Liberty Community Church

Focus Area: Youth Development

Grant Amount: $12,000

Located in north Minneapolis. Liberty (formerly Kwanzaa Community Church) opened as the first African American led Presbyterian congregation in Minnesota in 2002. Its mission promotes community, justice, social change and empowerment for the children and families of north Minneapolis. The church operates the 21st Century Academy, a year-round afterschool program for grades K-12. In 2019, Liberty created a structured program for the younger children, ages 5-12, with a new program element called Shared Experiences, which focuses on relationships between youth participants and caring adults.

Grant supports building out Liberty’s program for the younger children, using a math curriculum called Prodigy Math Game. The curriculum is aligned with Minnesota Academic Standards in Mathematics. The staff of 21st Century Academy will be trained in the curriculum and reinforce math concepts through experiential and culturally appropriate learning. Parents and guardians will participate in programming with access to their child’s progress and be involved in their success. For the summer program, the programming will focus on planetary health and water.