Northland Foundation awards 23 grants to support northeastern Minnesota people and communities Northeast MN and Tribal Nation Lands

In April through June of 2025, the Northland Foundation award­ed $680,000 through its Quarterly Grant program. Quarterly grants are generally $10,000 and up made to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organiza­tions, Tribal nations, and local gov­ernmental entities such as school districts.

Six of the 23 grants awarded went toward out-of-school-time activ­ities and programs for children and youth across the region. The $185,000 in funding is helping grantees provide summertime and after-school supports for thousands of children and youth from Itasca, Koochiching, and northern St. Lou­is Counties, as well as the sovereign Bois Forte Band of Chippewa na­tion.

“After-school and summer services for kids are something rural and underfunded school districts and small communities just don’t have the budget to cover on their own,” said Michelle Ufford, Vice Presi­dent of Grantmaking.

“We know kids thrive when they can participate in healthy, enrich­ing activities beyond the class­room, and those experiences have a long-term positive effect on their development,” Ufford added. “Out-of-school-time is an area where rel­atively modest funding can make an outsized impact to sustain these important programs.”

The local (North Shore) Quarter­ly Grants awarded April 1 through June 30, 2025, are listed below.

BASIC NEEDS Grants in support of services and programming that address human needs essential to overall wellbeing, such as food se­curity, housing, aging, homeless services, and more.

• Waawaate Programs, Ely: $20,000

To support Bois Forte Band of Chippewa food sovereignty programming.

• Care Partners of Cook County, Grand Marais: $45,000

To support basic-needs services and community engagement for older adults in Cook County.

• Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, Grand Marais: $30,000

To support access to oral health care services and education for children, youth, and older adults in Cook County and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

• Well Being Development, Ely: $45,000

To support services for Ely community members impacted by mental illness and substance use challenges.

OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME SER­VICES Grants supporting struc­tured, consistent, and accessible out-of-school time educational pro­gramming and activities for broad groups of children and youth.

• Friends of the Finland Community, Finland: $30,000

To support youth and family programming and services in the Finland community.