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Northland Area Family Service Center
COORDINATED CARE: Linda Leverty, Northland Area Family Service Center administrative manager, helps to organize and manage the 25,000 diapers the organization receives each quarter.

A Bundle of Community Help

Otto Bremer Trust Partnership Delivers $3 Million to Greater Minnesota Nonprofits

By Andy Steiner / Photography by John Linn

For families living at or below the poverty line, purchasing baby basics like diapers and wipes can compete with other immediate needs.

As executive director of the Remer-based Northland Area Family Service Center (NAFSC), Leslie Bouchonville sees the need on a daily basis. “Most of the families we serve really struggle to make ends meet,” she said. The nonprofit provides preschool, parent education and other services for families in the Northland Community School District (including Outing, Remer, Longville, Boy River and Federal Dam) and parts of the Leech Lake Native nation where 20 percent of households make less than $20,000 and 12 percent live below the poverty line.

Some clients report having to ration diapers to make their supply last. “When families can’t afford diapers, we see more illness and infection because kids are getting diaper rash,” said Bouchonville, whose organization became a Diaper Bank Minnesota regional distribution site in early 2024. “Having access to free diapers takes a little of the stress away.”

Each quarter, beginning in April 2024, the nonprofit gets a delivery of 25,000 diapers in various sizes. It’s up to Bouchonville and her small staff to store, organize and distribute the diapers to families in need. Their efforts were buoyed this summer when Northland Area Family Service Center received a $25,000 grant from the Initiative Foundation to support the diaper bank program. The money, part of a $3 million award from the St. Paul-based Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) and its Community Responsive Fund, was distributed across 80 Greater Minnesota counties served by the Minnesota Initiative Foundations.

“Bringing resources like this into the region is one of our superpowers,” said Brian Voerding, president of the Initiative Foundation, which administered the OBT grant on behalf of its five Minnesota Initiative Foundation sister organizations. “It’s an innovative way for us to work alongside the Trust to accomplish our shared mission of deepening the success of nonprofits—both in our region and across Greater Minnesota. The Trust chose us because we live here. We work here. We know our nonprofits, and we’re primed to help people and have the greatest impact.”

Driving Local Results

With the creation of its Community Responsive Fund in late 2023, the Otto Bremer Trust initiated a partner-based approach to delivering meaningful grants across its service area of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, and Montana. Working with intermediaries like the Initiative Foundation, which serves 14 counties and parts of the Leech Lake and Mille Lacs Bands of Ojibwe, strengthens OBT’s mission and outreach, said Frank Miley, co-CEO and trustee.

“The Trust’s mission has always been to provide funding to organizations and programs that effectively address challenges and opportunities in the local community,” he said. “And what better way to have a deeper understanding of where those challenges are than to work with the Minnesota Initiative Foundations, which are fully integrated into the community and regions we serve. We look forward to working closely together to increase our impact.”

Bouchonville is a proponent of local foundations partnering with larger regional funders to direct significant awards to smaller organizations like the Northland Area Family Service Center. “This partnership has the potential to make a huge difference for small nonprofits like ours,” she said. “It’s a great idea and a really good partnership.”

Doling Out Diapers

Once it secured its status as a regional distribution site for Diaper Bank Minnesota, the reality of the work got serious. With each quarterly delivery, staff members have to store, organize and distribute the new nappies. Staff and volunteers also are required to collect detailed demographic data on all diaper recipients and must complete and file a monthly report.

The financial support that came along with establishing the nonprofit as a diaper hub didn’t include operational resources, Bouchonville said. “It was just diapers. It takes staff time to handle this project.” When she learned about the Initiative Foundation’s Community Response Fund partnership with OBT, Bouchonville thought it made perfect sense to apply. The grant, part of $750,000 distributed in Central Minnesota, could help pay for additional staff time—and help upgrade the organization’s technology to accurately track diaper distributions.

“We are going to update the computer and figure out the best way to collect and record the data,” she said. “This grant is significant to us. It will help us out a lot.”

Local Knowledge, Large Results

Leaders across the family of Minnesota Initiative Foundations were excited to showcase their connections for the Otto Bremer Trust collaboration. Karen White, president and CEO of the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, said she and her staff have deep knowledge about effective community organizations that might otherwise be overlooked by outside funders.

“We know the nonprofits that are serving the needs of our area,” she said. “We are able to get the word out quickly to the right places.”

One Northwest Minnesota recipient is Marshall County Group Homes, a small housing support program for adults with intellectual disabilities based in Argyle, about 40 minutes northeast of Grand Forks. “People from the Twin Cities might not know about that organization,” she said. “But we do. And we were able to help them secure a grant.”

Local knowledge is essential to maximizing a collaborative process like the Community Responsive Fund grant round, said Scott Marquardt, president of Southwest Initiative Foundation.

“We can reach very deep into the community,” he said. “We know who the nonprofit leaders are, who the community leaders are, who are the gatekeepers to populations that the Otto Bremer Trust might not be able to reach. By teaming up on this project, we’ve been able to get the money to the right people. It’s been incredibly satisfying.”’

Longville Area Food Shelf
ACCESS MATTERS: The Longville Area Food Shelf extends the diaper hub’s reach by making baby-care items available to clients. Pictured are Andrea Richard, executive director for the food shelf, and Kit Arnquist, Northland Area Family Service Center board member and food shelf volunteer.

 

Help Where Help Is Needed

In addition to the Northland Area Family Service Center in Remer, 18 other Central Minnesota nonprofits received Community Responsive Fund grants:

  • Relationship Safety Alliance, Brainerd: $75,000 to support those escaping domestic violence situations. (Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties)
  • Pearl Crisis Center, Milaca: $73,000 to support those experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault. Pearl Crisis Center provides direct service, prevention and community awareness. (Mille Lacs County and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe)
  • Oasis Central Minnesota, Little Falls: $60,000 to help those experiencing homelessness by providing emergency shelter and a potential pathway to permanent housing. The organization also provides housing support to those on the verge of homelessness.(Morrison County)
  • Recovery Community Network, St. Cloud: $60,000 to provide peer support, education, advocacy and prevention strategies to reduce the impact of substance use disorder and improve health and wellbeing. (Benton, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright counties and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe)
  • Feeding Area Children Together, St. Cloud: $50,000 to support a weekend food gap program for students facing food insecurity.(Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright counties)
  • PHASE-Industries, Sandstone: $50,000 to support adults with developmental and physical disabilities. The funding will be used to hire more staff to serve clients who want to explore work and obtain and retain employment. (Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs and Pine counties)
  • YES Network, St. Cloud: $50,000 to respond to the youth mental health crisis by providing community-based afterschool and summer health and wellness programming. (Benton and Sherburne counties)
  • Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity, St. Cloud: $45,000 to put low-income families on a path to homeownership while focusing resources to serve those who have experienced generational barriers. (Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright counties)
  • New Pathways, Inc., Cambridge: $45,000 to provide shelter and support to families with children experiencing homelessness and put them on a path to permanent housing. (Chisago, Kanabec, Isanti, Mille Lacs counties and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe)
  • Central Minnesota Dementia Community Action Network, St. Cloud: $41,000 to support dementia-informed counseling for patients, families and caregivers while navigating the effects of dementia. (Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Wadena counties)
  • Wright County Community Action, Maple Lake: $40,000 to expand services to support independent living for low-income older adults. (Wright County)
  • Tusen Tack, Braham: $34,000 to support community asset-building through the Braham Event Center. In 2023, Tusen Tack hosted more than 300 events at the center and offered free or discounted access to nonprofit organizations. The event center also hosts a food shelf, library and community meals. (Chisago, Isanti, Pine counties and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe)
  • North Star Family Advocacy Center, Braham: $30,000 to support children and vulnerable adults impacted by sexual abuse. The organization provides forensic interviews, family advocacy, trauma-informed mental health services and forensic medical exams. (Chisago, Isanti, Mille Lacs, Pine counties and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe)
  • Too Much Talent, St. Cloud: $25,000 to reduce disparities experienced by children and families of color. The funds will help the organization provide tutoring and community programming.(Benton and Stearns counties)
  • Pine River-Backus Family Center, Pine River: $15,000 to provide local produce at the food shelf, which benefits local farmers and food shelf clients. (Cass and Crow Wing counties)
  • Breath of Life Adult Day Service, Brainerd: $12,000 to provide dependent adults with activities and services while giving respite to their caregivers. These funds support scholarships for those who can’t afford the organization’s full slate of services. (Cass and Crow Wing counties)
  • Verndale Family Life Church of the Assemblies of God, Verndale: $10,000 to support the organization’s community food shelf. In addition to food, the organization provides personal care items.(Cass, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties)
  • Crisis Line and Referral Service, Baxter: $10,000 to provide a listening ear, crisis mental health services, referrals and information. (Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties and the Leech Lake and Mille Lacs Bands of Ojibwe)

A Greater Minnesota Effort

More than 90 grants were distributed across all 80 Greater Minnesota counties. The Initiative Foundation’s share of the OBT Community Responsive Fund grant was $750,000. Other regions distributed the following: $400,000 to Southwest Initiative Foundation; $350,000 to West Central Initiative; $350,000 to Northwest Minnesota Foundation; $400,000 to Northland Foundation; and $750,000 to Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.