Northwest Area Foundation Backs Three Key NorthWay Community Trust Initiatives Aligned With New Strategic Direction

From: Wesley Walker, Executive Director,                           Sylvia Burgos Toftness
             NorthWay Community Trust                                       Northwest Area Foundation
             612-521-4500   (office)                                                651-238-8525/651-225-7704
             612-341-9276 (home)

For Immediate Release

St. Paul, and Minneapolis, MN, Jan. 2, 2009 – The St. Paul-based Northwest Area Foundation has awarded NorthWay Community Trust a three-year, $1.75 million grant to support three initiatives: Twin Cities Center for Arts and Technology, a center for building a skilled, competent workforce in North Minneapolis; Northside Achievement Zone, a model for organizing community members around the healthy development of children; and the Main Street Corridor Project, a program to prepare North Minneapolis residents for small business ownership. NorthWay is a Minneapolis community-based nonprofit organization focused on reducing poverty.

This grant marks a decision by NorthWay and the Northwest Area Foundation to change the relationship between the two organizations. For the last five years, they participated in a partnership agreement to implement a community-developed, 10-year poverty reduction strategy. That relationship has now moved to a more targeted one whereby Foundation support will assist NorthWay’s efforts to develop the three projects in North Minneapolis.

The Foundation’s approach aligns with its new strategic plan, which seeks to reduce poverty in three outcome areas: increasing assets and wealth, building capacity and leadership, and improving public policy solutions. “The three projects supported by our latest grant to NorthWay have great potential for lasting poverty reduction and prosperity building in North Minneapolis,” said Gary Cunningham, Northwest Area Foundation vice president of programs and chief program officer. With this newest grant to NorthWay, the Foundation has invested over $6.75 million in North Minneapolis in the last five years.

“Since the beginning, we have worked to address systemic problems, develop long-term solutions, and operate across sectors, organizations, programs and traditional neighborhood boundaries in order to fundamentally change the entire Northside community,” said Wesley Walker, executive director of NorthWay Community Trust. “At the same time, we were founded on the belief that change was essential if we wanted to achieve the community-developed vision of reducing poverty and increasing wealth in our 13 North Minneapolis neighborhoods.”

NorthWay Community Trust brings together citizens, service providers and government agencies in collaborative efforts to improve the quality of life for North Minneapolis residents. Although it will discontinue making partnership investments, NorthWay will maintain its role as a community convener, and will create, support, sustain, and assess community collaboratives.

“We are committed to making significant long-term investments in North Minneapolis to reduce poverty over time,” said Cunningham. “Our reframed relationship with NorthWay provides both organizations with the flexibility and accountability needed to target our efforts for greater impact." In tandem with NorthWay, the Northwest Area Foundation is tapping into more of the talent, experience and energy that exist among nonprofits and other change agents in North Minneapolis. “We are exploring relationships with organizations and funders to focus on pressing issues such as the mortgage foreclosure crisis, early childhood development, micro- and small-business development, and strengthening the social service infrastructure,” said Cunningham.

NorthWay Community Trust is a nonprofit community support organization leading efforts to expand economic opportunity, strengthen the social fabric and improve life circumstances for North Minneapolis residents. Its purpose is to foster collaborations and advocate for systemic change in order to reduce poverty and increase wealth in North Minneapolis.

The mission of Northwest Area Foundation is to support efforts by the people, organizations and communities of its eight-state region to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity. The region comprises the states once served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill, established the foundation in 1934. For additional information about the Foundation, visit www.nwaf.org, or call 651-224-9635.

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