Open Your Heart is excited to announce our Spring grantees! Thanks to our generous supporters, Open Your Heart awarded nearly $190,000 in funding this quarter to Minnesota crisis service agencies in need! None of this would be possible without you. Thank you!
Alexandra House, Inc.
$6,460 | Blaine
To replace four beds, ensuring the safety and comfort of Alexandra House, Inc. clients and their children as they transition to a life free from violence.
CAER Food Shelf
$5,000 | Elk River
To help fund a new reach-in refrigerator for the Kids Weekend CAER Package program. The impact of having a reliable refrigerator to store milk, produce, and other perishable items is essential to continue providing consistent, healthy food to youth experiencing food insecurity.
Face to Face Health & Counseling Service, Inc.
$6,694 | St. Paul
To purchase a commercial-grade refrigerator for the SafeZone food pantry and move-kits for youth. The refrigerator will have a major impact on Face to Face’s ability to address the food needs of youth. It will allow youth, and in many cases their children, access to healthier food options. Having a wider range of choices in the food pantry and therefore more control over their diet is empowering for young people. The Welcome Home Kits will also make a major positive impact in youth’s housing journey. The kits are an important way to celebrate the milestone of getting housing and honor the hard work young people put in navigating all the barriers they face.
HOPE 4 Youth
$6,711 | Coon Rapids
To purchase and install kitchen equipment for HOPE 4 Youth’s Drop-In Center meal program. At their Drop-In Center, hot meals are a focal point for youth receiving services. These upgrades will transform HOPE 4 Youth’s space into a true multi-use, not to mention on-site kitchen, for staff and volunteers. With the double sink addition, they will increase produce prep thus increasing their ability to provide more nutritious, fresh menu options. The new dishwasher will eliminate unnecessary waste, and overall, they anticipate the total meals served to increase 30%, reaching more young adults and their children.
HOPE Coalition
$9,750 | Red Wing
To provide motel vouchers to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Goodhue and Wabasha Counties. By providing a few nights stay in a motel it provides people a respite to take a breath, providing dignity and time to make a plan. HOPE Coalition advocates help clients write budgets, identify personal and community supports, provide referrals to ongoing resources, and provide emotional support and empowerment. Through this funding HOPE Coalition will provide 150 nights of safe shelter while assisting people work toward their housing goals. Having this funding will allow for other grant funds to be utilized for other financial crises such as food and gas vouchers, rental assistance, and other basic needs.
Hunger Solutions Minnesota
$100,000 | St. Paul
To raise public awareness of hunger in Minnesota, help food shelves raise crucial funds during the summer and allow food shelves to provide food to their communities in need. Now more than ever, food shelves rely on the support of partners like OYH to continue providing help to those struggling with hunger. In support of OYH’s annual Summer Challenge, this funding helps raise awareness of hunger and helps food shelves raise additional funding during slower summer months when donations are down to continue meeting the needs of their local communities.
Loaves and Fishes Housing, Inc.
$12,817 | Duluth
To add a shower to the bathroom on the first floor of Olive Branch House providing a private, safe experience for drop-in guests. Lack of access to hygiene facilities takes a toll on mental, physical, and emotional health. Personal hygiene improves overall health and can restore dignity to people living outdoors. Funding will pay for the shower surround, shower valve, bathroom vanity and sink. Funding will also replace the 100-year-old original pantry shelving in the kitchen and the aging refrigerator.
New Pathways
$5,000 | Cambridge
Toward new flooring to provide a dignified, hopeful space that is easy to clean and maintain. New Pathways wants to be a bright light in the very dark scary crisis their families find themselves in. In order to do this, they need to focus on their mission and also focus on maintaining the space they provide services in. Each family they serve will be impacted because they will be living in a safe, clean, and welcoming environment.
One Minnesota
$7,000 | St. Paul
To purchase much needed equipment including additional freezers, shelving and additional pallet jacks. One Minnesota’s program now requires daily attention by volunteers, more space and more freezers, shelving and attention to detail such as nut allergies and several religious restrictions. Funding by OYH will make it possible for them to continue and further enhance programs impacting thousands of community members in a continuum.
Partners for Housing
$9,600 | Mankato
To address a flooring issue at Partners for Housing’s Theresa House shelter in St Peter. Partners for Housing believes that all people deserve safe, comfortable housing. They have worked hard to leverage opportunities to make their facilities better, to expand to serve more people, and make it safe and family friendly. Flooring is impactful for the safety of everyone who lives, plays and works there. It also makes people feel like they are a valued member of society when they can stay in a decent, well-kept place.
People Incorporated
$5,000 | St. Paul
To purchase survival gear for unhoused individuals and families throughout the Twin Cities. By equipping Street Outreach staff with supplies that help unsheltered people survive, People Inc. builds trust and improves the quality of life among individuals and families experiencing barriers to mental health and wellness. Funding from Open Your Heart will have a greater impact than simply providing supplies to the homeless, it will open the door for Outreach Case Managers to make referrals to emergency health, mental health, and SUD treatment as needed.
Small Sums DBA At Home Group
$3,938 | St. Paul
Toward the purchase of 87 $45 rush hour bus passes so Small Sums’ clients have a reliable way to get to work. A one-month unlimited bus pass eases the stress of a homeless individual, who’s just landed a job, eliminating the uncertainty of not knowing if they “have a ride” to work or the stress of having to choose between using limited bus money or a token for a trip to the grocery store or to visit a friend, a doctor’s appointment, or to look at an apartment, and being sure they can make it to work.
Teens IN Christ
$150 | St. Paul
To provide Teens in Christ CEO with funding to attend the 2022 Nonprofit Fundamentals Series to gain a back-to-basics overview of the many management topics essential to nonprofits. Teens IN Christ is an organization that is growing rapidly. Their mission is to help get youth experiencing homelessness off of the street.
The Dignity Center
$7,065 | Minneapolis
To purchase two commercial refrigerators, plus installation, for more storage space to feed participants. For the past 20 years, the Dignity Center’s mission has been to provide long-term support to individuals living in poverty and homelessness, helping them overcome obstacles and move toward self-sufficiency through relationship, provision of stabilizing resources, and referrals to specific supportive services. They provide fresh, hot meals every day they are open that participants eat there, as well as take-away meals in “to-go” containers. They also help with goal setting and financial requests such as
paying cellphone bills, and housing costs such as rental and utility payments.