Regional Highlights

MORRISON COUNTY | Improv Show Touts Tools to Tackle Touchy Topics
An Initiative Foundation grant is helping to promote conversation, bridge divides and build community using humor to lift people up and make them feel seen and heard. Danger Boat Productions, in collaboration with the Minnesota Humanities Center, in August brought its Sketches of Minnesota improv show to Little Falls. Seen in nearly a dozen other Greater Minnesota communities, the two-man show had audiences howling while equipping them with the tools to tackle touchy topics.

TODD COUNTY | New Project Supports Food-insecure Students
Food pantries throughout Central Minnesota help meet the needs of food-insecure families. But some families may still have empty cupboards. With help from an Initiative Foundation grant, the local United Way is working to shore up additional needs with a backpack program to provide weekend food options for students at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle schools. With community support, the program provides about 200 students in need with kid-friendly food bags for the weekends.

WADENA COUNTY | Loan Supports Epilepsy-focused Hat Business
Verndale-resident Lisa Finck took her passion for supporting those with epilepsy and created a business, Rainbow Hair Hats, which produces colorful hats that cover electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring equipment. Finck’s daughter, Espen, has tuberous sclerosis complex, the leading genetic cause of epilepsy and autism. Finck, part of the 2024-2025 Initiators Fellowship, is being supported by an Initiative Foundation loan to build up her inventory. Learn more: rainbowhairhats.com

CASS COUNTY | Have Faith: Hackensack Nonprofit Gets Tech Overhaul
A decades-old database at Faith in Action of Cass County is getting an overhaul with help from a Compeer Financial Rural Collaborative Project grant administered by the Initiative Foundation. With the funding, the Hackensack-based nonprofit is updating its contact management, service scheduling and communication systems to better serve the community. The organization provides non-medical neighborly assistance to older adults, adults with disabilities and others experiencing difficult circumstances.

CROW WING COUNTY | New Recovery Center Offers Safe, Supportive Space
Those going through addiction recovery have a new means of support at Open Arms Community Center in Baxter. Lighthouse Beginnings, a Brainerd-based organization, launched the center to provide a safe space, one-on-one support, and other services to those in the recovery community. Lighthouse Beginnings received an Initiative Foundation grant to open the center and staff have participated in numerous nonprofit trainings offered by the Foundation.

MILLE LACS COUNTY | Sunken Ship Brewery Buoyed by Loan Support
With names like “Mermaid’s Charm” and “Mystery of the Mast,” Princeton-area residents can go on an “Uncharted Odyssey” when they visit Sunken Ship Brewery for a craft beer or seltzer. The popular and award-winning brewery—its “Minimum Wake” hard seltzer earned top honors at the 2024 Minnesota Brewers Cup & Awards—was recently supported by an Initiative Foundation loan to make building improvements. The business opened in July 2022.

BENTON COUNTY | A Fine Time for Northern Hollow Winery Expansion
A lending partnership is helping Northern Hollow Winery move from Grasston to the Foley area, where ground was broken in July on a 10,000-square-foot facility. When finished, owners Deanna and Jim Truehart will have space for wine tasting, business and private events, a wedding venue, and a kitchen that will feature wood-fired pizza and other wine-paired foods. The project is supported by the Initiative Foundation, Benton Economic Partnership and Frandsen Bank & Trust. Learn more: northernhollowwinery.com.

SHERBURNE COUNTY | Friends Fund New Wildlife Refuge Amphitheater
A new amphitheater at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge will help visitors and students learn about sandhill cranes, bald eagles, and myriad animals and plants that inhabit the Zimmerman-area refuge. Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is an Initiative Foundation Partner Fund. It raised more than $400,000 for the project. Construction took four months and culminated with a ribbon cutting in September 2024. The new amphitheater seats 100 and features artwork by Native artists Holly Young and Giizh (Sarah) Agaton Howes.

STEARNS COUNTY | Loan Provides Assist to MM Basketball Training
Central Minnesota basketball players have a new place to practice their free throws, bank shots and alley-oops with the opening of MM Basketball Training, LLC, owned by Mendell Midy. With support from a PROMISE Act loan, funded by the Minnesota Legislature and administered by the Initiative Foundation, Middy created a permanent location for his 10-year-old business with a renovated space at 2803 Clearwater Road in St. Cloud. Learn more at mmbasketballtraining.com.

WRIGHT COUNTY | Nonprofit Leaders Learn to Navigate Their Numbers
Running a nonprofit is a lot like running a business: You need to make sense of the numbers for it to work. A series of training sessions at Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services in Monticello helped staff from 27 nonprofits learn how to navigate financial statements and forecast a yearly budget. The free sessions were supported by the Initiative Foundation and led by consultant Julie Anderholm. Learn about Initiative Foundation training opportunities at ifound.org/training

CHISAGO COUNTY | Seniors Enjoy Art in the Open Air Workshops
Fresh air, fellowship and art made for a winning combination for senior citizens living in Wyoming-area independent living facilities. Led by the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community, events provided free transportation to local parks where participants could express themselves through an art project. In all, five events served nearly 50 senior citizens. The art sessions were supported by a special Initiative Foundation grant round to alleviate loneliness and social isolation.

ISANTI COUNTY | Economic Development Group Gets Rebrand
GPS 45:93 has a fresh website and a new name: the East Central Development Partnership (ECDP). The organization also has switched from monthly meetings to more topic-specific summits and trainings, which have been well received. An Initiative Foundation grant helped support the changes for the organization that supports economic development initiatives in Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Mille Lacs and Chisago counties. Learn more: ecdp.us.

KANABEC COUNTY | Weekly Meals Meet Need for Mora-area Residents
For more than a decade, Soup for the Soul in Mora has served up weekly suppers with a side of social interaction. Each Monday, the organization feeds more than 100 adults and children in the Mora area with the support of many local organizations and volunteers. Soup for the Soul received a grant from the Initiative Foundation’s spring grant round aimed at reducing social isolation and loneliness.

PINE COUNTY | Grant Gives Boost to Eligible Nursing, EMT Students
Completing a college degree or certification sometimes presents obstacles, and students with financial needs may require extra help to cross the college finish line. With support from an Initiative Foundation and Central Minnesota Community Foundation grant, up to 35 Pine Technical and Community College nursing or emergency medical technician students enrolled in the SNAP Employment & Training PLUS Program can have their costs covered for testing fees, boards and certifications.