight on a crucial sector of the state’s economy.” From Red Wing to Sauk Centre, Bemidji to Pequot Lakes, Warroad to Aitkin, Minnesotans toured …
On the surface, Warroad, Minnesota, seems like countless rural Minnesota places: a small town (population 1,781), near a big lake (Lake of the Woods), in one of the state’s sparsely populated areas (northwestern Minnesota). With vital stats like these, you might assume Warroad is clinging to survival, struggling with a decimated economy and discouraged residents. …
Hope springs eternal. These uplifting words were spoken by our president, Kathy Annette, in a recent MNSights article. While this message pertained to a specific instance in Kathy’s life, it could be said that MNSights, a publication of the Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, showcases stories that spring eternal hope – stories about energizing kids’ creativity to stimulate …