Independent Living Services
The Bear Creek Independent Living Services (BCILS) program supports people who have disabilities to live in locations of their choosing, with people of their choosing. BCILS staff assist individuals in many areas of their lives, depending on the person's goals and needs at the time. For example, staff may assist clients with housekeeping, cooking, budgeting, personal hygiene, and healthcare management. Staff also help clients access public transportation so that they can connect with other community members. As a person’s needs change, the area of focus for the staff can change. This program allows for smoother transitions in schedule changes with our on-call 24-hour emergency assistance service. Bear Creek staff teach skills that allow people to do more things without staff assistance, so each person can be empowered to live as independently and safely as possible.
Partner: Bear Creek Services
Dental Home for Underserved Children
The program serves children who lack dental insurance and who otherwise could not afford routine exams, dental cleanings, and comprehensive care. Staff use both school-based clinics and the CDHS office in Rochester to ensure that time, money, and transportation are not barriers to receiving care. By providing a full suite of free dental services during school visits and office follow-ups, CDHS is removing barriers to care and improving health equity for the youngest members of our community.
Partner: Children’s Dental Health Services
Pediatric Services
The Pediatric Services program will provide routine vaccinations and other preventative care, acute medical care, and wrap-around social services for children in Olmsted County. This program will establish a pediatric clinic at CHSI's Rochester office with oversight from a board-certified pediatrician. They will also host monthly pediatric clinics with a special focus on children of immigrants, seasonal farm workers, and other uninsured patients. CHSI employs a diverse and dedicated group of clinical and support staff who understand the barriers to healthcare and actively work to make patients feel welcome and safe.
Partner: Community Health Service, Inc
Medical Transportation Program
Each year, Elder Network staff coordinate approximately 1,850 rides for clients, prioritizing clients who live in low-income households and/or in rural areas of Olmsted County, those who are immigrants, and seniors who are BIPOC. Transportation is provided by volunteer drivers to and from crucial health care appointments such as medical, dental, and mental health appointments, medical equipment fitting appointments, and the pharmacy. Elder Network's Medical Transportation Program is tailored to the needs of seniors by breaking down typical logistic and financial barriers to service for seniors. Clients can book an affordable ride for a specific day and time and trust that a friendly volunteer will call to remind them the night before and be there to walk them door-to-door on the day of service.
Partner: Elder Network
Auxiliary Services for East African Women
Pamoja Women offers monthly health education programming on health issues facing East African women, assists with navigation through healthcare resources, offers interpretation and provides transportation. Often, the people served by Pamoja Women don't understand how to access the healthcare they need, face language barriers that prevent them from receiving healthcare and particularly elders don't have transportation to access healthcare. The goal of the Pamoja Women Auxiliary Services program is to ensure that women and children of East African descent can understand and access the health and wellness resources available to them without barriers. The program offers monthly health education groups, individualized medical navigation services, interpretation, and transportation for medical appointments.
Partner: Pamoja Women (fiscal sponsor: Rochester Area Foundation)
Street Medicine
The Zumbro Valley Medical Society (ZVMS) Street Medicine Initiative brings healthcare out of the traditional clinical setting and directly to people experiencing unstable housing. It involves caring for individuals in their own environments, rather than requiring them to adapt to medicines conventional settings and structures. Central to their program is a recognition of the need to build trust and gain rapport in serving a population that has faced trauma and stigma. To achieve the ZVMS Street Medicine Initiatives goal of offering high quality, compassionate healthcare to people experiencing houselessness, they provide direct care through visits to encampments, under bridges, on street corners, and in other locations where people might be; and through specialized one-day clinics in the community throughout the year.
Partner: Zumbro Valley Medical Society Foundation
Partners in Early Childhood Education
We work with community partner that provide high-quality early childhood education and childcare, because positive early educational outcomes drive success later in life.
GNCC Early Learning
GNCC Early Learning provides high-quality childcare and early education to a diverse group of Rochester area families. United Way funding helps provide scholarships for families facing financial barriers, so every child has equitable access to the best start in life.
Partner: Good News Children’s Center
School Readiness
The School Readiness program provides preschool opportunities to prepare families and children for school success. School readiness offers benefits for families who may not be able to access quality early childhood educational opportunities on their own, including preschool scholarships, parent education, community referrals, and home visits. Partner preschools receive curriculum and assessment support.
Partner: Families First of Minnesota
Byron School Readiness
Byron School Readiness gives 3-5 year-old children access to preschool education, creating affordable education and childcare through tuition scholarships. Wrap-around care options ensure that children and families get the support they need to succeed.
Partner: Byron Public Schools
Gage East Early Childhood Program
The Gage East Early Childhood program is a two-generation model working with homeless parents and young children to meet social, emotional, and developmental outcomes early on, when the chance of having a deep impact is the greatest. Developing early relationships with parents builds a strong foundation that promotes healthy brain development, builds social and emotional skills, and supports language and literacy development. Interventions including parents are as important as focusing on children themselves to achieve positive health outcomes for children and increase stability for the whole family.
Partner: Center City Housing
Partners in Youth Empowerment
Our Youth Empowerment partnerships with middle and high school youth development programs were born out of a community driven process. We invite you to learn more about how members of our community identified youth development programming as an opportunity to support Black students and families, as well as meeting with applicants and recommending programs for partnership.
Junior CERT
Junior C.E.R.T develops young leaders and supports them in getting involved in improving their community and schools, while growing their capacity to become agents of change. This program is about building a pipeline of leaders that will invest their strengths back into the Olmsted County community. Youth will participate in weekly group mentoring sessions and have the opportunity to learn from inspirational Black community members.
Partner: Barbershop & Social Services
Change You
Change You’s programming provides one-on-one and group mentorship to middle and high school youth through sports and puts an emphasis on academic achievement. They meet twice a week for tutoring, workshops, and basketball practice. Through the game of basketball, youth will learn to trust others, communicate effectively, build self-confidence, and work towards common goals together.
Partner: Change You (fiscal sponsor: Sports Mentorship Academy
8 Steps to Promotion
The 8 steps to promotion program is about equipping Black youth with the life skills they need to be successful. This program was designed from the leadership’s life experiences and what she wished she knew as a young Black woman. This program includes an 8 week workshop, mentorship, and resource navigation for youth and their families. Throughout participation, youth learn about themselves, their community, and how to build and maintain positive relationships.
Partner: Journie (fiscal sponsor: Propel Nonprofits)
After School Academic Program
Life and Community Development Corporation’s after school program educates and empowers youth and their families for successful careers, healthy lifestyles, and well-balanced relationships. Their program provides tutoring, mentoring, educational advocacy support for families, and opportunities for middle and high school youth to be creative. They ensure Black students and their families have support navigating the school system, learning and celebrating their culture, and exploring the arts.
Partner: Life and Community Development Corporation
Community-Based Sisters Save Sisters
Sisters Save Sisters’ mission is to increase the on-time graduation rate of Black girls and other girls of color in Olmsted County and set them up for successful post-secondary opportunities. Their community-based program provides volunteering, mentoring, and career exploration activities for middle and high school girls. Through one-on-one mentoring alongside group learning, these young women are building healthy relationship skills, coping skills, and improving their grades and attendance.
Partner: Sisters Save Sisters (fiscal sponsor: Barbershop & Social Services)
Sports Mentorship Academy Rec Center
Sports Mentorship Academy Rec Center furthers the mission of SMA which is to enhance academics, athletics, life, and leadership skills. The community center is designed to serve Black youth all over Olmsted County but is especially relevant to the youth in the Gage and surrounding neighborhoods. The center will offer opportunities for basketball, tutoring, STEM programs, workshops, and more. These opportunities are aimed at increasing the number of positive role models Black youth have in our community. This center will be a hub for kids of color and the organizations that serve them.
Partner: Sports Mentorship Academy
Food Shelf and Home Delivery
Channel One, the largest food bank in our region, consistently seeks new ways to support the food security ecosystem of Olmsted County. The Food Shelf has been updated to a super shelf as of 2020, prioritizing healthy foods and community needs through surveys and design choices. The Food Shelf can be accessed weekly by any household, and the Delivery Service can be accessed monthly. Delivery is facilitated through a partnership with DoorDash. Channel One implements a variety of equity-centered trainings for their staff and volunteers to be more accessible as they see an increased need for their services.
Partner: Channel One
Senior Nutrition
Family Service Rochester serves 475 elderly and homebound individuals in Olmsted County through their Senior Nutrition programs, FRESH and Meals on Wheels (MOW). Both programs are provided through FSR’s volunteer distribution base, connecting diet-appropriate meals directly to the client’s doorstep for a sliding-scale fee. FRESH provides produce and ingredients to clients from which they can prepare healthy, wholesome meals. MOW delivers hot, ready-to-eat meals to those who would otherwise be unable to prepare a meal for themselves.
Partner: Family Service Rochester
Cultural Food Program
The Cultural Food Program supplies culturally relevant foods to the considerable African and growing Latino population that Lifegate Services serves. By providing healthy, fresh, and recognizable foods to the immigrant populations they serve, Lifegate assures that African and Latino individuals and families feel home away from home. In addition, Lifegate works to reduce food waste.
Partner: Lifegate Services
Pamoja Women Food Pantry
The Pamoja Women Food Pantry began as a 6-month pilot program in collaboration with Channel One Food Bank in 2023. Over that period, they served 600 people with culturally appropriate foods such as halal meat, rice, grits, collard greens, etc. This was, additionally, a space for cultural exchange, providing opportunity for people to share recipes and ideas on how to use new food ingredients. They also piloted a culturally sensitive grocery delivery system through their all-volunteer operation. In 2024, they acquired an additional physical space through which they will operate the food pantry, continuing to work with the regional food bank as a Channel One partner agency.
Partner: Pamoja Women (fiscal sponsor: Rochester Area Foundation)
Groceries and Gardens Project
Zumbro Ridge Estates is a 115-unit low-income manufactured homes community housing cooperative. The community's residents are encouraged to take ownership of their neighborhood and actively participate in its restoration. The Groceries and Gardens Project is a multi-year plan to build and sustain the capacity of the food pantry in the housing cooperative which will feed 500 residents annually. With 2/3 of this community identifying as Latinx or Southeast Asian, there is a focus on providing culturally relevant foods heading into the future, especially when considering their plans to build raised garden beds to supplementally stock the pantry.
Partner: Zumbro Ridge Estates
Housing Stability Fund
The Housing Stability Fund helps domestic violence survivors secure and retain safe, affordable housing. The Fund helps survivors with move-in costs, such as first-month rent, damage deposits, and utility costs. Survivors who already have housing get assistance avoiding eviction by receiving support for overdue rent payments and utility expenses.
Partner: Women’s Shelter and Support Center
Access Home
Access Home is a rapid re-housing program that serves homeless individuals and families. The program provides help with housing search and placement, rental application fees and deposits, and an ongoing rent subsidy that gradually diminishes as household income and independence increases. As the program ends, people remain in their current home where they can now independently pay rent.
Partner: The Salvation Army
Eviction Prevention Program
The Eviction Prevention Program clinic is the only civic legal aid resource providing legal representation for low-income tenants facing eviction in Olmsted County. Staff attorneys help tenants defend their eviction cases by negotiating settlements, taking cases to trial, and seeking expungements. With legal representation, many tenants are able to maintain stable housing. Through expungements, the program helps tenants avoid a record of eviction that would make it more difficult to obtain housing in the future.
Partner: Legal Assistance of Olmsted County
Shelter Prevention and Diversion
Shelter Prevention and Diversion prevents families from needing to access emergency shelter by providing services to help families maintain their housing when they are at imminent risk of becoming homeless or avoiding a shelter stay when a family has already lost their housing. Prevention services can include paying delinquent rent or utilities, helping with vehicle repairs so they can continue to work, assisting with childcare, or other interventions that help to stabilize the family. Diversion services include making down payments, security deposits, or utility payments so families can secure stable housing in lieu of accessing Family Promise’s emergency shelter services.
Partner: Family Promise Rochester