Minnesota

The Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF) commissioned Lake Research Partners (LRP) to conduct a national tracking survey to explore the public’s perception of poverty in one’s own community, attitudes toward the roles of local elected officials, and ways in which to address the issue. The survey was conducted among 4,000 Americans age 18 and older, from February 8-29, 2008. Eight hundred interviews were conducted nationally, and oversamples of 400 were conducted in each of the following eight states: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The oversamples were weighted down to reflect their true proportion in the country. The margin of error is +/-3.5 percentage points for national and +/-5.0 points for state results. This is the third survey of its kind, replicating studies NWAF and LRP released in March 2006[1] and April 2007.

There are three documents that cover Minnesota responses:

Results from a National Survey 

A Briefing Paper for Minnesota Policymakers 

Detailed Minnesota Results with Survey Questions 

Are you trying to determine whether a proposed business is right for your community? . The Wage & Benefits Metric is designed to help local decision makers measure just what kind of jobs this new business would bring into the local economy: living wage, minimum wage, full- or part-time, with benefits or without.   It is a free, web-based easy-to-use tool and you can access it at:

http://jobmetric.nwaf.org/

Two interesting opportunities being offered by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. 

Nonprofit Leadership Summit - The Future of Leadership
You are invited to register for MCN’s 2008 Leadership Summit: The Future of Leadership. Join your nonprofit peers for this groundbreaking exploration of the attributes of nonprofit leaders, issues facing leaders in organizations, and the ways that nonprofit leaders strengthen organizations and communities. View the full program and register by April 30 and save! Grantwriting Clinics from MCN in Mankato, Duluth and St. Paul
Grantwriters across Minnesota will benefit from MCN’s slate of Grantwriting Clinics that will be travelling around the state in 2008. This fast-paced, interactive clinic empowers grantwriting practitioners to explore their personal successes and challenges, gain new perspective on proposal development, clarify understanding of each section of a grant proposal, critique actual proposals submitted by clinic participants, and develop a better understanding of building a persuasive case.

• April 23, South Central Region (held in Mankato) Register Now
• May 8, St. Paul Register Now
• May 28, Duluth Register Now
• June 24, St. Paul Register Now
• November 6, St. Paul Register Now

Space is limited for Grantwriting Clinics, so don’t delay and register today.

This approach focuses on bringing people together to find better ways to deal with conflict and face hard issues. Actions that are happening include:

• letter writing, phone calls, and emails to elected officials to request new or different policies to assist people living in poverty
• creating a co-operative buying group to get better prices for purchasing necessary health and food items
• uniting community members to jointly celebrate unique cultural attributes
• instituting programs such as “Circles of Support” (http://www.movethemountain.org/index.cfm?nodeID=9229&audienceID=1), a community-wide approach to assisting families as they move out of poverty

As always, for more information, please go the Everyday Democracy website at http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/index.aspx

Approximately 10 percent of young adults (aged
18-24) today are idle, that is, they are not in postsecondary
school, the workforce, or the armed Forces.1
among high school dropouts the shares are even higher, at
30 percent. idle youth are not following the typical pathways
from adolescence to adulthood. They are not gaining
adequate educations, are not gaining work experience, and
they have no obvious sources of earned income.2

View the full article from the Carsey Institute at:

http://www.agobservatory.org/library.cfm?RefID=101925

Click on the link below to access the Extension catalog.  The catalog doesn’t list everything that Extension provides but rather the resources we thought Horizons communities would find valuable.  Remember that if any Future Squad would like to access these resources, you can tap into your community funds to cover the expenses.  Talk to your communty coach if you have any questions.

Catalog of Extension Resources

We’re taking registrations for the Regional Training Workshops scheduled for:

March 29 at Fairmont Holiday Inn, Fairmont

April 5 at Hibbing Park Hotel in Hibbing

April 12 at Best Western in Detroit Lakes

April 19 at Rochester Community College

All training workshops run from 10 AM to 3 PM with registration and continental breakfast beginning at 9:30. All Horizons communities, past and present, are invited to attend at no costs.

A registration form is attached. Call Monica Herrera at 866 407-4906 is you have any questions.

Registration for Regional Training Workshops