Helping children, youth and adults achieve their full potential.

United Way of
Bemidji Area

EDUCATION
Helping children, youth and adults achieve their full potential by: investing in local partner agency programs and services; developing community initiatives that respond to gaps and immediate needs; and strategically engaging with partners in implementing aligned strategies that help us build a stronger community.

Strategic Partnerships

MN Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) Committee Member
To promote high-quality early childhood care and education for children from birth to age five throughout the community while supporting parents in their important work.

Bemidji Leads! Students First Initiative
Committee Member

Partner Agencies - Education

Link here for a complete list of United Way's Partner Agencies or download a pdf

ARC Headwaters

Information, support and advocacy for children and adults with disabilities and their families in northwest Minnesota.

1819 Bemidji Avenue

Bemidji, MN 56601

218-759-0097

Contacts: Cassandra Robinson or Randy Jurek

arcnw@paulbunyan.net

Bemidji Area Early Childhood Initiative
The Bemidji Area Early Childhood Initiative is a coalition of area citizens committed to improving outcomes for all young children (0-5 yrs.) in our area. We know that when children receive the nurturing, learning and care they need to grow up healthy, our whole community benefits. We also help the people who care for them – parents, family members and child care providers – do the best possible job of supporting the healthy development of the young children in their care. Our priorities include sponsoring community family events such as the Tiny Tots Expo, providing quality learning opportunities for child care providers, ensuring a smooth transition to kindergarten through partnerships among professionals, and advocating for early childhood issues. We are sponsored by the Northwest Minnesota Foundation and our co-coordinators are Ginny Kurtzweg and Vicki Wangberg. We meet monthly to plan projects and discuss issues, Join us! Call 759-2057 for information.

Northwest Minnesota Foundation
4226 Technology Drive NW
Bemidji, MN 56601
218-759-2057
Contact: Lin Backstrom, Early Childhood Specialit
linb@nwmf.org
www.nwmf.org

Boys & Girls Club of the Bemidji Area

The mission of the Boys & Girls Club of the Bemidji Area is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. BGGCBA desires to see Club youth have positive self-identities, be educationally, occupationally, socially, emotionally, and culturally competent, be involved in their community, be physically healthy, and have a moral compass. B&GCBA programs are designed to support the accomplishment of these goals. Programs and activities are offered in the areas of Character and Leadership, Education and Career, Health and Life Skills, the Arts, and Sports, Fitness and Recreation.

A new Teen Center for high school teens will be opening in the fall of 2009. The Teen Center will be in the existing Club but in a separate area and designated space for high school teens only. It will have a lounge, computer/tutoring lab, media room and snack area.

1600 Minnesota Ave
PO Box 191

Bemidji, MN 56619

218-444-4171

Executive Director: Leonore Potter

lpotter@paulbunyan.net

http://www.bgcbemidji.com

Civil Air Patrol- Northland Squadron

Three mandated components: Cadet Programs, Emergency Services and Aerospace Education. Civil Air Patrol is a leadership laboratory for young people to learn self esteem and confidence while becoming leaders. The squadron has the additional goal of being a strong community partner through educating the youth about community service, serving other agencies in need of manpower support and providing hands on assistance at large community events.

4130 Hangar Drive NW

Bemidji, MN 56601

218-224-3556 (Home)

218-556-2009 (cell)
email: rhelgager@gmail.com

Squadron website: www.mncap.org/Northland

Contact: Robin Helgager

Kinship North

Kinship North is a formal one-on-one mentoring program that focuses on matching at-risk youth, ages 5 to 15, with caring adult volunteer mentors. Kinship mentors are trained to involved their Kinship Kids in everyday activities that will model positive attitudes and behaviors, as well as provide opportunities in which their Kinship Kids can be successful and have fun.

Contact: Mike Garry, Director
218-751-8223
mgarry@evergreenhouse.org

Kinship North (Evergreen House Inc.)
1418 Bemidji Ave N Ste 1
PO Box 662
Bemidji, MN 56619
www.evergreenhouse.org

Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin Lakes and Pines

Promotes and provides educational programming for girls and young women ages 5-17 to help them build character and life skills to be successful adults.

750 Paul Bunyan Dr NW

Bemidji, MN 56601

Local Contact: Becky Dean, 218-751-4886

BDean@girlscoutslolc.org
Development Project Manager:
Lisa Lukkala, 218-726-4755

www.girlscoutslolc.org

Headwaters Science Center
The Headwaters Science Center provides intellectual stimulation and enjoyment for all children and adults with scientific and technological interactive displays, exhibits, programs and activities which enhance and supplement educational programs.

Contact: Laddie Elwell
218-444-4472
ljewell@paulbunyan.net

413 Beltrami Avenue
PO Box 1176
Bemidji, MN 56601
www.hscbemidji.org

Lutheran Social Service

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS) has a guiding principle of shaping a supportive plan for each individual we serve. We take great care in matching individuals who will be living together, securing housing that is appropriate for certain disabilities and allowing individual expression through activities, recreation and one’s personal space. LSS creates a sense of community belonging for those served by Home and Community Living Services.

Nice, safe homes, a variety of activities, and the sense of accomplishment gained through work and/or education are important factors for persons with disabilities to establish a sense of community, and to live as independently as possible with optimal personal choice. In the Bemidji area, United Way funding enables a person we serve to attend camp, visit family, spend time with others who have the same disability away from home when they would not otherwise have the funds to do so.

403 NW 4th St, Suite 120

Bemidji, MN 56601

218-751-1305

Director: Barbara Stensland

bstensla@lssmn.org

Peacemaker Resources

Primary prevention programs and activities that promote conflict management and other cooperative life skills to assist children, adults and families to lead responsible, violence free lives and see themselves as valuable, contributing members of our community.

PO Box 862

Bemidji, MN 56619

218-444-8048

Contact:Barb Houg

peaceripple@hotmail.com http://www.peacemakerresources.org/

RSVP - Getting Things Done

Horizon Health RSVP, which is a national program with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), encourages seniors to continue an active lifestyle by providing meaningful and rewarding volunteer opportunities within their communities. This gives seniors the chance to provide a valuable “service” that enhances not only their own quality of life, but the quality of life for others in their communities. RSVP is getting things done by involving volunteers in community organizations and programs that need the assistance of skilled, knowledgeable, and dedicated people to develop our communities into better places to live.

c/o Horizon Health

PO Box 220

Pierz, MN 56364

320-468-6451

Director: Tammy Jopp

tjopp@horizonhealthservices.com

America Reads

Ardis Lucken

216 3rd St.

Bemidji, MN 56601

751-8836

rsvpread@yahoo.com

Timber Bay

For 36 years, Bemidji Area Timber Bay, a non-profit organization, has provided hundreds of at risk children and their families with strong Christian mentors who assist them in successfully reaching adulthood and beyond. As a Christian referral agency, we work directly with others to provide assistance both during crisis and long term. We own and operate Timber Bay Camp, “the camp that comes home with the kids”, year around. We have a local Timber Bay House where children experience a “healthy home”, both during the day and after school. Our goal is to have a caring adult in the life of every child who would benefit from another adult advocating, affirming, encouraging and supporting them.

234 Gerald Lane NW
PO Box 371
Bemidji, MN 56601
766-9997

Regional Director: Steve Hanson

hanson@timberbay.org
www.timberbay.org

Voyageur Area Boy Scout Council

The mission of the Boy Scouts of America, Voyageurs Area Council is to serve others by instilling values in young people and otherwise prepare them to make ethical choices over their lifetime and help them to achieve their full potential. The values that we strive to instill are based on those found in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. We serve boys from ages 6-20 and girls ages 14-20 in our flagship program; Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Venturing (co-ed). The Boy Scouts of America will be celebrating its 100^th anniversary in 2010. Boy Scouts is the largest youth character education program in the world today.

Boy Scouts of America

3877 Stebner Road

Hermantown, MN 55811-1733

Regional Office: 218-729-5811

Local Director:

Local Director: Erin Jalloh
ejalloh@vac-bsa.org

Venture Grant Investments

In 2010, the United Way awarded $9,975 to four organizations seeking funding through its United Way Venture Grant program. The programs/projects selected represent a broad spectrum of community needs with in United Way’s focus areas of education, income and health.

The Venture Grant program helps area nonprofit health and human service agencies and organizations get a jump-start on developing new and enhance programs. Grants are awarded to new or one time programs within existing agencies or for new agency start-up. Venture Grant applications are accepted and reviewed once per year.

The following programs and projects will receive United Way Venture Grant funding in 2010:

Beltrami County Health and Human Services was awarded a Venture Grant in the amount of $2,475 for Car Seat Education and Distribution. The Venture Grant will provide 55 convertible car seats to families who are income eligible for the Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) program. In addition, a Child Passenger Safety Technician will provide one-on-one education with physical inspection of how the child is positioned in the car seat and how the car seat is positioned in the family vehicle. Often this appointment coincides with other services the family/child maybe receiving through the Family Health Clinic.

Bemidji Community Food Shelf was awarded a Venture Grant in the amount of $2,500 for their Electronic Record Keeping project. The Bemidji Community Food Shelf (BCFS) is continually upgrading practices in order to comply with Hunger Solutions Minnesota’s criteria to retain its Blue Ribbon Food Shelf Status. This status assures donors that the Food Shelf is in compliance with state recommendations for food shelves and they are a fiscally responsible organization. With recommendation from Hunger Solutions Minnesota the Food Shelf has put together a plan to begin keeping records electronically. As present all recording, tabulating and analyzing of the data is done by hand. The electronic record keeping system will allow immediate access to information, analyzed data and reports. It will allow for more accurate record keeping, tracking client usage, and eliminate any fraudulent applications, assuring fair and equitable distribution. In addition, the system will reduce costs of the wages paid towards performing these tasks by hand. Monies saved in wages could be used to purchase more food for clients. The United Way Venture Grant will support a portion of the overall budget for purchasing computers, networking the computers, and developing a program that suits the needs of the Bemidji Community Food Shelf’s data collections.

Evergreen House, a multi-program youth and family service organization, was awarded a Venture Grant in the amount of $2,500 to support their Recover House After-care Coordination program. In 2010, Evergreen House will create a strong after-care component for the 20-25 boys served each year through the Evergreen Youth Recovery House, a youth specific chemical dependency treatment program for adolescent boys. The project will utilize a new position, a 1.0 FTE after care coordinator, who will coordinate discharge planning with the program’s licensed alcohol and drug counselors; develop a structured, individualized after-care plan for each youth specific to resources available in his home community; utilize the Youth Transition Conferencing Model in the discharge planning process to ensure that each youth’s goals and visions for his future are proactively addressed; and provide follow-up support and contact with each boy and his parents/caregivers for up to 6 months following his return home. In addition, the project will stabilize the Bemidji Rock Sober Youth Group program by providing consistent adult facilitation for this project which benefits 35-40 community youth annually. Majority of these youth are returning to the Bemidji area from primary treatment and need positive peer support and structured sober activities. The United Way Venture Grant will support a portion of the overall budget for the Recovery House After-care Coordination.

Upper Mississippi Mental Health is receiving a Venture Grant in the amount of $2500 to establish a mental health resource/multi-media library. The resource library will include updated books, workbooks, and audio/visual equipment to enhance services provided by Upper Mississippi Mental Health Center. Offering updated mental health information in a variety of formats will increase the number of therapy communication modes to better fit individual preferences and needs. Therapists can use multi-media resource library to review specific concerns with clients as a psychoeducational tool. The educational material will also be well adapted to group counseling sessions, the expansion of which is much needed to alleviate Upper Mississippi Mental Health Center’s waiting list of clients currently in need of therapy in mental health or CD issues.

Venture Grant applications are available throughout the year and are due December 31^st of each year, with funding available the following March. For more information about the Venture Grant process or for an application, please call the United Way office at 444-8929 or visit the agency resources page on this website.