SMIF News

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Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation is one of six Minnesota regional foundations established by the Minneapolis-based McKnight Foundation and regional citizens in 1986. Leaders in each region establish priorities and work plans. Initiatives are funded by regional donors and The McKnight Foundation.

SMIF is looking for applications that are focused on one of the following two areas:

To engage immigrants in the workforce to maximize the potential of their diverse assets

To create minority entrepreneur success to support prosperity

An example of a successful grant application is Faribault’s United For Kids Committee. They received a two-year $15,000 grant to encourage businesses to have a “Little Red Bookcase” area in places where parents shop or attend appointments and where their pre-school children wait.

SMIF and IBM To Award 19 Young Explorer™ Computer Systems: Information about the success of this program can be found in their annual report dated December, 2008. According to the report, an average of 850 children per week used 36 Young Explorer Systems which were located in libraries and placed among the picture books. Early childhood partners in our 20-county region may apply to receive a “kid friendly” early learning computer station with science-, math-, reading- and literacy-focused software. Applications are due October 1, 2009.

A $10,000 grant for Home Visiting awarded by SMIF in 2008 resulted in nutritional know-how for families in Faribault and Martin counties. The Human Services departments in these counties under the Healthy Families organization used the funds to develop a ‘Cooking Club’ meant to improve parenting through good nutrition.

The Center for Rural Policy and Development is pleased to be serving as coordinator of the Southern Minnesota Regional Competitiveness Project, a partnership of businesses, nonprofit organizations and government agencies working together to create a strategic economic development plan for southern Minnesota. (Read more here.)

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