The State of ALICE in Minnesota reveals that traditional measures of poverty have severely undercounted the number of households statewide living in financial hardship. While 9% of all households in the state earned at or below the Federal Poverty Level in 2023, the new research shows that 25% of households – nearly three times as many – were ALICE^® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and above the Federal Poverty Level). Combined, 34% of Minnesota’s households fell below the ALICE Threshold of Financial Survival in 2023.

ALICE households bring in less than the basic costs of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and technology, plus taxes. Yet because their income is above the Federal Poverty Level, they often don’t qualify for assistance.

“When we underestimate how many households are struggling, we underestimate what it truly takes to build thriving communities,” said United Ways of Minnesota Executive Director Doris Pagelkopf. “This means entire families and essential workers may be overlooked for support, left without the resources they need to stay healthy, achieve financial stability and reach their fullest potential. That’s a loss not just for ALICE, but for all of us.”

The crux of the struggle for ALICE families is the gap between wages and expenses. In 2023, a family of four in Minnesota needed $81,216 just to cover the essentials – nearly three times the Federal Poverty Level of $30,000. Yet even with both parents working full time in two of the state’s most common jobs – a personal care aide and a stock worker/order filler – this family’s combined income of $71,790 still fell short of the cost of basics by $9,426.

“The findings from this latest report are clear: Despite our state’s continuing prosperity, more than a third of Minnesotans are being left behind economically,” said Shannon Smith Jones, senior vice president of community impact at Greater Twin Cities United Way. “At every level of government and policymaking, it is critical that our leaders understand how widespread ALICE is in our state, so that our public systems can step up to create new opportunities for families to thrive.”

The State of ALICE in Minnesota also reveals that in 2023:

• Some groups face financial hardship at disproportionate rates, with 60% of the youngest and 49% of the oldest households in Minnesota falling below the ALICE Threshold, compared with 27% of households headed by someone age 25-44.
• Housing continues to be an obstacle for struggling families. Among households below the ALICE Threshold in Minnesota, 71% of households that rented and 56% of those that owned were rent and housing burdened – meaning they paid 30% or more of their income on rent and housing costs.

For many ALICE households, that baseline level of economic hardship leaves families with a thin margin to navigate life’s challenges, yet they are often overlooked because they earn more than the Federal Poverty Level. “ALICE families are especially vulnerable during natural disasters and times of economic uncertainty and yet often feel unseen or left behind,” said Stephanie Hoopes, Ph.D., National Director at United For ALICE. “By providing a name and a way to quantify these households, we’re equipping communities with the data to build solutions that offer better choices and real pathways to stability.”

More state and local data is available through the interactive dashboards on UnitedForALICE.org/Minnesota.

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About Greater Twin Cities United Way: Greater Twin Cities United Way unites changemakers, advocates for social good and develops solutions to address the challenges no one can solve alone to create a community where all people thrive, regardless of income, race or place. For more information, visit gtcuw.org and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn.

About United Ways of Minnesota: United Ways of Minnesota was created to maximize the benefit of a statewide organization for local United Ways. Our priorities include sharing and exchanging best practices, successes, resources and management. Our Statewide Association Board of Directors comprised of one executive director and board members from the local member United Ways. Our board of directors meets six times per year and maintains a committee structure that addresses executive and legislative affairs, training, planning and communications. 

About United For ALICE: United For ALICE is a U.S. research organization driving innovation, research and action to improve life across the country for ALICE^® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) and for all. Through the development of the ALICE measurements, a comprehensive, unbiased picture of financial hardship has emerged. Harnessing this data and research on the mismatch between low-paying jobs and the cost of survival, ALICE partners convene, advocate and collaborate on solutions that promote financial stability at local, state and national levels. This grassroots ALICE movement, led by United Way of Northern New Jersey, has spread to 35 states and the District of Columbia and includes United Ways, corporations, nonprofits and foundations in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin; we are United For ALICE. For more information, visit: UnitedForALICE.org.

The post Working – and Still Falling Short: 1 in 4 Workers in Minnesota’s Most Common Jobs Struggle to Get By appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

Funding through United Way’s Community Investments grants will support people experiencing poverty. In addition to grant funds, organizations will receive capacity building resources, such as programmatic technical assistance or consultative fundraising services, as well as facilitated connections between nonprofits and other funders, nonprofits, and community leaders – all toward the goal of supporting our region’s nonprofit sector and the people they serve.

These new investments come amid a continuing regional cost-of-living crisis that is putting further pressure on families. Data from United Way’s 211 Resource Helpline shows increased demand for housing assistance, food programs and other resources that help families meet their essential needs. Furthermore, data shows us that 36% of Minnesotans are living paycheck to paycheck, or ALICE: Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed.

“The nonprofit organizations in our Community Investments portfolio bring a unique depth of knowledge about the challenges facing our region,” says Shannon Smith Jones, Senior Vice President of Community Impact at Greater Twin Cities United Way. “Working in close partnership with these passionate and innovative organizations, we can ensure that families throughout the Twin Cities have the resources they need to thrive.”

Nonprofits supported by Greater Twin Cities United Way are working within one or more of the organization’s five impact areas, meant to reflect the areas of greatest need in the nine-county metro area:

• Stable housing, ensuring all families have a safe, stable and affordable place to call home.
• Food security, providing people with access to food that is nutritious, culturally relevant and affordable.
• Early childhood education, guaranteeing that families and caregivers are equipped to support children to be successful learners, and that children enter kindergarten ready to learn and thrive.
• Career and future readiness, helping youth develop the skills, relationships and mindsets to choose and direct their own future success.
• Economic opportunity, ensuring that adults enter the workforce prepared for skilled employment and increased wealth, and supporting the next generation of community entrepreneurs.

“We hear this time and time again from our partners: United Way investments are the gold standard for philanthropic partnership,” says John Wilgers, President and CEO of Greater Twin Cities United Way. “By providing flexible funding and technical assistance over multiple years, we’re affording nonprofits the stability they need to be responsive and strategic in their work supporting community.”

In addition to multiyear Community Investments grants, Greater Twin Cities United Way continues to invest in the local community through innovation initiatives such as 80×3: Resilient from the Start, Career Academies, Pathways Home and Full Lives. United Way also manages direct services such as the local 211 Resource Helpline and 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which are both available 24/7 and in multiple languages. Data from these initiatives informs United Way’s holistic grantmaking approach as well as the organization’s annual list of policy and advocacy priorities.

Providing stability for nonprofits, Community Investments grants will total $9.8 million for the first year of a three-year partnership. These organizations are receiving 2025-2028 Community Investments funding from Greater Twin Cities United Way:

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About Greater Twin Cities United Way: Greater Twin Cities United Way unites changemakers, advocates for social good and develops solutions to address the challenges no one can solve alone to create a community where all people thrive, regardless of income, race or place. For more information, visit gtcuw.org and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn.

The post Amid Growing Demand for Community Resources, Greater Twin Cities United Way Announces $9.8 Million in Grants for Local Nonprofits appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

One key resource that makes this possible is our state’s Early Learning Scholarship (ELS) program, overseen by the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF). These scholarships are designed for children and families who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access quality early learning and child care – supporting families who are low-income or who experience foster care, and prioritizing those impacted by circumstances like substance use, incarceration or domestic violence.

I’m excited to share that in 2024, Greater Twin Cities United Way entered into a new partnership with the Department of Children, Youth & Families to help make important improvements to the Early Learning Scholarship program model – one which builds on our deep engagement with the early childhood sector and our unique administrative capabilities. Keep reading to learn more.

Streamlining Early Learning Scholarship Administration

Last year, over 16,000 children across the state received Early Learning Scholarships to access high quality child care and early education – a 31 percent increase over the previous year. To access scholarship funding, child care providers complete an invoicing process to receive direct payments from DCYF for child care services provided to families who have been awarded Early Learning Scholarships.

Many providers struggled with this invoice and billing process. Until 2024, these functions were divided among multiple organizations representing different regions of the state. Programs and providers often had to send invoices to multiple area administrators for payments, and area administrators differed in their processes and procedures, which created additional complications for providers.

Based on recommendations from the Great Start for All Minnesota Children Task Force and following engagement with administrators and providers, DCYF opted to centralize this invoice and billing administrative function under one roof. Beginning with the state’s 2025 fiscal year (effective July 1, 2024), Greater Twin Cities United Way entered a new role as the state’s Central Payment Administrator – providing a single, unified payment processing experience for all child care providers statewide.

“We strive for continuous improvement in the early learning scholarship program, and feedback from early care and education programs and providers showed the need for a central payment administrator,” said DCYF Commissioner Tikki Brown. “This centralized approach will increase efficiencies and reduce administrative burden for the program, which means providers spend more time with children and less time on paperwork.”

This partnership draws on many of our existing strengths as an organization. Among organizations working in early childhood education in our state, Greater Twin Cities United Way has a uniquely deep body of experience in managing the kinds of payment processing and financial tracking systems required for this role.

This, plus our record of success managing high-volume services like the 211 resource helpline and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, made Greater Twin Cities United Way a natural partner to ensure efficient and effective payment processing for Minnesota’s child care providers.

Supporting Child Care Providers Statewide

This new role has represented a significant investment for Greater Twin Cities United Way – one that is already making a positive impact for providers and families in our state.

Since last year, we’ve hired a new team of 15 staff entirely dedicated to processing Early Learning Scholarship invoices. Each provider and program now has a dedicated billing specialist, providing more personalized guidance and offering a straightforward point-of-contact when any questions arise.

Between July 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, we have successfully:

• Processed 16,489 invoices for payment.
• Paid out $64,952,282.39 in scholarship funds.
• Served 10,667 children.
• Supported 1,385 child care providers and programs.
• Processed an average of $1.7M in scholarship payments each week.

These efforts are translating to a streamlined experience for child care providers. As one provider told us in a recent partner survey, “[Our organization] used to bill to three entities. Sometimes a child would live in one county but attend a center in another; what that meant for us is that one classroom could have multiple different payment administrators. One billing entity is a BLESSING.”

We’re also excited to launch a new invoicing portal this spring, which will further streamline and simplify the process for our providers to submit and track invoices.

Beyond the immediate benefits to child care providers and families, this centralized approach also allows for more effective tracking and monitoring.

All of this work helps child care organizations more easily get resources to serve families and frees them up to spend more time with children rather than with administrative tasks.

How You Can Help

Although our new Early Learning Scholarship partnership is fully funded by the state of Minnesota, we couldn’t have entered into this relationship without the support of Greater Twin Cities United Way donors. A gift to our Annual Fund helps ensure that we can continue to cultivate new and innovative partnerships to support families across our state.

With your help, we can continue to deepen our commitment to quality early childhood education. Join us, and help us ensure that all kids in our state have the great start they deserve.

• Join our Advocacy Network for the latest action alerts and updates on bills we’re supporting.
• Follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
• Donate to our Annual Fund, supporting all our efforts to create lasting change.

The post A Great Start for All: United Way’s Role in Early Learning Scholarships appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

View the Request for Proposal and Application for more information.

Early Childhood Sector Community of Practice & Leadership Residency Request for Proposals (RFP)

80×3 Program Overview

80×3: Resilient from the Start is a Greater Twin Cities United Way Innovation Initiative that seeks to transform the early childhood landscape to create a region of trauma-sensitive caregivers so all children can thrive.   

Request for Proposal

We welcome proposals that highlight community-driven approaches and a commitment to building a trauma-informed, anti-racist early childhood education system in Minnesota. This initiative seeks to enhance ongoing efforts and provide additional resources to strengthen the sector’s capacity to deliver trauma-sensitive, culturally responsive care.

Submission Process

IMPORTANT: Greater Twin Cities United Way has recently changed its funding portal to the software system Andar. To access this funding opportunity (and subsequent GTCUW funding opportunities), you will first need to register for a GTCUW Grants Portal account, which you can do by following this link to the portal registration form. Once you have submitted this registration form, you will receive an email within three business days directing you to log in to your Grants Portal account, where you will complete the full 80×3 application.

 If you have already submitted this form and completed your account registration, you can login to your account here to access the full application. If you have a Grants Portal account you created for a previous RFP, you can login to your account here, and go to the Sign Up for Open RFPs tab to request access to the 80×3 application in your online portal. Please refer to this one-pager for further details on how to register for your Grants Portal account, and reach out to rfp@gtcuw.org with any questions.

Key Dates for Applicants

Applications are due by March 28, 2025, at 4pm in our grant portal.

Organization Eligibility Requirements

Criteria

To be eligible to receive funding under this RFP, organizations must meet the following criteria:

• Your organization is a 501c3 nonprofit organization or has a fiscal sponsor who is a 501c3.
• Your organization is focused on higher education, training, and technical assistance for Minnesota’s early childhood sector and/or your organization designs and provides direct services specifically for early childhood education and care organizations, educators, and leaders.
• Your organization’s budget for the current fiscal year is $250,000 or higher.
• Your program has not previously received 80×3 funding.

To make applications easier for applicants, we have provided a Word template of the application: 2025-26 Leadership Residency RFP Application. Applicants MUST submit their application in their online grants portal to be considered for funding.

Please reach out to RFP@gtcuw.org with any questions related to the application process.

Application Resources

Online Q&A Session

Our RFP Q&A Session was held March 4, 2025 from 12-1pm. If you missed the session you can watch the recording here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please see our Frequently Asked Questions document for more information.

The post 80×3: Resilient from the Start Funding Opportunity appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

I’m proud to share a few highlights of the many ways Greater Twin Cities United Way united community to meet urgent needs and make lasting change in the areas of housing, food, education and economic opportunity throughout 2024.

Every day, people contact our 211 resource helpline for help paying their bills, finding affordable housing, putting food on the table and so much more. Not only does our ability to provide crisis and referral services like 211 enable us to help our neighbors meet their everyday needs, but it also provides valuable data that we use to evaluate and respond to community needs.

We also continue to operate the Twin Cities call center for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline through a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health. Entering our fifth year as the local provider, 988 has proven to be a vital lifeline for tens of thousands of Minnesotans, with 988 operators responding to 90 calls, texts or chats per day. You can learn more about how 988 became Minnesota’s go-to call for mental health crisis help in this article by Minnesota Public Radio.

Advocating for Affordable Housing

Data from our 211 resource helpline indicates that housing continues to be the most pressing need for people in our community. That is why we made stable and affordable housing one of our key policy objectives in the 2024 state legislative session. We know that by advocating for meaningful funding increases and policy changes in housing, we can help prevent homelessness and improve the quality of life for our neighbors.  

Together with our partners, we successfully advocated at the state legislature for increased funding for Minnesota’s Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program — a program that provides temporary supportive services and financial assistance to eligible households experiencing a housing crisis. As a result, more families who are at risk of homelessness will be able to stay in their homes.  

A shortage of affordable housing options is making the housing crisis in our region more severe. To address this ongoing challenge, we championed the legislature for $50 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds to promote multifamily housing development — deepening our state’s investment in affordable housing.  

Learn more about Greater Twin Cities United Way’s impact in housing through our Pathways Home initiative to prevent homelessness for youth transitioning from incarceration or the foster system.  

Learn more about Greater Twin Cities United Way’s vision for stable and affordable housing in the 2025 legislative session. 

Nurturing Our Regional Food System

Equitable access to food that is affordable and meets the dietary needs and cultural preferences of our neighbors is essential to nourishing a thriving community. That’s why in the fall of 2024 we announced the relaunch of our Full Lives initiative focused on building and strengthening our regional food system.

Expanding on the success of our first Full Lives initiative, which focused on food organizations working within North Minneapolis, we’re broadening our impact by partnering with organizations who are working across the regional food system, including food shelves, urban farms and food entrepreneurship incubators.

We’ve invested $1.2 million in grant funding to support four nonprofit collaborative efforts working across the regional food system to support farmers and community agriculture, incubate new food businesses, and even teach families new ways to cook fresh foods. Together, we are creating a stronger, more equitable regional food system that nourishes families and creates wealth.

Building Foundations For Educational Success

A child’s educational journey begins the moment they enter the world — and their experiences in the first three years of life have a significant impact on their long-term health and wellbeing. Two years ago, we launched the 80×3: Resilient from the Start initiative to expand trauma-sensitive care so our littlest learners have the tools to overcome adverse childhood experiences. Today, more than 500 children have already benefitted from our work and that number is growing.

Through 80×3, we’re working with child care partners to implement new forms of trauma-informed and culturally responsive care. We’re also bolstering our support of child care professionals by providing access to mental health care. Our funding also provides critical resources for child care providers to recruit and retain staff. These efforts are meeting urgent needs and making an impact in the classroom for children, families and childcare professionals.

We continue to make lasting change for educational success through our advocacy work. In 2024, we helped secure more than $50 million in funding for childhood literacy and pre-kindergarten programs, ensuring more young learners have the opportunity to succeed.

Additionally, in our role as administrator for the Minnesota Department of Education’s Early Learning Scholarship Awards (ELSA), we’re helping streamline access to early-childhood scholarships by centralizing payments to providers, which helps reduce child care waitlists so more families can find care.

Looking Forward to 2025

Thank you for helping make the Greater Twin Cities a thriving community where all belong. To learn more about Greater Twin Cities United Way’s impact, check out our new video featuring Shannon Smith Jones, our senior vice president of community impact.

How You Can Get Involved

• Donate to our Annual Fund, supporting all our efforts to create lasting change.
• Volunteer your time and talents to help meet the urgent needs of people in our community.
• Join our relaunched Advocacy Network for the latest action alerts and updates on bills we’re supporting.

The post Reflecting On Our Impact In 2024 appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

Greater Twin Cities United Way – and our many community partners – play an important role in this process. Through direct services like our 211 resource helpline, as well as our deep relationships within the nonprofit and government sectors, we offer a unique perspective on how our state government can better support all Minnesotans. The growing number of Minnesotans without access to stable housing, affordable childcare, food, and resources demands every lawmaker coming to the table to develop sustainable solutions.

This effort is deeply personal for me. Growing up, I witnessed firsthand how our public systems can let people down in their moment of need. But from this experience, I also know that the right support can help people grow and thrive – and that the decisions we make can shape lives and strengthen communities. I am here today because I know that our systems and lawmakers can do better.

Our priority issues for 2025

All of our policy priorities for this session are informed by areas where United Way has already committed time and dollars to make an impact in community. Here are some of the key priorities we will be working to push forward.

211: In 2024, Greater Twin Cities United Way’s 211 resource helpline fielded more than 240,000 requests for help from individuals and families looking for housing, food, education and other local resources. With demand for these services continuing to rise year-over-year, one of our top priorities this year will be securing permanent state support to ensure consistent and reliable 211 service for all Minnesotans.

Stable Housing: Through our Pathways Home initiative, we’ve identified specific systemic gaps that make it more challenging for individuals – and especially young people – to secure stable housing. Our efforts at the Capitol this year will seek to increase access to stable, affordable housing for families and for young people who are exiting foster care.

Early Child Education: Similarly, our 80×3: Resilient from the Start initiative has given us unprecedented insight into the transformative potential of early childhood education. We will be advocating for policies that increase families’ access to affordable, trauma-sensitive, culturally responsive early child care – while also advancing new policies and investments that ensure the sustainability of a career in child care.

Food Security: And through our Full Lives initiative, we have seen the potential impact of a regional, system-wide approach to food security. This year, we’ll be working with lawmakers to support the growth of an equitable food system, transforming how food in our state is produced, distributed, and consumed. This approach creates jobs, fosters entrepreneurship and ultimately promotes thriving, healthy communities.

In these areas and more, we look forward to working with lawmakers to build on the data we’ve gathered and the lessons we’ve learned.

Read more about our policy priorities in our 2025 advocacy agenda.

In addition to the policy goals that we’ll be promoting directly, our team is also providing financial support for 16 community organizations whose advocacy work aligns with one or more of our priority issues. See below for a full list of funded advocacy partners.

What’s ahead this session

As those who follow state politics are likely aware, this session will bring a new dynamic to the Capitol in 2025. A special election on January 28 will determine the seat in Senate District 60 – and a House race in District 40B (expected for March) will determine the balance of power in that chamber.

Despite the uncertainty and potential challenges surrounding divided government this session, I have reason for optimism. After a divisive election season, our lawmakers will need to find new areas of consensus and common ground. Essential needs like affordable housing and quality child care aren’t partisan goals – they’re the bare minimum of what we should expect from lawmakers in both parties.

United Way plays an important role in bridging the partisan divide. We hope to see this translate into meaningful progress for families in our state – and we hope that voters pay attention to see which lawmakers step up to this historic challenge.

How you can get involved

Even with all of the efforts of my team and our partners, we can’t do this work alone. As a supporter of Greater Twin Cities United Way, you can help build momentum for lasting change in this year’s legislative session.

You can support our advocacy at the Capitol by:

• Joining our relaunched Advocacy Network for the latest action alerts and updates on bills we’re supporting.
• Joining us at Advocacy for Children Day on February 20 at the Capitol – registration is now open.
• Accessing our advocacy toolkit, full of useful resources to help you find and connect with your legislators this session.
• Donating to our Annual Fund, supporting all of our efforts to create lasting change.

Our funded advocacy partners in 2025:

1. CAPI
2. Ed Allies
3. Foster Advocates
4. The Good Acre
5. Hearth Connection
6. Ignite
7. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
8. Keeping Families Connected – Minnesota
9. Legal Rights Center
10. Mental Health Legislative Network
11. Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs (MACMHP)
12. Minnesota Coalition for Family Home Visiting
13. Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
14. MNEEP
15. St. Paul Promise Neighborhood
16. Youth Services Network

The post 2025 at the Capitol: Our Policy Priorities appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

To advance economic opportunity, we invest in meeting urgent needs and creating lasting change. Our partners work across the spectrum of economic impact — from support for individuals and families overcoming short-term financial hardship to long-term community development strategies focused on growing generational wealth and overcoming systemic racial inequity. 

Meeting urgent needs through 211 and nonprofit partnership 

Our nonprofit partnerships are deeply rooted in communities across the nine-county metro and provide access to job training, entrepreneurship and wealth-building support, and access to safe financial products. Our 211 resource helpline connects jobseekers with educational and job-training resources, many of which are provided by our nonprofit partners.  

Entrepreneurial support: Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust 

Because business ownership is one important pathway to wealth, we partner with nonprofits supporting entrepreneurs with a focus on adults earning low incomes and those in Black, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander communities and Communities of Color. 

Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust (PIPCLT), our partner since 2022, ensures Entrepreneurs of Color and with limited revenue have access to real estate. CEO, founder and executive director Domonique Jones says, “We are also community stewards. We want to make sure that BIPOC businesses are anchored in communities that will thrive by them being there.”  

PIPCLT has drawn on United Way’s support to grow its staff, including an operations manager to help navigate the complexities of commercial real estate development. In partnership, we’ve helped connect local entrepreneurs with opportunities for affordable property ownership and cultivated new networks of business owners and lenders.  

Hear more about our partnership from Jones below: 

Creating lasting change through intentional ongoing collaboration 

Our innovation initiatives invest deeply to overcome the most persistent barriers in our workforce systems. We seek to remove systemic barriers that keep families and individuals from achieving economic independence, so that all adults will have the opportunity to participate in the workforce and advance toward family-sustaining wages. 

Innovation initiative: Career Academies and Purpose Driven Paychecks 

Since 2015, our Career Academies innovation initiative has partnered with school districts, employers, higher education institutions and youth organizations to establish new career pathways programs for young people. This work is helping connect young people to high-wage, in-demand career opportunities, while simultaneously closing local employment gaps and promoting greater diversity in the workforce. 

In 2022, we built on our Career Academies initiative with our Purpose Driven Paychecks program. Purpose Driven Paychecks supports educators and youth-serving nonprofits to establish relationships with employers that provide work experiences for students 14-22 in high-demand, high-wage careers. Additionally, Greater Twin Cities United Way prioritizes funding partners that bring a deep focus on Students of Color, Indigenous students, students with a disability, and students from low-income households. Partnerships offer industry-aligned certifications that all track to high-wage, high-demand careers projected to grow in the partner’s local area. One partner said: “If we want to meaningfully challenge the persistent economic disparities that confront communities across Minnesota, it is crucial to build pipelines to economic success that disrupt the status quo.”  

Addressing the benefits cliff through advocacy 

One of our major priorities at the Capitol is ensuring that state programs and resources are setting individuals and families on the path to success. When eligibility requirements or benefit cutoffs are too stringent, they can pose additional barriers for those seeking assistance – a circumstance commonly known as the “benefits cliff.” Our advocacy agenda addresses the benefits cliff along with several other policy issues to create a future where all adults participate in the workforce in a way that generates increased and sustainable wages.  

In 2023, we made significant progress toward mitigating the benefits cliff. Through policy shifts to the Minnesota Family Investment Program to reduce applications from monthly to twice annually (reducing paperwork and helping families with variable income stabilize), Medical Assistance (to ensure consistent coverage for minors) and Housing Supports programs (to ease income restrictions), we were able to ensure that our public resources continue to serve those to whom they matter most. 

In 2024, Greater Twin Cities United Way and United Ways of Minnesota gathered at the State Capitol to launch United for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), with the release of our report, “ALICE in Minnesota: A Study of Financial Hardship.” The report provides insights to understand families, neighbors, and colleagues who work hard, earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but don’t make enough to afford a basic household survival budget.  

Further, our advocacy agenda address the following issues to promote greater economic opportunity throughout the state of Minnesota: 

• Provide young people the tools to graduate high school in a position to enter high-wage, high-demand careers through career pathways programs and high-quality out-of-school programs 

• Remove governmental barriers to wealth-building opportunities for families and individuals to achieve economic stability 

• Stabilize and encourage a robust and diverse workforce through recruitment, retention, livable wages and mental health support, specifically in early-childhood care and education 

Exploring economic opportunity further 

Greater Twin Cities United Way advances economic opportunity in our region by meeting urgent needs — and by creating lasting change through innovation initiatives and advocacy. We’re supporting our neighbors to ensure they have the skills they need to find and maintain living-wage jobs. We exist to fuel lasting change that will help us achieve our vision of a community where all people thrive regardless of income, race, or place.  

• Learn more about ALICE and explore the data behind creating communities where people thrive economically.  

• Hear Greater Twin Cities United Way’s associate vice president of Community Impact, Stephannie L. Lewis, in conversation with board chair Al McFarlane about how the ALICE data is driving insight.  

• See Career Academies in action and learn more about the impact of our youth-focused initiative.  

• Explore our advocacy work to understand more about how we are promoting economic opportunity in our region.  

• Celebrate our advocacy efforts at the Capitol addressing the benefits cliff.  

The post Economic Opportunity: Building Pathways to Prosperity and Belonging appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

That’s why Greater Twin Cities United Way works with community partners across the metro to advance educational success in our region by meeting families’ most urgent needs and creating lasting change that will follow our youngest community members into adulthood.  

Meeting urgent needs 

To ensure all children and their families have what they need to thrive, we connect parents and educators via 211 to resources that help families access housing, put food on the table and meet other basic needs. Additionally, 211 connects youth and families to learning opportunities and responds to mental health crises and ongoing needs through 988 and 211. One in 10 callers to 988 is a child younger than 15. 

Generous volunteers help provide backpacks full of school supplies for 45,000 local students through our Action Day volunteer initiative. Action Day helps make education accessible, affordable and inclusive to all students so they can thrive in the classroom and beyond. 

To further support families and our youngest learners, Greater Twin Cities United Way partners with and funds early-childhood care and education partners committed to children’s development and parent’s success. Early-childhood success provides the foundation from which individuals and their families achieve greater life outcomes in community, academics, health and the workforce. 

We support the development of our region’s youth by funds youth-serving organizations aligned with young people’s developmental and cultural strengths and we create opportunities for young people to use their voices and lead. 

Creating lasting change for Minnesota youth 

Our innovation initiatives invest deeply to overcome the most persistent barriers in our education system. We work to protect, advance and expand early childhood, after school, and career pathway programs so that all children will be prepared to thrive academically, personally and socially. 

Innovation initiative: 80×3 

80×3, an early childhood education and care initiative launched by Greater Twin Cities United Way in 2022, is on a mission to address and minimize the impacts of childhood trauma and expand our region’s capacity to deliver trauma-sensitive care. 

Research shows trauma-sensitive caregiving can help children grow their resiliency, and a wide body of evidence demonstrates long-lasting benefits of early intervention that follow children into adulthood resulting in higher educational attainment and higher wages. By collaborating with nonprofits and the public agencies that guide and train providers, 80×3 supports local early childhood education and care programs to effectively integrate trauma-sensitive care.  

Four Directions Center: Meeting Urgent Needs and Creating Lasting Change 

Four Directions Center is a therapeutic preschool in South Minneapolis that partners with Greater Twin Cities United Way to meet urgent needs and create lasting change as an 80×3 partner. The center provides culturally responsive early-childhood education to prepare children ages six weeks to 12 years for success through full-day, year-round education and care, including access to Ojibwe and Dakota language immersion classrooms. 

“Partnering with the United Way has helped us tremendously with the families in the community we work with,” said Kelly Suzick, assistant director at Four Directions Center. “We build on each other with the families and the kids we work with every day.” 

Innovation initiative: Career Academies 

Since 2015, our Career Academies innovation initiative has partnered with school districts, employers, higher education institutions and youth organizations to establish new career pathways programs for young people. This work is helping connect young people to high-wage, in-demand career opportunities, while simultaneously closing local employment gaps and promoting greater diversity in the workforce. 

Career Academies open doors to diverse industries, engaging students in progressively deeper engagements with in-demand careers. Working together with Minnesota employers, Career Academies builds tailored programs that directly address the specific needs and job opportunities within each local community.  expanding statewide, this Greater Twin Cities United Way innovation initiative advances equity by opening pathways for young people in households earning low incomes and in Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian and Pacific Islander communities and Communities of Color to access wealth-building careers.  

Driving systemic change for young people in Minnesota 

Our bipartisan advocacy work at the local, state and national level is an important part of how we partner with community organizations and policy makers to create transformative, lasting change. We advocate for policy shifts and work in coalitions to widen our collective impact – accomplishing change far beyond what any organization can do alone. Our advocacy team works to build lawmakers’ support for policy shifts and new investments. 

Our 2024 policy and advocacy agenda centers families, young people, and children prenatal to age five in a variety of ways. Greater Twin Cities United Way is focused on the following issues:  

• Provide young people the tools to graduate high school in a position to enter high-wage, high-demand careers through career pathways programs and high-quality out-of-school programs 

• Remove governmental barriers to wealth-building opportunities for families and individuals to achieve economic stability 

• Stabilize and encourage a robust and diverse workforce through recruitment, retention, livable wages, and mental health support, specifically in Early Childcare and Education 

• Increase access to affordable, trauma-sensitive, culturally responsive childcare and early childhood education 

Learn more about our impact at the legislature in 2024.  

A further look into educational success  

Greater Twin Cities United Way advances success in education by meeting youth and families’ urgent needs and by creating lasting change through innovation initiatives and advocacy. We exist to fuel lasting change that will help us achieve our vision of a community where all people thrive, including our youngest community members and the people that support them, regardless of income, race, or place.  

1. See 80×3 in action and learn more about the impact of our initiative focused on early childhood.  

2. Hear from subject and program experts on 80×3’s focus on equity.  

3. See Career Academies in action and learn more about the impact of our youth-focused initiative.  

4. Learn more about how our 80×3 and Career Academies initiatives are building movements for change.  

5. Explore our advocacy work to understand more about how we are advancing educational success in our region.  

6. Celebrate the advocacy work we’ve accomplished in the past, setting the stage for further policy implementation in our current and future advocacy efforts.  

The post Educational Success: Supporting Communities Where Children and Families Belong appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

Our relaunch of Full Lives may be new, but the work has deep roots. Since our founding more than a century ago, Greater Twin Cities United Way has supported organizations who are working to help individuals and families access the food they need. Through that long-standing work, as well as data we’ve gathered through our 211 resource helpline, we’ve developed a deep understanding of the food landscape here in the Twin Cities.

The first incarnation of Full Lives began in 2017, with a focus on food organizations working within North Minneapolis. Inspired by this model, our fellow United Ways in Buffalo and Toronto launched their own local Full Lives initiatives.

The lessons we learned through this work pointed us to an opportunity for deeper impact on the regional level. Our relaunched and expanded Full Lives now supports organizations across the Greater Twin Cities area – working to strengthen our regional food system so that all communities can thrive.

Learn more about the relaunch of Full Lives.

What is a food system?

Most people recognize that the food on their plate has taken a journey – from the farmer who grew it, to the distributor who packaged it, to the grocery store that put it on their shelves, to the person who cooked it. And after the meal is done, the journey continues to a landfill or some other means of disposal.

Zooming out, we can think of this process as a regional food system – as individuals and organizations in the Twin Cities contributing to a broader flow of resources that ultimately nourishes families and creates wealth.

While many philanthropic funders in the Greater Twin Cities are engaging with one or more components of this system, Full Lives is unique in its focus on the system as a whole. Full Lives partners with organizations who are working across the regional food system, from organizations that support farmers and community agriculture, to those who are incubating new food businesses or teaching families new ways to cook fresh foods.

Critically, we’re investing our dollars into collaborative projects between these organizations – for the first time, giving partners dedicated funds to help them connect and coordinate their efforts. No other funder in the Twin Cities is providing this kind of support for collaboration among food organizations.

For just one example of what this looks like in practice, we can look to one of our funded collaborations between the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON), 4 Access Partners and the Minnesota African Immigrant Farmers Association. Individually, each of these organizations offers unique resources and expertise in the food space. Full Lives funding will allow these organizations to pool those skills, giving more local farmers and food entrepreneurs the support they need to launch and grow their businesses.

The impact of Full Lives

In initial discussions with our partners, we’ve identified five key areas of impact which our collaborations will help drive:

• Greater food security for individuals and families, ensuring consistent access to nutritious food and reducing reliance on emergency food support.
• Stronger economic equity, supporting local farmers and small businesses, creating jobs and allowing wealth to circulate within communities.
• Healthier communities with access to fresh food, leading to a reduction in diet-related diseases.
• Deeper environmental stewardship, promoting sustainable farming and reducing the carbon footprint of long-distance food transportation.
• Closer social connectedness, strengthening a community’s social ties through local food production and distribution.

This multifaceted impact is what’s so powerful about food – and why I’m so excited to see our partners’ collaborations begin coming to fruition.

What’s next for Full Lives?

We disbursed our first dollars to cohort members in July and will continue to fund their collaborations until December 2025. Between now and then, we’ll be connecting with partners through quarterly Communities of Practice – providing leaders at each organization with space to discuss what’s working and where more support is needed.

We’ve also engaged the organizations Propel Nonprofits and Terra Soma to provide expert one-on-one consulting to help partners implement and systematize their collaborative efforts. And we’ll be tracking our partners’ progress along the way, giving us data to inform future phases of Full Lives. We currently envision this phase of Full Lives lasting approximately five years.

As we’ve already seen with our Career Academies, 80×3 and Pathways Home initiatives, United Way’s approach to innovation works. When leaders in a sector are able to connect and collaborate in new ways, massive change is possible. I’m so excited for Full Lives to bring this same approach to bear on our regional food system. You can support Full Lives, and all of United Way’s efforts toward food security and food justice, with a gift to our Annual Fund.

Stay Connected

• Keep up to date with the latest Full Lives news by following Greater Twin Cities United Way on Facebook, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).
• Make a gift to our Annual Fund today.

The post Cultivating Food Justice: Why Full Lives Matters for the Twin Cities appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.

MINNEAPOLIS (September 24, 2024) – Greater Twin Cities United Way (United Way) announced today the relaunch of its successful Full Lives food security initiative. First started in 2017, Full Lives is unique in its focus on food systems as a driver of lasting food security. Full Lives partners with innovative nonprofits across the Twin Cities, including food shelves, urban farms, and food entrepreneurship incubators, to strengthen community resources and collectively establish a regional food system that ensures everyone has access to the food they need to thrive.

This new, expanded phase of Full Lives widens the initiative’s scale to focus on food systems regionally throughout the Greater Twin Cities area. As part of the launch, United Way is granting $1.2 million in funding to four nonprofit collaborative efforts, each organized among multiple organizations working in food security throughout the region.

Together, United Way and its partners will work to promote local agriculture, support entrepreneurs, foster new food businesses and improve food access throughout the Greater Twin Cities. Bringing these organizations closer together and building new relationships among them is central – and unique – to United Way’s approach to food security in the Twin Cities.

The four funded nonprofit collaborations are:

• 4Access Partners / Minnesota African Immigrant Farmer Association / Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON)
• Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO) / Healthy Roots Institute & City Food Studio / Sabathani Community Center
• Dream of Wild Health / Indigenous Food Network
• Metro Food Justice Network

“Through the impact we’ve made with initiatives like ‘Career Academies’ and ‘80×3: Resilient from the Start,’ Greater Twin Cities United Way has shown an ability to tackle our communities’ biggest challenges with creativity and collaboration,” says John Wilgers, President & CEO of Greater Twin Cities United Way. “Our expanded Full Lives initiative builds on these successes, making significant new investments to grow our regional food system.”

Read more from Full Lives Program Officer Ho Nguyen about why strong food systems matter for food security.

In addition to grant funding, the initiative also provides nonprofit partners with training and peer-to-peer learning in a Community of Practice. The first round of partners will receive funding through December 2025. This investment supplements United Way’s ongoing multiyear Community Investments funding, which supports organizations focused on immediate and urgent food needs. Applications are now open for the 2025-28 Community Investment funding cycle.

“Since our earliest days, United Way has supported organizations in the Greater Twin Cities who are helping our neighbors get the food they need,” says Shannon Smith Jones, Senior Vice President of Community Impact at Greater Twin Cities United Way. “Full Lives brings together key players in our regional food system, creating new structures for collaboration and coordination to ensure families consistently have access to nutritious food.”

Full Lives is developed with input and feedback from the community and initiative partners. The Full Lives Advisory Group includes leaders of nonprofit and government entities with personal and professional experience navigating our region’s food system. Current Advisory Group members include:

• KaZoua Berry, Community Advocate and Farmer
• Marcus Carpenter, Founder, Route 1
• Carissa Dillon, Food Security Coordinator, Ramsey County
• Louise Matson, White Earth Band of Ojibwe; Executive Director, Division of Indian Work
• Theresa McCormick, Executive Director, The Good Acre
• J. DeVon Nolan, Primary/CEO, Bete’ Noire Consulting, LLC

Full Lives is made possible through significant collaboration with local philanthropic leaders. Leading corporate supporters in the expansion of Full Lives include Securian Financial and Land O’Lakes, Inc.

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About Greater Twin Cities United Way: Greater Twin Cities United Way unites changemakers, advocates for social good and develops solutions to address the challenges no one can solve alone to create a community where all people thrive, regardless of income, race or place. For more information, visit gtcuw.org and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn.

The post Greater Twin Cities United Way Grants $1.2M to Local Nonprofits through Relaunched ‘Full Lives’ Regional Food Security Initiative appeared first on Greater Twin Cities United Way.