Community Resource Guide

Gifts for Seniors is looking for remote help creating greeting cards with uplifting messages for isolated seniors in the neighborhoods affected.

HandsOn Twin Cities: highlighting volunteer opportunities and rebuilding communities

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Southside: high need for bilingual volunteers, especially those who speak Spanish and Somali.

The Salvation Army volunteers are needed to assist in packing boxes with food, helping unload food deliveries and stocking the pantry. Shifts occur Monday-Friday from 9-11 am and 1-3 pm (some vary slightly) in locations around the metro.

Sanctuary Covenant Church – Peace and Prayer BBQs. Volunteers needed July 3, July 10, July 17, July 24, and July 31 from 10:00am-2:00pm.

Second Harvest Heartland seeks healthy volunteers to sort, package, and label items for food boxes.

SEWA AIFW (Asian Indian Family Wellness) is looking for volunteers to help with food packing and delivery.

The Sheridan Story: increasing food distribution in the neighborhoods around the metro area

Support the Cities: assessing where clean-up efforts will be most needed and will share that information on its Facebook page.

Volunteer Lawyers Network is asking for non-lawyers to help facilitate justice. As a clinic assistant you will help run a legal advice clinic at the Hennepin County courthouse by interviewing clients, gathering pertinent information and forms to prepare their case for the meeting with a lawyer, and providing follow-up assistance as directed by the lawyer. Fast-paced clinic helps clients with a wide range of legal issues.

YMCA Minneapolis will be using their Midtown location (2121 E Lake Street) to provide food, hygiene, and other basic supplies two days per week for the next several months, in partnership with Second Harvest Heartland, The Sheridan Story and Youthprise. Volunteer shifts will be posted in the link shared.

There are many opportunities to volunteer, and they change daily. Additional resources include the Star Tribune, which posts updated lists frequently, and the Twin Cities Mutual Aid map, which lists pop-up volunteer opportunities and others. We are not regularly vetting these two ever-changing sources. We recommend you call ahead to learn more.

Virtual Volunteering Options

Volunteer with Harvard University’s Project Implicit, an organization dedicated to educating the public about hidden biases and providing a ‘virtual laboratory’ for collecting data on the internet. Take an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and support their research

Catchafire strengthens the social good sector by matching professionals who want to donate their time with nonprofits who need their skills.

Create your own! Think about a unique skill you have (accounting, data analysis, maintenance, etc.) and consider how you might be able to leverage that unique skill set to assist a social justice-minded organization to further its work.

Today we would like to highlight a number of local organizations that work tirelessly to serve the needs of the North Minneapolis, South Minneapolis and Midway communities. Their work will help rebuild the neighborhoods, restore people’s spirit, and drive change and opportunity.

Youth, Education & Food Assistance

ACES is an out-of-school-time program that focuses on using sports to get kids excited about math and social-emotional learning through providing project-based curriculum for low-income students in grades 4-8 in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Appetite for Change use food as a tool to build health, wealth, and social change in North Minneapolis. We bring people together to learn, cook, eat, and grow food, creating change that lasts.

Bolder Options

Several of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities are serving as distribution hubs for affected communities. If you’d like to support this effort and their mission to enable young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens, you can donate here.

The Minneapolis chapter of Jack and Jill of America is a member organization of mothers with children, dedicated to nurturing future African-American leaders by strengthening children through leadership development, volunteer service, philanthropic giving and civic duty.

The Link supports youth in North Minneapolis who are being victimize by crime, getting involved in crime and who are struggling with poverty and homelessness.

Donations to the Local Library Equity Fund (Friends of Hennepin County Library)will be used to help restore the libraries most affected by recent unrest in Minneapolis and will help fund new programs and resources focused on tackling the persistent poverty and inequality facing our black, brown and indigenous friends and neighbors.

The Man Up Club empowers young black males to make positive life choices while preparing them for post-high school education by providing a safe place to build positive long lasting relationships with mentors, a brotherhood to congregate, as well as facilitated discussions about life challenges, family dynamics and dealing specifically with the issue of fatherlessness.

Northside Achievement Zone – based in North Minneapolis, NAZ is focused on supporting children from cradle to college. Their NAZ Family Emergency Fund is working to close the technology cap that many families in the community are facing as the result of the closure of libraries, schools, and other community spaces.

Pillsbury United Communities serves the Twin Cities by creating enduring change toward a just society. Programming includes food shelves and nutrition services, emergency childcare, education programs, and more.

Sanneh Foundation

The Sheridan Story Unrest Response is supporting children and families left without access to essential items because of the recent unrest, through bringing food and hope to these communities.

United Negro College Fund serves as the nation’s leading advocate for the importance of minority education and community engagement, helping students not just attend college, but thrive, graduate, and become leaders.

Restore & Rebuild

Lake Street Council will utilize 100% of funds to help rebuild Lake Street, starting with direct support to small businesses and nonprofits to help them rebuild their storefronts, reopen their businesses, and serve our neighborhoods.

Midway United is an initiative of the Neighbors United Funding collaboration focused on helping the Midway and Union Park small business and non-profit community rebuild their storefronts.

Northside Funder’s Group and West Broadway Business and Area Coalition are partnering to gather donations for businesses in Minneapolis' Northside impacted by the uprising and by COVID-19.

The Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce Charitable Foundation is focused on supporting small businesses and nonprofits to help them rebuild their storefronts, reopen their businesses and serve their neighborhoods.

Twin Cities Rebuild for the Future Fund is an effort led by the Greater Twin Cities United Way, Minneapolis Foundation and St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation to provide immediate support for micro- and minority-owned small businesses that were destroyed as a result of the unrest in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.

Based in South Minneapolis, Urban Ventures works to break the cycle of poverty with a focus on empowerment through education. Right now they are working to distribute groceries and essential items to families in need, as well as coordinate clean-up crews throughout the neighborhood.

Support Local Business

Minnesota is home to many businesses and organizations owned and operated by community members of color.

Midtown Global Market has become a Minnesota destination and is made up of 45 small businesses representing 16 cultures. Due to damages incurred during the protests and the pandemic, the market is closed until further notice, but you can support the small businesses with a donation.

Mercado Central is thriving marketplace that offers a range of artisan goods and foods that celebrate Latino culture and economic progress. The 35 businesses they support also were damaged during the protests. Support them with a donation to the Neighborhood Development Center– and visit when they reopen.

Minnesota Compass: Racial Equity Resource Directory

Headwaters Foundation for Justice Resources List

Black Economic Alliance: We are a non-partisan alliance of business leaders and supporters focused on driving economic progress for the Black community through public policy, advocacy, and political engagement.

Black Futures Lab: The Black Futures Lab transforms Black communities into constituencies that change the way power operates—locally, statewide and nationally.

Black Lives Matter: Our intention from the very beginning was to connect Black people from all over the world who have a shared desire for justice to act together in their communities.

Color Of Change: Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund: Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.

Northside Achievement Zone: Our mission is to end generational poverty and build a culture of achievement in North Minneapolis where all low-income children of color graduate from high school college- and career-ready. We accomplish this through collaboration with parents, community organizations, and schools.

Pillsbury United Communities: Pillsbury United Communities co-creates enduring change toward a just society. Built with and for the people we serve, our united system of programs, neighborhood centers, and social enterprises empowers individuals and families across the region to own their future on their own terms.

Racial Equity Minnesota Network: A network of community-based leaders, Racial Equity Minnesota offers comprehensive, one-stop shopping for high-quality services, useful resources and tools, and ongoing support to address racial equity in the workplace and in educational and community settings.

Southern Poverty Law Center: Dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality. SPLC’s Hate Map is widely used. In addition to monitoring and tracking the activities of domestic hate groups and other extremists, SPLC publishes investigative reports, trains law enforcement officers and shares key intelligence, and offers expert analysis to the media and public.

Urban League Twin Cities: We envision a future in which African descendants can be fully engaged, empowered and invested in the success and well-being of the Twin Cities metro area. The Urban League understands that the cultural heritage and assets of people of African descent are a rich resource of creativity, power and beauty. We believe that a strong and systemic change is needed to transform our communities.

Urban Ventures works alongside 70 local partners to address opportunity gaps in academics, nutrition, physical activity, parenting resources, and more—all with the overarching goal to prepare and send every youth in our neighborhood to college or postsecondary education.