As new populations move into rural communities across Minnesota, local leaders are met with new opportunities, challenges, and, above all, hope for stronger communities. To share these stories, Blandin Foundation awarded a grant to MinnPost, along with many other funders, to extend their New American coverage outside of the metro area. Here’s a bit about …
“Minnesota has arrived at that proverbial fork in the path,” said Growth & Justice President Dane Smith in Sunday’s Star Tribune. In his article on Minnesota’s “equity agenda,” he talks of a low road, pocked with envy, enmity and suspicion between rural and urban Minnesotans, and a high road, “marked by a rural optimism and …
Last month, The Daily Yonder reported on a new USDA study that looks at the distribution of grant dollars between urban and rural. The results looked at all types of funding (not just development) and was based on data from the nation’s 1,200 to 1,400 largest foundations. What did they find out? Here are some highlights …
Journalists’ story selection and tone/content of reporting can raise and shape conversations about issues important to rural communities. Typically, though, traditional reporting focuses only on problems, often leaving rural communities without many options or hope to counteract the negative light in which it is cast. “Solutions journalism“, however, offers a way to see community challenges in a …
It’s a different time, said Blandin Foundation president Dr. Kathy Annette during an interview with Ampers‘ Melissa Townsend on work happening in Bemidji around racial disparities. During the interview, Dr. Annette relived her experience walking into the Bemijigamaag Powwow, held at the Bemidji’s Sanford Center, with her 81-year-old aunt. Head in April, this first-of-its-kind event encouraged all community …
Around our office, you often hear – “If you’ve been to one rural community, you’ve been to one rural community.” Understanding that every rural community is unique and has its own challenges and opportunities is central to our work. Sometimes, though, a challenge is so pervasive that it does impact all rural communities. Philanthropy in …
If you threw a dart at a map of the United States, it might get stuck in a canyon in the Southwest, perch on the peak of a prodigious mountain in the Northwest or skim swaying wheat fields of the Midwest. Regardless of where you land, it’s likely to be in rural territory. An astounding 72 …
Blandin Foundation trustees made history last week when they voted to double-down on early childhood programming for at-risk children and their families. Making its largest grant commitment ever, Blandin Foundation has extended support for the Invest Early initiative by 10 years and $21 million.
During their spring meeting March 20 and 21, Blandin Foundation trustees voted to extend the organization’s decade of work in rural broadband another two years (through 2016) and allocate $1.5 million more for community broadband grants. “We see every day what local leaders can do to address very significant and complex challenges,” said Dr. Kathleen …
The following article was published in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press on February 8, 2011.
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Getting children ready to learn by the time they enter kindergarten is important. Some believe it is vital to solving the problems in our K-12 system.