Focus Area: Youth Development

Grant Amount: $10,000

Located in south Minneapolis. Founded in 1999, Watercourse is a nonprofit organization serving the mental health needs of people of all ages from diverse communities in Minneapolis. Watercourse is committed to ensuring the staff, agency leaders, and board reflect the diversity of the community, ensuring that no BIPOC school-based clients are turned away from receiving services, and ensuring their training focus will include that from BIPOC professionals who understand and acknowledge the systems of racial oppression that impact Watercourse’s clients.

Grant supports expanding the CIRCLE (Collaborative for Immigrant & Refugee Children’s Leadership & Experience), a program dedicated to healing from cultural trauma and resettlement stress among East African and Latine children and their families in Minneapolis. It is carried out in partnership with 6 Minneapolis public schools with the help of “cultural brokers” who assist with family engagement, promote self-advocacy, and help improve understanding of the family’s specific situation, needs, cultural factors, societal pressures, and injustices. With increased Latine students in the community, the program is adding another full-time Spanish-speaking cultural broker to its team.