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Northwest Area Foundation Awards $1.59 Million to Engage Public Policy and to Support Community Action Plans

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (June 1, 2010) The Northwest Area Foundation has awarded eight grants totaling $1.59 million to reduce poverty and build prosperity among people with low incomes.  The grants will support community action plans to reduce poverty and move toward prosperity in 99 small towns located in seven states within the Foundation’s region.  The money will also further efforts to improve public policy that impacts people with low incomes.  

Northwest Area Foundation approved the following grants for building capacity and leadership:

Seven grants totaling $841,500 were awarded to community foundations to support grants for small towns that have completed the Horizons III leadership program:

Minnesota Community Foundation - $102,000
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines - $119,000
*This is a donor-advised fund grant from the Northwest Area Fund
North Dakota Community Foundation - $127,500
South Dakota Community Foundation - $110,500
Montana Community Foundation - $127,500
Idaho Community Foundation -$127,500
Washington State 4-H Foundation - $127,500

The community foundations will direct the money to 99 small towns in seven states to implement community plans developed in the 18-month Horizons III program.   Universities that Northwest Area Foundation works with in each of the seven states coach the communities and assist with action plans that call for services which help low income people thrive, such as daycare, affordable housing, transportation, adult education, job training, youth services, tourism or local farmers markets.  Horizons is a leadership development program aimed at reducing poverty in towns with populations of 5,000 or fewer.  Each community that completes Horizons receives a $10,000 grant.

Northwest Area Foundation made one grant to improve public policy solutions:

$750,000 was awarded to The Seattle Foundation of Seattle to support Strategies to Eliminate Poverty (STEP).   Through this grant, STEP will provide funding to nonprofits working on public policy solutions to reduce poverty across the Foundation’s eight-state region.  This grant will help strengthen and expand State Fiscal Analysis Initiative (SFAI) affiliates, which work for responsible tax and budget policies for low income people.  This award will fund efforts to include immigrants, tribes, people of color, and faith-based groups in statewide poverty reduction policy efforts. 

“We are confident that grants to these proven organizations will make an impact on efforts to help low income families that are struggling to get ahead.   Public policy is one of our nation’s most effective tools to get to the root of poverty and increase prosperity.   Building leadership equips people with the tools to make deep and lasting change that will transform the direction of struggling communities,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation.    

Northwest Area Foundation also makes grants to further asset- and wealth-building.  The Foundation is currently accepting grant proposals by invitation only.  For more information about the Foundation’s grantmaking approach and the work of grantees across its eight-state region, please visit www.nwaf.org.  

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts by the people, organizations and communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son Louis W. Hill established the Foundation.

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