Focus Area: Youth Development

Grant Amount: $15,000

Located in St. Paul. Interfaith Action uses an interfaith, multi-racial, inter-generational approach to relieve the effects of poverty, address its causes, and build a more just, safe, and livable East Metro for all. With thousands of volunteers from faith communities, it focuses on increasing economic mobility in the East Metro, activating and educating members of faith communities, and equipping faith communities with pathways for their congregants to engage in effective social justice work.

Grant supports integrating adventure-based activities the outdoor program of Interfaith’s American Indian Youth Enrichment program (AIYE), which is the only year-round program serving Indigenous youth in St. Paul and operates out of the American Indian Magnet School on the east side of the city. This addition teaches immediate and concrete consequences of behaviors and builds problem-solving skills. A program component, adventure-based therapy, uses a mixture of experiential education, outdoor education, and group therapy. All AIYE staff are American Indian, and the program is strongly rooted in American Indian culture.