Mission
The Sheltering Arms Foundation’s mission is to invest in the lives of Minnesota’s children and help them reach their full potential. We fund non-profit organizations and support policies that benefit children and their families who have the least access to resources.
Vision
The Sheltering Arms Foundation envisions a Minnesota that is a vibrant, thriving state where the opportunity gap for children is closed and all children have high-quality lives, including broad and equitable access to the following:
- childcare and early childhood education
- high-quality out-of-school time (OST) programming
- mental, physical, social, emotional, and intellectual wellbeing
- supportive opportunities for families and communities.
Inclusion Statement
The Sheltering Arms Foundation celebrates the diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, class, religion and geographic location of the children and families it serves across Minnesota. We seek to create equal access to resources in order to build a just society in which all children may reach their full potential.
The Foundation will advance these goals by:
- Funding direct service programming and advocacy
- Assuming an advocacy role to amplify constituent voices and needs
- Convening diverse community organizations around common issues
- Partnering with community initiatives and organizations
- Actively seeking to be informed by and about the constituents and communities we serve
- Supporting self-development efforts of traditionally marginalized groups to more fully participate in society
- Supporting leadership development and capacity-building projects to enable families and organizations to solve their own problems
- Advocating for diversity in the philanthropic community
- Seeking a diverse board and staff to reflect those it serves and providing ongoing diversity training
Minnesota is a state with wide discrepancies in opportunities for children and hence a wide achievement gap. In order to address this growing opportunity gap, The Sheltering Arms Foundation will commit itself to increasing its cultural competency and commitment to equity.