Transition
Triumph— Xcel’s Sherco closure posed risks, but collaboration secured a bright future for Becker, Sherburne County. Pg. 12
Replenishing The Mission
A phone call, a connection helps nonprofit repair its well and get back to business. Pg. 46
Growing & Sowing
Community endowment funds support hometowns and neighbors in need. Pg. 28
Short on options, Morrison County steps up with innovative solutions. Pg. 36
A decade ago, Xcel Energy’s planned Sherco closure could’ve spelled disaster. Thanks to careful planning, the future now looks bright for Becker.
Friends and partners celebrate Don Hickman’s 25 years of changemaking work.
New Vice President for Community Amy Trombley puts people first in community development.
Community
Morrison
of
Get the latest highlights from Central Minnesota’s 14 counties and two Native nations.
Leech Lake Tribal Community needs new houses and a skilled workforce. An innovative program is helping build both.
Community: Balm for Loneliness
Initiative Foundation grants help to ease social isolation in Central Minnesota communities.
Foundation makes the connection for a nonprofit needing a new well.
Students connect with community, culture as they make jingle dresses, moccasins—and do beadwork.
Here we are in another season of change. As we embrace longer days and warmer weather, we also navigate uncertainties in our economy and rural communities. Change can be daunting, but we are often more equipped to handle it than we realize— especially when we work together.
The Initiative Foundation was created nearly four decades ago to guide Central Minnesota’s people and places through change—large and small, easy and hard. We remain rooted in the work. This issue of IQ Magazine highlights the many ways we partner to support change and transition, and how there’s ample opportunity when we welcome change and respond thoughtfully.
With Sherco’s planned closure of its coal-burning plant, the city of Becker is now a decade into its transition and today is embracing a new employer, data centers, and one of the country’s largest solar fields. At Camp Ripley and in Little Falls, creative childcare leaders are pioneering new models to better support families and workers. Community funds across the region are adapting to meet emerging hometown needs, while in the Brainerd area, a son takes over a donor-advised fund to continue his late father’s local generosity. In the Leech Lake Tribal economy, a grant program is training band members in the construction trades to add and improve local housing options.
Here at the Initiative Foundation, the retirement of longtime leader and friend Don Hickman leaves a quarter-century legacy while opening space for new leadership and new ideas in community programming.
These stories hold valuable lessons for navigating change.
Sometimes, it’s doing the next best thing right in front of you, again and again, until you arrive at a new destination.
Sometimes, like in the case of Becker, it’s discovering your power after initially feeling helpless.
Sometimes, it’s relearning the wisdom of our ancestors and teaching it to new generations, like Mille Lacs Band member Wanetta Thompson is doing with her nonprofit, Bear Paws Cultural Art.
Always, it’s about coming together to create solutions that work for all.
Read on to be inspired by change. And thank you, as always, for your commitment to building healthy, vital economies and communities in Central Minnesota.
Brian Voerding PRESIDENT
VOLUME 41, SPRING 2025
Initiative Foundation
President | Brian Voerding
Marketing & Communications
Director | Bob McClintick
Marketing & Communications Specialist | Allison Norgren
Editorial
Managing Editor | Andy Steiner
Writer | Kevin Allenspach
Writer | Suzy Frisch
Writer | Maria Surma Manka
Writer | Lisa Meyers McClintick
Writer | Andy Steiner
Writer | Gene Rebeck
Art
Art Director | Dan MacLaughlin
Photographer | John Linn
Photographer | Nedahness Rose Greene
Advertising
Advertising Director | Brian Lehman
Advertiser Services | Julie Engelmeyer
Advertising Sales Representative | Wendy Hendricks
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Young people with disabilities may struggle to achieve independence after they age out of school. Thanks to a grant from the Royalton Education Foundation, an Initiative Foundation Partner Fund, they can now work on essential life skills—like folding laundry, making beds, and home maintenance—in a mock apartment at the school. The apartment includes space for young adults to practice leisure and hobbies. Royalton special education teacher Jolene Cherne says practicing these skills builds self-esteem and prepares them for the workforce.
Long Prairie newcomers now have an added layer of help in their native language at the WAVE/ Saludos Center. The mostly volunteer staff identified translation services as a need when helping newcomers, primarily Latinos, with everything from finding childcare to navigating vehicle licensing. An Initiative Foundation grant supports interpreting and translation services for clients navigating a new place and culture.
A large road construction project on highways 10, 71 and 29 will disrupt Wadena travel this summer. An Initiative Foundation grant is paving the way for a Wadena Development Authority (WDA) project to help affected businesses. The WDA is developing plans to encourage local spending and bring tourists to the area through marketing, live entertainment and special deals. Access to businesses will be maintained, but patrons will likely have to navigate gravel surfaces, temporary sidewalks or detours.
The Walker Area Food Shelf has a fresh website and solid client data with support from an Initiative Foundation grant. With new data-collection technology, staff have gleaned more client information that has helped to grow the donor base by 40 percent while also attracting $60,000 in new grant funding. Staff call the refreshed website a “game changer” that has boosted donor confidence in the organization.
Husband and wife duo David Shilo and Felicia Fehn recently purchased Senior Class Community in Pequot Lakes and graced it with a new name: Caring Hearts Senior Community. An Initiative Foundation loan supported the purchase of the 15-unit facility. Built in 2004, the senior-living facility features a deck and commons room frequently used for parties, live music, barbeques and craft events.
A new communication board at the Milaca Elementary School playground is helping children with speech impairments better communicate with classmates and staff. Initiative Foundation-hosted Rum River Community Foundation provided a grant to help purchase the board, which includes images of more than 50 nouns and verbs. Sonia Hammill, pediatric occupational therapist, calls the board a valuable tool that helps students communicate needs and wants they cannot verbalize.
“The Initiative Foundation is instrumental in the work Lakes and Pines does. From programs offered on grant writing and funding summits to funding grants needed to support the work being done in East Central Minnesota, the Initiative Foundation is a valuable asset.”
– Dawn van Hees, Lakes and Pines Community Action Council
Community Action Respecting Elders (CARE) has been serving Foley-area senior citizens with chore services, food programs, respite care and more for 20 years—15 of those under the leadership of executive director Connie Cardinal. A Compeer Financial grant, administered by the Initiative Foundation, is helping the organization with succession planning. Jen Kipka has been hired as assistant director and will learn the ropes over the next year to ensure their vital work continues.
Amy and Kevin Drehmel are passionate about the Compassion Connection, a nonprofit they created eight years ago to serve Becker-area foster and adoptive families. Supported by dedicated volunteers, the organization has served hundreds of families and thousands of children. A 2024 Initiative Foundation grant helped the organization hire a consultant to develop a business plan for its expanded services and streamline its accounting practices, guided by the belief that every child is one caring adult away from success.
An Initiative Foundation loan is helping Sauk Centre’s Eagle’s Healing Nest continue its mission to support soldiers, veterans and their families by providing food, housing and support services. The loan, in partnership with United Prairie Bank and Minnesota National Bank, helped the Nest navigate financial hardship by replacing a contract for deed with a mortgage. “The place and what it was doing for veterans seemed too important to fail,” said Executive Director Shawn Kor.
A once-vacant downtown Waverly building is now full of life and movement, thanks to a remodel by its new tenant, Persevere Dance Project. With support from an Initiative Foundation loan, Kasey Dumonceaux relocated her studio, fulfilling her dream of teaching recreational and competitive dance to children, youth and adults. She and her father, Mark, added sweat equity by renovating the space and bringing it to life.
An updated housing analysis identified the need for more senior housing and expanded rental options in Chisago County. The study, funded by an Initiative Foundation grant, was commissioned by the Chisago County Housing and Redevelopment Authority and Economic Development Authority in response to a more than 4 percent growth in population since 2020. Researchers gathered data through stakeholder meetings and surveys.
Dental health is vital to overall well-being, yet it often doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Supported by a grant from the Memorial Hospital Foundation, Children’s Dental Services in 2024 provided free dental care for 500 children and adults at more than 20 Central Minnesota locations. The Memorial Hospital Foundation is a Partner Fund of the Initiative Foundation.
A grant is helping the Lakes and Pines Community Action Council in Mora create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for its clients. The organization helps people in need with everything from tax assistance to home improvements and energy aid. Funding from Compeer Financial, administered by the Initiative Foundation, helped Lakes and Pines hire a consultant to review its policies and update its signage to make the space more welcoming to the people it serves.
Dorms on a lake? Yes, please! Pine Technical and Community College recently partnered with a private investor to turn the former Lakeside Medical Center and Nursing Home into dorm-style living for students. The 80-room complex in Pine City features community spaces and an enclosed walkway to access a new student recreation center. An Initiative Foundation loan supported the project. The Greater Pine Area Endowment, a Partner Fund of the Initiative Foundation, funded amenities for community spaces.
The Leech Lake Tribal community needs new houses and a skilled workforce. An innovative program is helping build both.
By Gene Rebeck | Photography by Nedahness Greene
Joanne Paquette’s inspiration to pursue a residential construction career struck when she realized she could be the one to make needed repairs at her parents’ Cass Lake home.
“That made me want to know more,” she said. Paquette also saw numerous employment opportunities in the construction field: “You can’t go wrong by going this route.”
Paquette originally planned to pursue a degree in business when she enrolled at Leech Lake Tribal College last spring. She quickly realized, though, that a business career would likely lead to a “sitdown” job. “I need to be up and actively moving,” Paquette said with a chuckle. She also realized she liked working with her hands and “seeing the progress of a project going from nothing to something. Or fixing something and thinking, ‘Wow, I did that.’”
A new program launched in late 2024 has helped Paquette and other Leech Lake Tribal College students build new career paths while helping to improve their community. Supported by a $186,000 Initiative Foundation grant to Leech Lake Financial
Services and Leech Lake Tribal College, and co-managed by Region 5 Development Commission, this workforce and housing development program aims to help 18 tribal college students earn construction and electrical credentials.
Funded by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), with additional support from the Wilson Family Fund and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, the grant also established a partnership with Leech Lake Tribal Housing and Habitat for Humanity in Brainerd. Under the nonprofits’ mentorship, students will build homes and assist in energy-efficiency projects on tribal land. Once they complete the program, students are nearly assured full-time jobs with regional utilities and residential construction specialists.
Rob Aitken, executive director at Leech Lake Financial Services, said the program’s timing couldn’t be better. “From the community’s perspective, [this program is] absolutely wonderful because it’s creating an economy on the reservation that never really existed before,” he said.
OPPORTUNITY: “From the community’s perspective, [this program is] absolutely wonderful because it’s creating an economy on the reservation that never really existed before.”
Among its many activities, Leech Lake Financial Services educates potential homebuyers and prequalifies them for mortgages once they’re ready to take the leap. But Aitken can tell you that wouldbe Leech Lake homebuyers still face a significant barrier: “There’s never anything to buy!”
A recent study indicates an immediate need for 600 houses on Leech Lake land, Aitkin said. While the community is actively building 20 new houses, the larger goal is to “create a workforce in single-family housebuilding for all the rest of the homes that need to be built on the reservation,” he said.
Don Hickman, who retired in January as the Initiative Foundation’s vice president for community and workforce development, has continued to work in a part-time capacity to help manage this and several other projects.
“I really want to see this one to completion because it’s a project that I’m infinitely proud of,” he said. “Leech Lake is a community with an acute need and a great deal of housing insecurity. To be able to create employment opportunities for Leech Lake students while they improve their community and create new career paths is just about as sweet a program as I’ve ever been involved in.”
The Tribal college oversees and guides the students. Leech Lake Financial Services, a certified Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, pays student wages, covers childcare and mileage reimbursements and disburses stipends when students meet their milestones.
Jeff Phillips, senior project manager for the Staples-based Region 5 Development Commission, handles day-to-day operations, including setting up monthly training events at the tribal college or Otter Tail Power facilities.
Students also gain on-the-job experience with the Leech Lake Housing Authority, solar and clean energy construction firms, and power companies. There is no single “track” students must follow. However, they are required to complete 160 hours of combined
training and work experience.
“They’re not just going to a job site and working on a house for all their hours,” Phillips said. “They’re going to get a little bit of everything.” While some students elect to work with the housing authority on homebuilding projects, others have opted to gain experience at the Cass Lake-Bena High School, where they’ll help install new highefficiency HVAC systems and energy-efficient windows.
Rounding out the partnership is Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program (CEP), which manages the required documentation to comply with the grant guidelines, including program enrollment and the milestones students achieve.
As of early February, 13 students were participating in the program, and five more are expected to join soon.
“We’re working to build capacity with the housing authority and other organizations in this sector,” Phillips said, “and we hope that construction at the school district buildings will commence this summer.”
Aitken, for one, is proud of the progress being made. “We lag in just about every economic category”—including housing, home ownership and jobs, he said. “The partnership with the Initiative Foundation fills a big hole because we’re creating more course development on the reservation in the residential construction area. This is an absolutely wonderful thing for our community.”
Paquette’s pride is growing, too. She can list an array of skills she’s learned in the program: framing, trim work, drywall, roof trusses, flooring and more. She now looks forward to helping Leech Lake build the housing it needs to meet demand.
And she still has her sights on her parents’ place. “My goal is to build them a new house, whether from scratch or on the current foundation,” she said. Whatever plan she pursues, Paquette knows she will be building a future for herself, her family and her community.
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A decade-old decision to decommission the coal-fired Sherco plant could have had grave implications for the city of Becker and Sherburne County. Collaboration with Xcel Energy and a coalition of others has paved the way for a bright future.
By Kevin Allenspach | Photography by John Linn
Tracy
Bertram remembers the day she learned that her hometown, the city of Becker, would change forever.
It was the fall of 2014, and Bertram was serving her second City Council term. She represented nearly 5,000 residents whose economy and identity had been linked to the nearby Sherburne County Generating Station since it opened in 1976. Sherco, as the station is commonly known, was responsible for 330 high-paying union jobs. It accounted for 77 percent of Becker’s tax base and about 14 percent of the county tax base. It truly powered the schools, community centers, and much of local government.
Like most people in the area, Bertram can look out the windows of her home and see the familiar smokestacks with their winking lights dotting the skyline. There was no hint of disturbance when she learned that Ron Brevig, then plant director, and Cindy Shore, Sherco’s business support manager, wanted to talk to the council. Both had been with Xcel for more than three decades.
“It was a courtesy meeting, as I remember, and these were people we talked to quite often,” Bertram said. “There was no other business, and there probably weren’t a half-dozen other people on hand. It was short-term and a quick turnaround.”
The meeting had massive consequences. Sherco’s three units not only routinely electrified 1.5 million homes but also were Minnesota’s largest source of carbon emissions (the 10.5 million tons they would release in 2022 were equivalent to the exhaust of two million cars). As cleaner options of wind, solar, and nuclear energy gained capacity, coal became less appealing and efficient. An official announcement wouldn’t come for almost another year, but Brevig and Shore needed the council to know one thing: Sherco was shutting down.
“There was no sugar-coating it,” Bertram said. “They basically told us, ‘This is what we’re doing and this is what’s going to happen.’” It was, she said, a pivotal moment. “We could have just said, ‘Well, it’s been fun.’ But we said, ‘Uh-uh. Let’s grab a pencil and a piece of paper and sketch out how we’re going to solve this.’ I recognized it as the opportunity for Becker either to just become a wayside rest stop or be a place that my children will be happy about.”
It wasn’t going to be easy. Economic transition would be a heavy lift. Government support often needs a long runway. And many hands would have to pull together to power a new era.
For almost 40 years, the Initiative Foundation has supported economic development in 14 counties and two Native nations in Central Minnesota—and done so with a focus on renewable energy. Reverberations of the Sherco announcement immediately reached Don Hickman, then vice president for community and workforce development at the Initiative Foundation. (Hickman retired in January 2025.)
“From a conservationist standpoint, it was good news,” said Hickman, who worked as an environmental consultant in Utah and Minnesota before joining the Initiative Foundation in 1999. But he couldn’t forget the impact of past work he’d done with a group funded by the Rockefeller Family Foundation. Called the Just Transition Fund, it included all coal-dependent communities, whether mining or power plant sites.
“I remember a union leader from the coal country of Appalachia who said, ‘Brothers and sisters, every time conservationists cheer the closure of a coal plant, you need to know how many families are now going to struggle to feed their children.’ My heart just hit my shoes,” Hickman said, “because it was real and those communities had struggled for a long time. You can’t ignore those economic consequences.”
Hickman did feel a sense of relief that the city of Becker and Sherburne County would have time to figure out how they would recover from the loss of this key employer. “Xcel gave us 10 years,” he said. “No one in the country gets 10 years to diversify an economy.”
Xcel began transitioning from coal in 2006 and had shuttered 10 plants around the country by the time of the Becker decision. Sherco Unit 2 shut down in 2023, and Unit 1 is scheduled to follow next year. When Unit 3 goes idle in 2030, Xcel will be completely divested of coal, having closed or converted 30 plants.
“We’ve done this at more than 20 locations across the United States without layoffs so far, and we want to accomplish this again,” said Michelle Schmitz, who became local manager of community relations for Xcel last April, succeeding Mark Osendorf, who was with the company for 37 years. “That’s the standard if we do it in phases, bring on the right renewable, and keep the grid reliable.”
Any workers who want a job will be employed at another Xcel facility, but that likely means leaving Becker, if not Sherburne County, and each departing worker takes families and tax dollars with them. So, there were difficult conversations to have about how to pivot. One of the first came on a brutally cold night in St. Cloud during a meeting with members of the dozen unions that support Sherco.
“I walked in, and, even though I was on time, I was clearly the last person there,” Hickman said. “The biggest, unionist-looking guy said, ‘Nothing you can do will replace the quality of the jobs we’re losing.’ I said, ‘I know.’ His face fell, and he said, ‘Oh, I never thought you were going to be honest with us. If you’re here to be truthful, what are we going to do?’”
Hickman’s response was honest and clear. “I said, ‘I don’t know. That’s why I’m here—to learn from you.’”
Hickman began working with Bertram, who became mayor in 2016, a position she held for the next eight years. The pair tapped into Dan Weber, assistant Sherburne County administrator, and Jacob Sanders, Becker community development director, to mobilize and investigate what the city government could do. Weber then traveled to Colorado to see how a similar community had transitioned from coal, and Sanders dug into what potential businesses might find a home where Sherco had thrived for so long.
Bertram engaged politicians from both sides of the aisle to gain support in the Minnesota Legislature, and Hickman used his contacts to learn that the McKnight Foundation, a major force in funding climate solutions for Minnesota, would be receptive to talking about a partnership. Soon, the Initiative Foundation was entrusted with three bi-annual
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$200,000 grants to support feasibility studies, pre-engineering, public engagement, and pilot projects to diversify the economy. The investment leveraged $27 million in state bonding to improve the infrastructure necessary to attract new business.
“The work in Becker with Sherco was a key driver in helping to shift the landscape and say, ‘This is possible. These are things we can do, and communities can benefit.’ People nationally are taking note.”
“This is emblematic of what we believe is possible through the power of partnership,” said Ben Passer, program director of McKnight’s Midwest Climate & Energy program. “It’s a powerful example of local leaders working with a key actor in a utility and with philanthropy and advocacy organizations. Everyone came together early in the process to understand what was happening.” A lot has changed over 10 years, Passer said, when the idea of a statewide 100 percent clean energy mandate still seemed far off.
“The federal landscape has shifted significantly several times. But it demonstrates the ability of locally driven, community-based solutions being core to how change happens,” Passer said. “The work in Becker with Sherco was a key driver in helping to shift the landscape and say, ‘This is possible. These are things we can do, and communities can benefit.’ People nationally are taking note.”
In 2022, Xcel announced a solar project that would replace some of the power from the coal-fired units. Sherco Solar 1 came online on Oct. 31, 2024, and a second array is expected to be up later this year, coinciding with the start of construction on a third. Eventually, these arrays will power some 150,000 homes. Covering more than 3,000 acres, it will be the fifth-largest solar field in the nation and generate 400 union construction jobs, ongoing operations and maintenance employment, and an estimated $350 million in local economic benefits through payments to landowners and governments. It’s all part of Xcel’s goal to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2030 and achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050.
“They’re very much real goals to us,” Schmitz said. “We’ve made substantial progress. We’re at a 57 percent reduction in carbon emissions compared to 2005 levels, and the grid is at 64 percent carbon-free energy.”
Because Xcel’s customers are in some of the sunnier and windier areas of the country, she said, and the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine, “we’re able to power a lot of our needs with wind and solar. Nuclear plants complement our renewables, and we’re looking at
alternative fuels to reach our 2050 goal, like hydrogen and advanced forms of energy storage.”
Xcel is creating a 10-megawatt, 100-hour battery storage facility to ensure reliability when wind and solar are at lower production. And construction of the Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line will connect 2,000 megawatts of low-cost solar and wind energy from southwestern Minnesota. Suddenly, Becker is transforming into a clean energy hub that looks increasingly attractive to some major new industries.
One of the first companies to move in was Northern Metals Recycling, forced to relocate from Minneapolis in 2019 because the area around its former Twin Cities site had become too developed to withstand exposure to potential health risks.
“The leaders in Sherburne County and Becker saw that as an opportunity,” Hickman said. “Where do we find an industrial park with distance from a concentrated population, easy access to a rail spur, and a source of clean energy? So, the train that literally brought coal into Sherco now brings in scrap metal and takes processed metal back out.”
Northern Metals has a 75-acre property with plenty of buffer around its facility. It employs about 160 people at unionized wages similar to those at Sherco.
Then in 2024, Microsoft and Amazon bought sites for data centers, and city development officials like Sanders are cultivating a third that is yet to be announced. Data centers provide computer storage systems crucial to connectivity and the expansion of artificial intelligence. They require substantial electricity, have their own goals for clean energy and so are attracted to sites where it’s easiest to achieve both. More than 1,000 construction jobs will be needed to create the data centers, which then require a small staff to operate.
While some may call the data center construction jobs temporary, they stretch over an extended timeline and bring
ancillary benefits for housing and commercial growth. “Not only is this going to replace what we’ve lost,” Sanders said, “it represents a change in Becker’s economic landscape. Without all the people aligned on where this is going, without our planning commission, the EDA, the City Council—the list goes on and on—we wouldn’t have been able to take action.”
Weber said the impact of the Initiative Foundation on the Sherco project cannot be overestimated. For example, it provided $2,500 for a consultant who helped land a $1 million rail grant.
“The decision to close Sherco wasn’t ours, but we’re doing our best to replace it and make lemonade out of lemons,” he said. “I don’t know if it will be better, but it’s going to be different. We’re changing with the times because we were forced to do so. Our elected officials empowered us to start working on this a long time ago. Hopefully, we can be a blueprint for other communities that might face the same thing.”
Times change and life moves on. At the last election, Bertram lost the mayoral race to Mark Kolbinger, who has assumed leadership of a city that has come through a lot. Bertram, a health insurance underwriter, has joined the Initiative Foundation board of trustees and believes Becker’s future will be bright.
“I think we’re as well-positioned as we ever have been,” she said. “Initially, it was doomsday. Nobody knew what our future would look like, and it was scary. But we discovered how the public and private sectors can work together to share ideas and great partnerships.”
As a result, Becker, once known for its enormous, aging coal plants, is now home to one of the greenest industrial parks in America. Perhaps it’s not surprising that this evolution has been covered on CNN and the front page of the New York Times
Mojo Marine MN and Lakes Area Repair, Jenkins
Kampco STM Property, St. Michael
Eagle’s Healing Nest, Sauk Centre
Arbor Hair Studio, Waite Park
Laarri Media Group, St. Cloud*
Caring Hearts Senior Community, Pequot Lakes
Credent Care, St. Cloud
WhiteBox Marketing, Brainerd
Platinum Homes, St. Cloud
Firehouse Bar and Grill, Milaca
African Pinkylicious Braiding Salon, Waite Park
Dunias Home Décor, St. Cloud*
Central Towing Service, St. Cloud*
Yenko, St. Cloud*
Last Turn Brew Pub, Brainerd
Persevere Dance Project, Waverly
One Heartland, Inc., Willow River
Viva Tobacco & More, Long Prairie
Mac Daddy’s Donut Garage, Ironton
Lakes Area Mat Service, Brainerd
To learn more about the Initiative Foundation’s lending program, or to see if your project is a fit, visit ifound.org and select “Business Services” in the navigation.
With a special IRS designation that recognizes lending as a charitable purpose to alleviate poverty and create quality jobs, Initiative Foundation loans are contributing to a diversified economy in Central Minnesota. The Initiative Foundation is certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution. Loans signified by an asterisk (*) are supported by the
of
Foundation. Learn more at cdfifund.gov.
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By Kevin Allenspach | Photography by John Linn
If it seems like everybody knows Don Hickman, that’s because his efforts have helped transform economic development and energy in Central Minnesota for a quarter-century. He can pass the torch, but his legacy is here to stay, and his heart will always be in the work.
When Don Hickman began his career, social media consisted of a hearty handshake and “Hello.” Long after modern technology made it easier and faster to reach people from a distance, Hickman still climbed into a succession of Toyota Priuses with the firm belief that it’s better to meet people where they are—and that hours of windshield time are worth any minutes that matter.
His sunny personality, sensitive listening, and incomparable mental Rolodex made Hickman a true influencer before the term meant “Internet celebrity.” For more than two decades, commuting
from his home in Merrifield, Hickman has lived and breathed the ambitions of the Initiative Foundation. He’s channeled resources to advance entrepreneurship and has connected nonprofits, local units of government, and schools to create childcare and housing solutions. His work has been primarily rural and regional, but his networks are nationwide.
“Face-to-face is very important for trust and credibility, so, in our business, there aren’t too many people I’ve never met,” said Hickman, who retired in January 2025. “I can’t think of a job that
has been more fulfilling.”
It remains to be seen just what “retirement” will mean for Hickman. In February, he stepped into a part-time role as a community development officer. He will continue to offer counsel and a warm handoff for Amy Trombley, new vice president for community, and Elizabeth Mboutchom, who assumes his considerable work in clean energy.
“Don is interwoven into the fabric of who we are, and this is a momentous time,” said Initiative Foundation President Brian Voerding, who came to the organization in 2021 after working in economic development in the Winona area. “He’s been an exceptional mentor, guide, and leading light for me, and I’d say his reputation precedes him. His connections in rural development are rich, and there truly aren’t words to describe his legacy and impact.”
Hickman was born in Iowa, where his grandparents had a farm, and grew up in Madison, Wis., where his father was a professor. In 1970, Don’s elementary school class participated in the first Earth Day, picking up garbage on the shore of Lake Mendota, and he was hooked on the feeling that came with doing good and bringing people together for a common cause.
Hickman studied biology at the University of Minnesota and in 1986 earned a master’s degree in water chemistry at Western Colorado State. Along the way, he was a trail guide, park ranger, lab director, and policy analyst. While pursuing a Ph.D. in aquatic ecology, Hickman spent part of 1994 living on a raft in the Grand Canyon, where he studied the endangered humpback chub and was introduced to his wife, Sandy. They were engaged within six months, and Don returned to Minnesota to marry Sandy in the spring of 1996.
In the late 1990s, Hickman worked as an Initiative Foundation contractor for several years for founding President Kathy Gaalswyk. His job was to focus on environmental grants to promote healthy lakes and rivers. In 2001, Gaalswyk decided it would be useful to have someone on staff with a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) background who loved to solve problems.
“Working with Don required some adjustment,” said Gaalswyk, who retired in 2016 after 30 years of Initiative Foundation leadership. “He can create the longest grammatically correct sentences of anyone I know, and his ability to retain details, dates, and history is phenomenal. He has an amazing mind—to the point of being kind of a nerd. Yet he’s also very relatable, gentle, and kind, committed to his principles and beliefs. Bringing him on was one of the best decisions I ever made for the organization.”
Perhaps Hickman’s crowning achievement has been helping the city of Becker and Sherburne County adapt to Xcel Energy’s transition of the Sherco power plant from coal to solar energy.
It was a nerve-wracking time for former Becker mayor Tracy Bertram.
“Don had great ideas and connected us with everybody,” Bertram said. “Sometimes I would think, ‘I don’t know why I’m doing this, but Don said to do it.’” During “bonding tours,” where state lawmakers ride around on a bus, Bertram recalled that Hickman eased her fears. “He’s like, ‘You have to get them here and show them what is happening.’ He probably knew 28 of the 29 people on hand. It got to the point where every time somebody of importance came to Becker, we would make sure Don was there.”
Just having Hickman in the audience when she was at a speaking engagement helped keep her cool: “It set a comfort level for me,” Bertram said. “Here we are, coming out the other side now, and there’s no way we could have done it without him.”
Hickman’s impact is also hidden in smaller projects that are just as important to those they benefit. Nancy Hoffman, one of his first grant applicants, said she has leaned on Hickman during the 13 years she’s served as director of the Chisago County HRA and EDA, where Hickman recently helped leverage $115,000 for a childcare initiative and provided funding for a study to determine how to target workforce housing solutions.
“Don is helpful without telling you what to do,” Hoffman said. “I’ve always thought he challenged me. It was like, ‘Let’s strive to get more participation from more organizations.’ Everything he thought about was a little bigger and a little better than what we might’ve attempted on our own.”
Hickman still has a role in administering Minnesota Main Street Economic Revitalization grants, a state program that invests in downtown revitalization across Greater Minnesota. Over the past two years, the Initiative Foundation delivered $4.5 million during the program’s initial round. The support drove more than $25 million in additional private investments in six communities. A second round of $500,000 will start this spring to support business improvements in five Central Minnesota communities.
Even on his toughest days, Hickman believes his work makes a positive difference in other people’s lives. “Whenever I had a bad day and was feeling like, ‘I didn’t accomplish anything this week,’ I’d look down the hall and someone would be fighting methamphetamine addiction, and someone else would be encouraging youth development programs, and someone else would be supporting children with an incarcerated parent,” he said.
While many of those programs have transitioned or changed, Hickman is inspired by the fact that the Initiative Foundation will always be looking toward the next challenge: “I’m so appreciative that I had the chance to go on this ride. It sure made it easier to leap out of bed every morning and sleep well at night. As you might tell, I love this work. I can’t quit cold turkey. If I can add value, I’ll be there.”
Amy Trombley is stepping into her new role as vice president for community at the Initiative Foundation with a focus on collaboration, inclusivity, and sustainable impact. With a commitment to “generous ownership” and leveraging partnerships, Trombley aims to strengthen regional efforts in childcare, workforce development, and affordable housing.
A St. Cloud native and St. Cloud State University alumna, Trombley previously served as vice president of education at United Way of Central Minnesota. She succeeds Don Hickman, who retired after 25 years of high-impact community and workforce development work.
We sat down with Trombley to ask about her vision for fostering relationships, empowering leaders, and addressing key community challenges across Central Minnesota.
What excites you about your new role at the Initiative Foundation?
AT: I’m excited about the role because of the Initiative Foundation’s strong commitment to creating lasting, positive impact in our community. The Foundation’s work spans so many areas— economic development, supporting nonprofits, advancing community initiatives—and I’m eager to be part of this mission. The breadth and
depth of the region we serve make it a compelling opportunity, and I look forward to collaborating with local leaders, citizens and organizations to continue to create brighter futures together.
How does your skillset align with the Initiative Foundation’s mission?
AT: I’ve spent time working in roles that focus on community development and supporting local organizations, and I’ve seen firsthand how transformative these efforts can be. The Initiative Foundation’s vision of fostering economic growth, supporting community organizations, and creating opportunities for all is a mission that deeply resonates with me, and I’m excited to contribute my experience and expertise to help further those goals. I am truly fortunate to love the work that I get to do every day and leverage my skills and talents to make Central Minnesota an even greater place to live, work and play.
How do you collaborate with partners on big issues?
AT: I like to embrace the idea of “generous ownership,” because I think it’s essential to recognize that each partner brings unique strengths, skills and expertise. I’ve seen Initiative Foundation hold
different roles in supporting community collaboration, and it’s something I plan to lean into and develop over time. We can serve as conveners, bringing a variety of voices and perspectives together to shape and strengthen collective action. We can support impactful work by securing funds and providing grants to organizations already doing great work aligned with our mission of building and sustaining vibrant communities. And, at times, we lead essential programs to drive initiatives forward. This flexible approach ensures that we build relationships and contribute where needed while supporting the work to shine within our region. Ultimately, the focus is on shared responsibility and fostering collaboration for meaningful, lasting impact.
What issues will continue to be important in the upcoming years?
AT: Childcare will remain critical. It’s a structural, generational, nationwide challenge that will take collective efforts to shift an essential system within each of our communities to allow for quality, safe childcare that is affordable and accessible. A focus on workforce development will also be key as we support career pathways, skill development and accessibility to livable wage jobs and careers. Housing and affordable housing continues to rise to the top of community-level issues. Within all of this, and in alignment with our changing demographics, it’s important that we maintain our ability to welcome, respect and support all people by fostering inclusivity, connecting people to opportunities, and create environments where people can thrive. These issues require sustained collaboration and a collective commitment to building stronger, more connected and brighter future for all.
What’s the most important part of the work?
AT: The most important part of our work at the Initiative Foundation is building and sustaining strong, trusted relationships within Central Minnesota and the broader community. By deeply understanding local needs and opportunities, we can deliver the right resources at the right time, ensuring meaningful impact. Whether through grants, partnerships, or convening stakeholders, we focus on fostering collaboration and empowering others to lead. This relational approach allows us to respond effectively to community challenges, strengthen regional capacity, and create long-lasting impact. Ultimately, our work is about connecting people, ideas and resources to support the region’s growth and resilience.
As the clean energy and community resiliency program officer, Elizabeth Mboutchom leads the Initiative Foundation’s efforts to partner with rural communities as they work to identify, fund, and implement clean energy, infrastructure and community resiliency solutions.
“I am excited to work with amazing people dedicated to creating lasting, positive change,” said Mboutchom, who joined the organization in 2025 in a new position supported by the McKnight Foundation. “I love the strong sense of community in Greater Minnesota, where people are kind, supportive and willing to work together.”
A St. Cloud native, Mboutchom gained foundational experience serving in the Peace Corps in Madagascar. She holds a master’s in environmental management and sustainability from the University of South Australia. Mboutchom has extensive experience in community engagement and will use those skills to work with Central Minnesota leaders to understand their needs and identify resources to help build more resilient communities.
Reach out to Mboutchom at emboutchom@ifound.org to discuss partnership opportunities.
Scan the QR code or visit our staff page on ifound.org to learn more.
1) Initiative Foundation board and committee members joined with staff and other partners in December 2024 for an end end-of-year gathering in Little Falls. Attendees celebrated the year’s achievements while honoring outgoing board members and welcoming new trustees. Pictured: Tony Buttacavoli, Family Pathways executive director, an Initiative Foundation grantee.
2) Seven students graduated from the Foundation’s fall 2024 Enterprise Academy cohort in Long Prairie. The graduates have business ideas ranging from commercial imprinting to a construction company and clothing store.
3) Cohort members of the 2024-2025 Initiators Fellowship gathered in October for a quarterly convening. The Foundation, and its three Minnesota Initiative Foundation partners are recruiting for the 2026-2027 Fellowship. Learn more at fellows.greaterminnesota.net.
4) Local economic development leaders, including Zach Tabatt of the Initiative Foundation and Matt Varilek, former Initiative Foundation president and current commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, toured Advanced Interconnect Technologies in January. An Initiative Foundation loan client, the St. Cloud company manufactures products for the military, defense and commercial air and space industries.
5) About 25 nonprofit staff from 13 organizations gathered for a February training at Saint John’s University in Collegeville to learn about the risks and rewards of using artificial intelligence to advance their work. The session was led by university faculty and staff.
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$5,000+
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• First National Bank of Milaca
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• Buffalo Hospital on behalf of Allina Health System
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By Lisa Meyers McClintick | Photography by John Linn
Families that struggle to put food on the table while facing rising rent and higher energy bills know they can find help at Community Aid of Elk River (CAER) and its food shelf. Those with school-aged children also know they can grab a pre-packed, ready-to-go weekend care kit at the end of every week.
Each Kids Weekend CAER Package includes milk, cereal or oatmeal, bread or pasta, meat, fresh produce, and sometimes pizzas. It’s a way to feed kids when they don’t have access to free breakfast and lunch at school.
“We do about 120 kids packs every Thursday and Friday,” said Heather Kliewer, executive director at CAER. “They can just stop in.”
Frequent grants to support CAER and its weekend care packages have come from the Three Rivers Community Foundation (TRCF), an endowed fund managed by the Initiative Foundation. Grants from the community foundation also have helped CAER stock culturally specific foods like fufu flour and fresh produce, including habanero peppers, sweet potato greens and kittley—a bitter, tiny eggplant supplied by the Minnesota African Immigrant Farmers Association.
Kliewer has seen the relief wash over the faces of parents who pick up weekend CAER kits. She’s also seen the excitement of food shelf customers who discover ingredients that provide the comfort of familiar family recipes. The array of options lets residents know their
struggles are recognized and that someone is looking out for them.
“We saw about 7,400 individuals last year,” Kliewer said— about 1,000 more than the food shelf served in 2023. Support from Three Rivers Community Foundation, she said, has helped the food shelf manage and meet increasing local demand.
Across Central Minnesota, community funds serve an essential role by supporting food shelves, nonprofit programs, arts and culture initiatives, and investing in projects that create a richer sense of place.
“I really see community foundations playing a central role in supporting all of the great work going on in a community,” said Amy Gray, community philanthropy manager at the Initiative Foundation. “Creating a community fund is like planting an apple tree. You don’t eat the whole tree. You nurture it, harvest the apples year after year and use them to make good things.”
Established in 1989 as the Greater Elk River Area Foundation, the fund was created on the belief that a local community foundation can spur economic development by investing directly in the area it serves. Renamed the Three Rivers Community Foundation in 1991, it focuses on four areas: social, cultural and leisure; public issues and information; human services; and education and lifelong Learning.
Guided by a binding agreement, the Initiative Foundation manages and invests the fund’s assets and assures legal compliance.
The Foundation’s back-shop services enable volunteer advisory team members to focus on fundraising and grantmaking to enhance the quality of life in Elk River, Otsego, Rogers and Zimmerman.
“I call it ‘smart money’ because it allows the community to invest in itself for long-term projects,” said David Monroy, a former Three Rivers Community Foundation board member and immediate past chair of the Initiative Foundation’s board of trustees.
Today, the Initiative Foundation’s Partner Fund program features more than 130 funds, including 11 community funds, 11 education funds and an array of donor-advised and agency funds that benefit specific causes such as early childhood education, public lands or lake associations, nonprofits and schools.
Initiative Foundation-held community funds have broad goals to help residents of all ages. Grants from the funds provide student scholarships and support for senior citizens, veterans, and teens experiencing homelessness. They also provide furniture and clothing for families in need, supplement local food shelves, and align with social services, youth mentoring and mental health assistance.
People who support local community funds are not just making a one-and-done donation, Monroy said. “They’re serving multiple causes and getting more investment return for their dollar.”
Starting a community fund for your hometown can be a powerful way to invest in the long-term well-being of the place you care about.
• Address Local Needs: A community fund can support pressing local issues such as housing, education, healthcare, small business development or environmental sustainability.
• Pool Resources for Greater Impact: By bringing together donations from individuals, businesses and local organizations, a community fund can create a larger pool of financial resources than any one donor might contribute alone. A collective giving approach creates a local rallying point and amplifies the fund’s impact.
• Support Local Organizations: Many nonprofits struggle with fundraising. A community fund can provide grants or financial assistance to local organizations, strengthening the nonprofit ecosystem and expanding their ability to serve the community.
• Build Civic Engagement & Pride: People who contribute to a community fund become more engaged in local affairs. It fosters a sense of ownership, collaboration and pride, encouraging a culture of giving and volunteerism.
• Honor Local Legacy & Values: A community fund allows donors to support causes that reflect their town’s unique character and values. It can also serve as a lasting tribute to individuals, families, or businesses that have shaped the community.
• Respond Quickly to Emergencies: A local fund allows communities to mobilize resources quickly in response to natural disasters, economic downturns, or public health emergencies.
Grantmaking follows a sustainable policy of distributing up to 5 percent of a fund's assets based on a 12-quarter rolling average market valuation. Assets are invested for long-term growth. Annual grant awards vary with market performance and donor support.
COMMUNITY COMMITMENT: The Three Rivers Community Foundation routinely participates in Shiver Elk River, an annual polar plunge on Lake Orono. Hardy plungers, backed by pledges, have raised more than $100,000 for local nonprofits by bravely splashing into the lake's icy waters.
Established in 1993, the Staples-Motley Area Community Foundation has delivered difference-making grants and scholarships for decades. Supported by local fundraising and market returns, the fund grew to more than $625,000 at the end of 2024 and serves as a source of pride for community investments.
GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS SINCE INCEPTION:
$423,000
How it works:
An endowed community fund is a permanent financial resource created to support a community’s needs. Instead of spending all the money at once, the fund’s principal is invested, and only a portion of the earnings is used for grants each year. This ensures long-term, sustainable support for the community.
Since its inception, powered by active local fundraising and market returns, the endowed fund of the Three Rivers Community Foundation has grown from $37,000 in 1992 to more than $1.6 million at the end of 2024. Grants and scholarships have funded myriad projects.
GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS SINCE INCEPTION:
$926,000
Central Minnesota communities of all sizes can establish and sustain a thriving community fund with the right structure and local commitment.
• Fund Creation & Donations–Individuals, businesses and organizations contribute money to establish the endowed fund with the Initiative Foundation.
• Sustainable Fundraising–Regular fundraising efforts, donor contributions and partnerships with local businesses or foundations build the fund over time.
• Investment for Growth–The donated money is invested in stocks, bonds or other assets to earn returns. This helps grow the fund while keeping the principal intact.
• Annual Grantmaking–Typically, 4 to 5 percent of the fund’s value is distributed annually as grants to support local initiatives.
• Clear Purpose & Governance–A welldefined mission and a dedicated volunteer advisory team from the community guide fund distribution and maintain transparency.
• Fund Stays Forever–Since the original donations (principal) are never spent, the fund continues to generate money for the community year after year.
The Staples-Motley Area Community Foundation, which serves about 9,000 people living within local school district boundaries, has made a difference since 1993.
“We have a large endowment for the [size of the] community we have,” said Daniel Douts, who chairs the Staples-Motley Area Community Foundation advisor team.
Corporate sponsors, current and former residents who want to give back to keep their community thriving, and local donors who have included the fund in their wills have helped to build the endowed fund to $625,000.
“It’s a great way to make sure the community they love and where they have raised their family will be cared for and will benefit from their investment for years ahead,” Gray said.
Recent Staples-Motley projects include the addition of an indoor golf facility at The Nest to help the high school golf team get an early start on spring training. The Nest features a publicly available gym, walking track and workout area. Other recent grants support free rides for kids participating in summer recreation programs and the construction of two new pickleball courts that should open this year on the south side of Staples.
The fund helped support the Polar Xpress Holiday Festival at
the Central Lakes College Staples Campus in December. The annual event draws about 1,000 area residents with model train displays, miniature train rides, railroad artifacts, a festival of trees, and other activities planned by the college and Staples Historical Society.
Having a community fund as a steady, stable and growing resource helps cities meet evolving needs when changes—big and small—arise. It might be the loss of a major employer, a lack of childcare or rising poverty. Or it might be an increase in demand for mental health services or emergency financial support—both of which spiked after the pandemic.
At CAER in Elk River, Kliewer said nearly 80 families in the past year sought help to meet rent payments. The nonprofit had to raise its threshold for rental assistance, which can be requested once every 18 months, from $400 to $1,000 to meet rising housing costs.
“There are a lot of people needing help,” she said.
Gray said community funds can help meet ongoing local needs. “Even small donations add up,” she said. “And they’ll continue to be there for the community. No matter what you give today, it will still be there tomorrow and for future generations.”
Community Philanthropy Manager Amy Gray joined the Initiative Foundation team in August 2024 and brings a wealth of experience in nonprofit and community development. She most recently served as executive director for Kinship Partners in Brainerd. In her new role, she will oversee more than 130 Partner Funds and will assist donors in creating lasting legacies throughout Central Minnesota.
A Brainerd native, Gray has dedicated her career to uplifting communities and fostering philanthropic initiatives. "I have long valued and admired the work of the Foundation,” she said, “and I am excited to be working for an organization so committed to uplifting our region."
Individuals and organizations interested in creating a fund can contact Amy at agray@ifound.org or (320) 631-2062.
Morrison County takes an innovative approach to solving its childcare shortage
By Andy Steiner | Photography by John Linn
About a decade ago, when Nicole Rhode’s children were young, she knew she’d have a hard time finding childcare in her hometown of Little Falls.
“It’s just tough to find daycare here, especially for infants and toddlers,” Rhode said. To make matters worse, her family had a particularly tricky schedule: “With my kids, their dad worked 12-hour shifts and weekends. That made it all even harder to find childcare.”
Because it was a struggle to line up a childcare provider, Rhode made a big decision. “I started doing daycare in my home,” she said. By caring for her own children and a few others, she could cobble together a living and find a workable solution. Plus, years of experience working in a daycare center and a preschool made her especially qualified for the job.
But Rhode’s solution isn’t right for every family. Many parents want to work outside the home—and they need qualified providers to care for their children. A regionwide shortage of providers has made it feel like playing the lottery to secure a spot for youngsters in Greater Minnesota communities like Little Falls. “It’s come to the point where if people are starting to try to get pregnant around here,” Rhode said, “that’s when they start to look at putting their names on the daycare lists.”
The region’s severe shortage of options—mainly for infants and toddlers—has persisted for decades, said Jessica Gilder, program officer for childcare solutions at the Initiative Foundation. While government, civic and business leaders have turned their attention to fixing the region’s childcare problem, there remain communities where finding a spot for your kid takes plenty of crossed fingers and a lot of juggling.
Increased attention to the issue, Gilder said, “may have added some childcare slots in some communities, but there are still numerous childcare locations that have closed down. The hard truth is that more providers are leaving the field than entering it. There is absolutely a need for more childcare providers.”
Expanding childcare options is key to keeping working families happy and essential for business development and expansion in the region, said Carol Anderson, executive director of Morrison County Community Development.
“I’ve talked to almost all of the larger employers in the county,” Anderson said. “Some of them tell me, ‘We’ve got people who have agreed to take a position with us, and then, two to three weeks later, they call and say, ‘We can’t take the job because we can’t find childcare.’ Having enough spots for all families is crucial to keeping the local economy strong.”
If tried-and-true approaches aren’t enough to solve Greater Minnesota’s childcare problems, maybe it’s time to turn to something new. In Morrison County, three models are emerging that show promise, thanks to support from the city of Little Falls, the Little Falls School District, Morrison County, CHI St. Gabriel’s Hospital, and the Army National Guard’s training center at Camp Ripley.
With help from a special agreement created by the team at Sourcewell, a Minnesota service cooperative, Morrison County was able to expand the number of special child care provider opportunities.
The move made it possible to create new childcare options at CHI St. Gabriel’s Hospital. Working with special family childcare licensing, sometimes referred to as the “pod model,” St. Gabriel’s dedicated a couple of rooms in one of its buildings that independent providers could rent at a reduced rate and set up home-like childcare models.
The special family licensing model appeals to potential operators who want to open a childcare business but are deterred by the high costs of acquiring and remodeling a space or the inconvenience of using part of their home for the business. Plus,
the hospital-based location provides a steady stream of families looking for conveniently located care.
“It’s like running a daycare in your house—but not in your house,” Anderson said. Providers can, “walk away from it when the day is over. Also, you don’t have all that debt service over your head: The hospital or the business with the space covers it for their employees.”
Another approach to expanding childcare options, Anderson said, involved partnering with the Little Falls School District and a bipartisan team of politicians to build a childcare center attached to a school building on the west side of town. Little Falls Mayor Greg Zylka worked with U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and Rep. Pete Stauber and secured a $1.5 million grant to move the project forward.
Little Falls School District leaders then offered to do a levy and matched the $1.5 million grant with the tax money raised to cover the cost of construction. Anderson said that co-locating the center on school grounds helped support the project in other
ways. “The district already owned the land and the playground, so they didn’t have to find land or build a playground. They also didn’t have to build a cafeteria or a kitchen.” And because center workers are school district employees, they earn district benefits and wages—which are better than the average childcare worker’s. The center—known as Little Flyers—opened in March with spots for as many as 103 kids, including 16 infants. This change will significantly increase the number of childcare options in the community: “The school district is really stepping up to the plate here to help,” Anderson said.
For decades, leaders at Camp Ripley, a 53,000-acre Army National Guard training base located just 10 minutes north of Little Falls, have struggled to help find childcare for camp employees. Camp staff decided to seek outside help. “They came to us saying that they had a childcare shortage on base land that their
(Rank: 83/87)
(Rank: 42/87)
(Rank: 59/87)
(Rank: 82/87)
(Rank: 72/87)
(Rank: 43/87)
(Rank: 56/87)
(Rank: 28/87)
(Rank: 36/87)
(Rank: 76/87)
Central Minnesota counties average a ranking of 56 out of Minnesota’s 87 counties for access to quality, affordable childcare. The best place for childcare access in Central Minnesota is Kanabec County, where 68 percent of care is center-based and there’s parity with more than one slot per child available. Three-quarters of the available Kanabec County slots have a quality ranking. The most challenging place for childcare in Central Minnesota is Wright County, with a ranking of 81. There are .5 slots per child available and just 15 percent of available slots have a quality ranking.
Source: University of Minnesota ChildCareAccess.org
employees desperately needed childcare,” said Michelle Tautges, director of licensing services at Sourcewell.
To quantify the need, Sourcewell conducted employee surveys and eventually encouraged the base to convert three onsite residential homes into centers where providers could care for employees’ children.
Sourcewell also helped the camp refine the special family childcare licensing process for potential providers. “We have an established way of navigating the application process,” Tautges explained. “It really helped Camp Ripley know from the start what to expect and how to have the tools in front of them so they could navigate the process smoothly.”
Rhode first heard about the on-base homes during a conversation with a local licensure professional. “I’d been thinking of going back into childcare, but I wasn’t interested in doing it out of my home again: I’ve been there, done that,” Rhode said. When the licensing professional told Rhode that Camp Ripley staff planned to interview potential providers and offer space at a sharply reduced rate, it sealed the deal. “It was something I couldn’t pass up,” she said.
Rhode was one of three providers selected to operate their on-base businesses out of the houses, which are located near the camp’s front gate. “We are right next to each other,” Rhode said. She and the other two operators can lean on each other if they have questions. Camp Ripley employees cleared out the houses and fenced their backyards, and Rhode and the other providers gathered the needed furniture, toys and supplies.
Rhode’s center, known as Little Wonders Academy, is licensed for up to 12 children, depending on how many infants and toddlers she chooses to take on. “Right now, I have two infants and two toddlers,” she said. “The rest of the kids are in my preschool program.” As part of the agreement to operate on base, children of Camp Ripley employees and active-duty service members get first priority. Still, Rhode was able to enroll one family that is not connected to the base.
Running a childcare program is demanding—Rhode works solo five days a week from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm—but she’s happy to be back in business and offering a service so desperately needed in her community.
“It was perfect timing, a perfect opportunity,” Rhode said. “I feel blessed that I was one of the three providers chosen. The parents are really thankful that the camp was able to cut through the red tape and get this going and get us in here. Having more childcare available is a real bonus for everyone.”
For those interested in opening their own childcare or independent center, First Children’s Finance offers training for home- and center-based providers to help them learn to operate their childcare as a business.
First Children’s Finance also collaborates with licensing agencies to create feasibility studies for family childcare providers and centers. They’re also partnering with the Initiative Foundation to increase the number and diversity of people entering the childcare workforce. Visit firstchildrensfinance.org and select “For Businesses” to learn more.
By Suzy Frisch | Photography by Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community
Kids at the Hallberg Center for the Arts in Wyoming, Minn., were busy painting, creating, and making friends—having so much fun, in fact, that their grandparents and other seniors started to feel left out. When word got back to the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community that local seniors were eager for art classes, inspiration struck.
Executive Director Jess Eischens saw the opportunity, but she also knew a potential problem existed: transportation. Many older adults who no longer drive would struggle to attend.
Around the same time last April, Eischens learned the Initiative Foundation was offering a special round of grants to alleviate loneliness and social isolation in Central Minnesota. She applied, envisioning art classes as the perfect outlet to meet seniors’ needs and nurture a community of art lovers.
The Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community was among two dozen Central Minnesota organizations—including nonprofits,
schools, and local government units—to receive a grant ranging from $2,000 to $7,500. The organization used its grant to provide transportation for its new Hallberg Art Center senior art classes. Held at William O’Brien State Park, the classes drew about a dozen seniors each month for five months. Participants experimented with watercolors, pastels, acrylics and more while socializing with old and new friends.
“During COVID we saw how isolated seniors became,” Eischens said. “The people who got involved really liked the idea of being able to get away from their normal routine and do something different and fun. Meeting new people was a biggie, and so was being able to do art and create something different every month.”
The award paved the way for the arts organization to expand its senior outreach. After staff learned that participants preferred having instructors teach at their assisted-living locations, Eischens pursued other grants and highlighted the original program as a successful pilot. The organization now teaches 10-12 seniors weekly at local assisted-living facilities and the Hallberg Center.
The grants campaign was launched following former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s declaration that the country was in the grip of a loneliness and social isolation epidemic. The crisis is compounded by an overreliance on technology, changing demographics, societal shifts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and, more recently, the fraught nature of the nation’s political landscape.
“The toll this epidemic is taking on people’s physical and mental health is worrisome,” said Nicole Clements, nonprofit development program office at the Initiative Foundation. “It’s what prompted us to shape this special round of grants to support organizations with programs or proposals to unite people. Local people know their communities, and they know best how to address local concerns.”
As so often happens, demand for the grants outstripped supply. The Initiative Foundation received applications from 115 organizations requesting nearly $1 million. The Foundation awarded grants across the 14 counties and two Native nations of Central Minnesota to support everything from music and theater to hiking, mentoring, and skills development.
Many of the programs were intergenerational, including Hike Learn Be, a St. Stephen nonprofit that received a grant for a nature buddies program where seniors shared outdoor experiences with young people. Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools received a grant for its Saturday Night Live programming, a twice-a-month event for people of all ages offering activities like pickleball and Ojibwe crafts. In Delano, the grant helped community members create a mural mosaic of the city’s history.
In Mora, about 100 people gather every Monday for a hearty meal and conversation, thanks to Soup for the Soul. For 15 years, the nonprofit has lived up to its motto: “Dishing up meals with a side of kindness.” The Monday gatherings bring together community members and a dozen regular volunteers who prepare and serve the meals. Long-time volunteer Kristen Pulford said the organization applied for a grant to provide free transportation for people in need.
“We have weekly guests that look forward to being there. It’s a time for people to sit back and be served a restaurant-style meal,” Pulford said. “We have a cross-section of ages and quite a few senior citizens who come, and they look forward to visiting and getting out of their homes.”
Pulford said Soup for the Soul also uses the opportunity to build connections among its volunteers. Members of local school clubs, civic groups, and youth sports teams often pitch in, further knitting the Mora community together. Soup for the Soul routinely sends guests home with extra food and shares unused items rescued from local grocery stores with the Mora-area food shelf.
“People can come here knowing they are welcome and will be received by friendly people who care,” Pulford said. Whether it’s tired parents who want a night off from cooking, young people struggling to live independently, or seniors taking care of an ill spouse who just need a break, “They can relax and interact with other people.”
Pulford and her team also appreciate the peace of mind that comes with the Initiative Foundation grant. “It’s nice to know that someone values what you do and you have support,” she said, “because we’re all volunteers who just give our time.”
The Initiative Foundation will launch a special mid-summer Joy & Healing grant round to support community bridgebuilding initiatives in Central Minnesota. Visit ifound.org today and subscribe to one of our newsletters to get the announcement in your inbox. The announcement will also be shared publicly on our social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X. Follow us to get the news.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: The Nisswa-based Outreach Program draws volunteers of all ages. Volunteers have packed more than 4 million meals since the organization’s founding in 2012.
The Initiative Foundation connects a nonprofit needing well repairs with an abundant source of help.
By Gene Rebeck | Photos Courtesy of The Outreach Program of Brainerd Lakes
What do you do when the well runs dry? The Outreach Program of Brainerd Lakes is thankful that someone was more than willing to replenish it.
Based in Nisswa, the Outreach Program provides food assistance through the in-house meals it packages and distributes. Since 2012, the organization’s volunteers have packed more than 4 million meals that feed a family of six for just $1.80. More than 80 percent of these nutrient-dense meals are distributed across Central Minnesota, with the remainder being shipped for U.S. disaster relief and international distribution.
The nonprofit’s mission was unexpectedly halted on Aug. 21, 2024, when the well that supplies its water suddenly stopped working. Executive director Shawn Hansen said the failure wasn’t a complete surprise. “We knew we were having some trouble with our well. We identified that in July—we knew that we should look at upgrading it sometime during the next three years.”
Hansen quickly gathered repair estimates. The proposed price tag ranged from $10,000 to $25,000—money the nonprofit didn’t have.
In search of support, Hansen picked up the phone and reached out to her contacts—including the Initiative Foundation—and quickly discovered no emergency grants were available. Hansen’s outreach, however, inspired Community Philanthropy Manager Amy Gray to consider funding possibilities through the Initiative Foundation’s family of Partner Funds.
Jim Anderson, she thought, would be a great fit.
A longtime friend of the Foundation, Anderson and his wife, the late Linnea Anderson, signed an agreement with the Initiative Foundation in 2004 to launch the Anderson Brothers Family Fund. Over the years, the fund’s beneficiaries have included Bridges of Hope, which provides emergency help for families in need; Kinship Partners, which offers youth mentoring; and One Heartland, a specialized summer program for children with autism, AIDS and other health conditions.
“One of the issues driving the Anderson Brothers Family Fund’s community involvement is food insecurity,” Gray said. “The Outreach Program of Brainerd Lakes was right in their wheelhouse.”
“ We know our partners, we know our donors, we know what their interests and capabilities are, and what kind of impact they’re looking to have.”
—Amy Gray, Initiative Foundation community philanthropy manager
Gray contacted Jim Anderson and received a quick reply: “He said, ‘Give me the number, let me make the phone call.’ He jumped into the middle of it and figured out exactly what was needed.” Before long, a check had been cut to cover the cost of repairs.
“The Anderson family money basically paid for our well to be repaired,” Hansen said. “Now we have a well they say is good for the next 20 years.”
When asked about his quick response during a community gathering in September, Anderson was humble in his reply: “It was nice to be able to help.”
Hansen was already well acquainted with Anderson and his local generosity. He’d recently helped organize an Outreach Program food-packing event through his church in Crosslake, where he joined middle-school children as they assembled meals for those in need. “The way those kids looked at him—he was like their big grandpa,” Hansen said.
Several months earlier, the Anderson Brothers Family Fund chipped in to cover about a third of the cost to help the Outreach Program mobilize its meal-packing events. Supported by the Anderson donation and a $15,000 grant from the Brainerd Lakes Community Foundation, along with contributions from throughout the community, Hansen and her team were able to purchase a box truck, a delivery van and equipment so they could more easily take packing to the people rather than have it centered at the organization’s Nisswa location.
“It moved us from doing eight large packing events in 2023 to 15 large events in 2024,” Hansen said.
Jim Anderson, 81, passed away unexpectedly in early October 2024. The following month, the Outreach Program conducted a packing event at his church “in honor of Jim,” Hansen said.
Eric Anderson, who succeeds his father as advisor for the Anderson Brothers Family Fund, said he plans to continue his parents’ legacy and will seek local guidance to support food shelves, soup kitchens, and other organizations that work to reduce food insecurity. “Mom and Dad always looked to the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation and the Initiative Foundation for advice and support on where the funds are needed and where we can make the most impact,” he said.
He also wants to emulate his parents’ decision to support places with a strong volunteer base “because the money goes further.” The Outreach Program is, he added, “ a very good organization in that way. They not only have a great volunteer base, they make it fun.”
It’s on-the-ground connections like these that have helped to make the Initiative Foundation’s family of Partner Funds more effective. “Our funds aren’t just transactional for us,” Gray said. “Our partnerships are very relational. That allows us to serve as a connection point between the needs and the resources available. We know our partners, we know our donors, we know what their interests and capabilities are, and we know what kind of impact they’re looking to have.”
And that has helped to keep generosity flowing freely throughout Central Minnesota.
The late Jim and Linnea Anderson partnered with the Initiative Foundation in 2004 to create the Anderson Brothers Family Fund, a donor-advised fund. Jim joined the Initiative Foundation’s Board of Trustees two years later and served until 2009. The Andersons received the Initiative Foundation’s Outstanding Generosity Award in 2013, and Jim was named an emeritus trustee in 2016. “Jim and Linnea have a long history of giving back to the community,” Initiative Foundation pastpresident Kathy Gaalswyk said in 2016 of the Andersons, whose Anderson Brothers family business has done construction throughout the region since 1940. “They’re an extremely supportive employer, and Jim’s a gentle giant who leaves footprints of love and kindness wherever he goes.”
Apply May 1 to June 16
The Initiators Fellowship transforms a vision into a scalable, sustainable venture that diversifies and enriches Greater Minnesota.
A social enterprise is a business (and sometimes a nonprofit) that is profit- and purpose-driven Social enterprise ventures focus on creating positive human, social or environmental change The two-year Fellowship is designed for early-stage and aspiring social entrepreneurs who are passionate about making a difference in their communities and beyond
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The Initiators Fellowship serves the Initiative Foundation, Southwest Initiative Foundation, West Central Initiative and Northwest Minnesota Foundation service areas
By Maria Surma Manka
by John Linn
When someone enrolls in a Bear Paws Cultural Art class, the impact reaches far beyond the student. Wanetta Thompson, Bear Paws founder and CEO, explained: “Our goals are to start positive ripple effects and grow the interconnection between tribal lands and surrounding communities.”
Founded in 2023, Bear Paws revitalizes Ojibwe culture through free art classes called Maada’oonidiwag (“sharing knowledge” in Ojibwe). Thompson, an enrolled member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, said that even the challenges of launching Bear Paws rippled into positive opportunities: When she and her friend, Lana Oswaldson, and her daughter, Laikora Thompson, applied for a Blandin Foundation grant to offer art classes, they didn’t have a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. They needed a fiscal agent—an organization that could accept and be responsible for grant funds on their behalf. Thompson originally turned to the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to serve as the fiscal host for her grant. Ultimately, with guidance from Kyle Erickson at the Blandin Foundation and the Initiative Foundation’s Zach Tabatt, she partnered with the Initiative Foundation. “Everything blossomed after that … I get emotional talking about it. Everything happens for a reason.”
• Bear Paws offers free art classes at Tribal community centers in Aitkin, Mille Lacs and Pine counties. Each student comes away with a cultural item they learned to make, such as a jingle dress, beadwork, or a pair of moccasins.
• Master artists who teach the classes are sourced from the local community. “There are so many artists and instructors that haven’t been seen,” Thompson said. “I don’t need to look hard for them.”
• Bear Paws’ first classes enrolled up to 120 students, but that made one-on-one time between instructors and learners difficult. Classes are now capped at about 10 people.
FORTIFIED BY THE FELLOWSHIP:
Wanetta Thompson is a member of the 2024-2025 Initiators Fellowship cohort. To learn more and apply, visit fellows.greaterminnesota.net.
• Pre- and post-class evaluations have shown that smaller classes lead to better understanding and retention of knowledge.
• One Bear Paws alumna went on to create her own Ojibwe arts program in her local school district. A pastor invited an Ojibwe elder to speak about spirituality with him and fellow pastors. “When I talk about fostering mutual respect and the ripple effect, our goal is stories like those,” Thompson said.
• One class Thompson hopes to add in the near future is Baaga’adowewin (“lacrosse” in Ojibwe). For each traditional lacrosse stick made, one will be donated to the tribal community where the class is held, she said: “We hope to create a program that will revive the game utilized by our ancestors and educate students about how it was used to resolve conflicts in a non-lethal manner.”
• Contrary to some assumptions that Bear Paws is only for Tribal members, Thompson said everyone is welcome: “We want people to know and to understand our culture. We want to share our culture. That’s what builds understanding.”
• After working in executive positions for Grand Casinos Mille Lacs and Hinkley, along with Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures for 30 years, Thompson didn’t expect to lead a nonprofit. But the ripple effect that began with the Initiative Foundation partnership has been far-reaching. “After meeting people from other social enterprises and getting inspired by them … I thought, ‘Wow, I could help my community,’” she said. “Helping people is really my passion.”
Send your best guess to IQ@ifound.org by May 30, 2025.
Three winners will be chosen, at random, to receive a $25 credit to apply toward their favorite Initiative Foundation-hosted Partner Fund.
HINT: Randolph Holding purchased the land in 1868 where this community now sits. The land had a shallow spot in the river where horses could safely cross.
Congratulations to everyone who correctly identified the Great Hinckley Fire Monument in the fall 2024 edition. Readers Tom Dunn, Jill Olson and Courtney Phillips were the lucky winners of the “Where’s IQ” contest.
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