Focus Area: Youth Development

Grant Amount: $12,000

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, serving mainly African and African American youth. 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 youth mental health and social-emotional well-being with an emphasis on the outdoors by special request of the youth participants. Working with the Cultural Wellness Center, a nonprofit that provides culturally relevant leadership and training for organizations, USI will provide all-season cultural activities, such as mountain biking, swimming, canoeing, snowboarding, and time spent in nearby Theodore Wirth Park led by BIPOC guides and enthusiasts. The youth served by this program have experienced considerable trauma, and time spent outdoors is a proven way to counter the impact of trauma and to support mental health.