Focus Area: Youth Development

Grant Amount: $9,000

Based in St. Louis, MO, serving the Heritage Park affordable housing in north Minneapolis. Urban Strategies Inc, a national community development organization, supports a local youth program in the Heritage Park neighborhood in north Minneapolis. Under the umbrella of the Heritage Park Eco-STEM Youth Incubator, it engages 5-12-year-olds in hands-on, experiential learning around environmental science, technology, engineering, and math through urban agriculture, culinary arts, entrepreneurship, and design activities.

Grant supports the Green Garden Bakery program, a multi-level program emphasizing developing entrepreneurial skills. Grant support will focus on youth mental health and social-emotional well-being, emphasizing the outdoors at the special request of the youth participants. USI provides all-season cultural activities, such as mountain biking, swimming, canoeing, snowboarding, and time spent in nearby Theodore Wirth Park. The youth served have experienced considerable trauma, and time outdoors is a proven way to counter the impact of trauma and support mental health.