Centro Campesino:  Centro Campesino is a Chicano/Latino membership organization working to improve the lives of migrant agricultural workers and year-round Latino/a residents in south-central Minnesota. The Worker Justice Campaign is an effort to win the right to collectively bargain for improved wages and housing conditions, and is expanding to include legalization and workers’ safety components. Centro Campesino relies upon the intertwined values of faith, hope, justice, and solidarity to achieve its aims.

Jobs and Affordable Housing Campaign:  Family and Children’s Service helps individuals, families and communities realize their potential as fully participating members of society. To this end, the Jobs and Affordable Housing Campaign organizes low-income people and people of color to build the power necessary to address issues of economic and racial injustice. Their efforts span local to international issues, including improving community relations with Minneapolis police and working with the Ecuadorian government to open an honorary consulate office in Minnesota.  

Resource Center of the Americas:  The Minneapolis-based Centro de Derechos Laborales (Immigrant Workers’ Center) is designed to develop community organizing skills and leadership capacity within the Latino immigrant labor force. This effort works with Latino immigrant workers to advocate for workplace rights and safe, just work environments, and develop understanding of the vital contribution that immigrants make to local and global economies. Catholic parishes have been the sites of many of the early organizing efforts connected with this project.  

Neighborhood Development Center:  The Neighborhood Development Center, Inc., (NDC) is a community-based non-profit organization that works in the low-income communities of St. Paul, Minneapolis, surrounding suburbs, and Greater Minnesota. They help new entrepreneurs develop successful, community-based businesses while also helping community groups build stronger neighborhood economies. As a result of their past accomplishments and national respect, NDC was awarded a rare 2-year grant through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development this year.


2006-2007

CCHD:

African Development Center-The African Development Center’s mission is to work within African communities in Minnesota to start and sustain successful businesses, build assets, and promote community reinvestment. ADC provides businesses with resources to address the financial, cultural and literacy problems facing businesses which threaten the long-term revitalization of neighborhoods across the metro area. ADC provides home ownership training, financial literacy education, business development counseling and financing services.

Somali Action Alliance -The Somali Action Alliance has a mission to bring together Somali individuals and organizations who share a common interest in building an understanding of public policy and expanding civic engagement among members of this immigrant community. Somali Action Alliance gives priority to education and organizing for greater civic involvement and the leadership development of Somali women.

Mobilizing and Organizing for Victory and Empowerment -MOVE is a multicultural coalition that builds constituent leadership and power on issues of racial and economic justice. Members join together on action committees to change community conditions and policies to enhance the well-being of families. Current action teams focus on immigrant rights, tenants’ rights, welfare reform, and community peacekeeping. MOVE strengthens communities by strengthening local leaders.

ISAIAH -ISAIAH organizes to build relational power for collective, faith based actions in the name of justice and the common good. The Civil Rights for Immigrants Initiative focuses on organizing within congregations, a central pillar of life for immigrant communities. The initiative's primary goal is to develop leadership that strengthens the community's ability to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.

Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network-The Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network seeks to engage immigrants and allies on immigrant policy issues, developing a broad base of leadership to address the broken immigration system, with a particular focus on immigrant youth. Specific activities will include a state-wide education and leadership development program for high school students, a series of community forums, and ongoing education of elected officials.

Land Stewardship Project -Land Stewardship Project, a grassroots membership organization, was created to promote strong rural communities and stewardship of the land. LSP has been a leader in engaging farmers in changing rural policies that negatively affect their communities. Past accomplishments range from stopping farm foreclosures to passing the Conservation Security Program, which rewards farming in ways that benefit the environment. Current work focuses on supporting family farms by helping counties and townships enact local ordinances regulating size and location of factory farms.

CSF:

MIRA focuses on providing information, referral, programming and services to low-income Latinos. The Latino Empowerment through Community Organizing Project is designed to continue promoting Latino leadership and empowerment through community organizing. The emphasis this year will be on pregnant Latina women. Education and organizing around the prevalent issue of infant mortality in the Hispanic community will lead to collaboration with local public health departments and health providers to address this reality. MIRA works in conjunction with Assumption parish in Richfield, MN.

MN Alliance of Tenants is a tenant-led, grassroots organization committed to being an effective voice at the local, state and federal levels of government for renters’ rights and affordable housing. The Alliance seeks to be an effective organization, build tenant power, reach more low-income tenants, change public policy and administrative practices, and increase the involvement of low-income people in shaping the policies that affect their lives.

Resource Center of the Americas sponsors the The Latino Organizing Project has two distinct components: The Centro de Derechos Laborales (center for worker rights) and Padres Bien Informados/Ninos Bien Educados (well-informed parents lead to well-educated children). The worker’s rights project works for changes in public policy at the local, state and national levels for workers’ and immigrant rights. The parenting project is focused primarily around making schools more accessible to Latino families. The goal of this project is to strengthen the social and economic power of Latino immigrants in our community.

The Somali Action Alliance has a mission to bring together Somali individuals and organizations who share a common interest in building an understanding of public policy and expanding civic engagement among members of this immigrant community. SAA gives priority to education and organizing around civic involvement within a democracy and the leadership development of Somali women.

The Twin Cities Religion and Labor Network is sponsoring the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice as a place where workers come to share their stories, build solidarity with members of the community, and protect their basic human rights. The Center was launched in order to organize collectively and build power among workers unrepresented by labor unions. The mission of TCRLN is to bring workers, members of the religious community, and members of the labor movement together to fight for worker justice.

The Youth Farm and Market Project nurtures relationships between urban youth and their families, their communities, and the earth around them by growing, cooking, eating and selling healthy food. The goal of this project is to increase youth competencies and qualities to be successful in life and work, while helping youth develop public power and voice through community and social change projects.