Social Enterprises

Second Chance Recycling

Second Chance Recycling is a social enterprise business renewing our communities by annually employing more than 100 people overcoming barriers to employment, turning mattress waste into new products, and supporting a cleaner planet. To date, we have recycled over 500,000 mattresses and kept 20 million pounds of recyclable material out of landfills.

Nielsen Metal Manufacturing

Nielsen Metal Manufacturing is our newest social enterprise business that seeks to combat the lack of tradespeople in Minnesota, specifically welders. Nielsen is a custom metal fabricator in both commercial and residential fields, with a vision to host training cohorts for the next generation of metal workers.

Furnish Office & Home

Furnish Office & Home is our nonprofit resale store where community members can find deals on an ever-changing selection of gently used office and home furniture. Furnish Office & Home provides retail and customer service experience for qualifying participants to build and diversify resumes of people overcoming barriers to employment.

Adapting to Challenges

This past year brought unprecedented challenges to the communities we serve due to the double devastation of COVID-19 and the civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd. Our team has responded in a number of ways.

To adapt to the needs of the local communities, EMERGE's staff and interns have hosted weekly food distribution events in North Minneapolis, serving over 1,800 families in the second half of the year. Finally, EMERGE created an Emergency Support Fund to support participants' immediate needs, such as rent, transportation, and winter clothing.

This work could not have been done without the dedication and support of staff, volunteers, neighboring organizations, and the communities we serve.