Third Quarter Grants 2021

During the third quarter of 2021, the Northwest Area Foundation approved 48 grants worth $9,085,552—including 3 grants totaling $435,000 designated as crisis response emergency grants.

This quarter’s grant funding focuses on work being done in three of our four interlocking portfolios—Access to Capital, Enterprise Development, and Work Opportunity—as well as work related to general projects that are not designated to a specific portfolio.

Our crisis response emergency grants acknowledge the extent of the crises many of our grantees are facing—from COVID-19 relief to addressing challenges brought on by additional 2020 and 2021 crises such as racial unrest—and provide our grantees with essential support. The grants also strengthen financial efforts by foundations providing critical emergency assistance to community-based nonprofits helping underserved communities in our region.

Overall, our grants support organizations anchored in the culture of the people they serve across our region of eight states and 76 Native nations. Our grantees are dedicated to expanding economic opportunity in under-resourced communities by advancing good jobs and financial capability. They build on the untapped potential within our priority communities: Native Americans, communities of color, immigrants and refugees, and people in rural areas.

We include grants of $10,000 or more below. For information on grants of less than $10,000, please visit our grants database.

*Indicates crisis response emergency grants.

Grants to Provide Access to Capital

Community LendingWorks of Springfield, OR, will receive $300,000 over three years to support small and microbusiness lending focused on the development of a low-barrier small-business loan that will advance pandemic-related recovery for Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) and rural entrepreneurs in its service area in rural Oregon.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2024

Four Bands Community Fund Inc. of Eagle Butte, SD, will receive $500,000 over three years to support its efforts to enhance several capabilities, including forming and building relationships, operational integrity, and customer service excellence.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2024

Immigrant Development Center (IDC) of Moorhead, MN, will receive $375,000 over three years as a renewal grant to support the International Market Plaza. The grant will support IDC’s entrepreneurial training, loans, and community-building programs, and foster its holistic approach to building an equitable and inclusive economy for immigrants and refugees.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2024

Leech Lake Financial Services of Cass Lake, MN, will receive $300,000 over three years for sustainability funding to support its efforts to provide financial education and loan products and to expand its services to consumers and businesses on and near the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2024

Nimiipuu Community Development Fund of Lapwai, ID, will receive $450,000 over three years to support its growth by means of new and expanded lending products and responsive community resources.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2024

Nixyáawii Community Financial Services of Pendleton, OR, will receive $375,000 over three years to support its implementation of loan programs for tribal employees, farmers and ranchers, small-business owners, and homeowners.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2024

Grants to Support Enterprise Development

Akiing Community Development Corporation of Callaway, MN, as fiscal sponsor for Anishinaabe Agriculture Institute of Osage, MN, will receive $150,000 over two years for its efforts to accelerate the hemp economy in Indian Country through technical, financial, and marketing support.
Grant term: Aug. 1, 2021 – July 31, 2023

Byrd Barr Place of Seattle will receive $750,000 over three years to support programs and advocacy efforts, and will help ensure it has adequate staff and tools to meet community needs.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 30, 2024

CAPACES Leadership Institute of Woodburn, OR, will receive $300,000 over two years to support a network of Latino-led organizations building community wealth in Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley region.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2023

Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES) of St. Paul, MN, will receive $400,000 over two years to support its work to build a more equitable economy for Latino and immigrant communities in Minnesota.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2023

The Directors Council of Des Moines, IA, will receive $825,000 over three years to support the One Economy initiative, including advocacy efforts to close racial gaps in Polk County, IA, and provide support for community-driven programs.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2024

Region Five Development Commission of Staples, MN, will receive $420,000 over two years to support efforts to increase community and economic prosperity, along with continued development of community-led welcoming groups that focus on creating and ensuring inclusive and equitable communities in central Minnesota.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2023

Standing Rock Community Development Corporation of Fort Yates, ND, will receive $400,000 over two years to support its community-led and culturally grounded vision for the future of the Standing Rock Sioux people and its holistic model for sustainable change.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2023

Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation of Porcupine, SD, will receive $1,050,000 over three years to support four initiatives: regenerative community development, social enterprise, housing and homeownership, and workforce development. The initiatives emphasize redefining financial vitality, community wealth, and economic development using a Lakota perspective.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2024

Grants to Support Work Opportunity

MICA Group Inc. of Baltimore received $50,000 to support the development of reliable internet access for Native communities in Northwest Area Foundation’s region.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022

Warm Springs Community Action Team of Warm Springs, OR, will receive $248,202 to support financial inclusion activities and startup costs for the Commissary, a new economic hub. The Commissary will house several economic revitalization activities: a small-business incubator, an artists’ cooperative, a café, food stands, and space for markets.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2022

General Grants

When we fund projects that help organizations and communities in ways that aren’t specifically associated with one of our four interlocking portfolios, we include those grants in the “General” category.

*Amalgamated Charitable Foundation of Washington, DC, as fiscal sponsor for Return to the Heart Foundation of New York received $100,000 to support expansion of healing initiatives for Native women and girls in Northwest Area Foundation’s region.
Grant term: Aug. 1, 2021 – July 31, 2022

Build Wealth MN Inc. of Minneapolis will receive $600,000 over two years to support its general operations, fuel its growth, and further its mission to strengthen underserved communities by empowering families to build sustainable social and economic wealth.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 30, 2023

*Centro Latino of Iowa of Council Bluffs, IA, received $85,000 to support the Iowa Spanish Helpline, a telephone hotline that provides culturally competent and language accessible resources to Latinos across Iowa.
Grant term: Aug. 1, 2021 – July 31, 2022

Chief Joseph Foundation of Lapwai, ID, will receive $125,000 over two years to support programming to foster the personal growth and individual achievements of at-risk Native and area youth in rural northcentral Idaho using a wide range of equestrian activities.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2023

Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Portland, OR, will receive $250,000 over two years to support its efforts to provide financial education and support advocacy work at the local level, ensuring that it is representing the interest of immigrants and refugees on policies related to economic stability.
Grant term: July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2023

Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul of St Paul, MN, received $35,000 to support its efforts to empower the local community with knowledge of legal rights and financial strategies, and boost economic mobility through legal clinics.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2022

Lower Phalen Creek Project of St Paul, MN, received $64,000 to support its general operations, including development of a director-level position.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022

*Social Justice Fund NW of Seattle will receive $750,000 (*$250,000 of which was funded by our crisis response initiative) over three years to support community organizing in Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Funds will also be regranted to predominantly BIPOC-led organizations in the region.
Grant term: Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2024

South Dakota Voices for Peace of Sioux Falls, SD, will receive $150,000 over three years to support efforts to build South Dakota into a more inclusive and equitable state by centering BIPOC, immigrant, refugee, and Muslim people in the state’s strategy.
Grant term: Aug. 1, 2021 – July 31, 2024