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Northwest Area Foundation Awards Grants for Latino Community Farming, Growing Green Businesses, Asset-Building and Leadership Development

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (December 7, 2010) Efforts to overcome poverty are taking a decidedly green turn, supported by Northwest Area Foundation grants. The Foundation has announced four grants totaling $375,800 for reducing poverty and building prosperity among low-income Latino families. They are among $1.79 million in awards the Foundation approved this quarter. Funded initiatives span farm fields in southern Minnesota to green jobs initiatives in Idaho.

The largest investment will fund training for low-income business owners, a key component to building assets and wealth. A $140,800 grant to the Main Street Project of Minneapolis, Minn. will bolster the Rural Enterprise Center Agripreneur Training Program. This innovative way of creating prosperity offers Latinos culturally-relevant training in small-scale farming. Families expand their enterprises through access to community garden plots for growing vegetables and land for raising poultry.

Nearly 2,000 miles away in Boise, Idaho, a $125,000 grant to the Mountain States Group and its microenterprise program, META, will support the Growing Green Business Initiative. The award will provide green jobs training and for low-income refugees and Latinos. Those who want to start or expand a green business will be able to tap into a small revolving loan fund to finance their ventures.  

“Finding a job or starting a business is challenging in any economy. It can be especially difficult for Latino families who are trying to integrate their background and skills in a new culture. These grants will leverage new opportunities by creating jobs in promising new industries,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of the Foundation. 

The Foundation awarded $60,000 to Hacienda Community Development Corporation of Portland, Ore. to combine asset building with community development. The grant will provide disadvantaged Latinos access to small business loans, financial education, leadership development, and GED classes through the Plaza Comunitaria adult education program.

The Foundation made a grant of $50,000 to the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation for $50,000 for the CAPACES Leadership Institute. CAPACES is a unique partnership between nine nonprofit organizations that provides leadership training across a diverse sector of Latinos. The grant will help support a new Latino-based leadership curriculum and a building in which the Institute will be housed.

The Foundation also supports efforts to improve public policy to benefit people with low incomes. Visit www.nwaf.org for a description on all the grants.