Mardag Foundation Grants Benefit Youth Education and Development

The Mardag Foundation's November 2004 grants included support for several efforts to promote the education and healthy development of Minnesota's children and youth. A highlight was the foundation's $25,000 grant to the Minnesota Initiative Foundations to support the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative, which is developing six early childhood coalitions across the state. Mardag's grant will fund the initiative's community visioning and action planning process.

The foundation also awarded $50,000 to the Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative to provide bridge and expansion funding for the Healthy Child/Youth Development and After School Enrichment program, which recently lost federal funding. The collaborative aims to raise its full budget for this program through non-federal sources in order to expand services. The collaborative is a partnership of Ramsey County, Ramsey Action Programs Head Start, four suburban Ramsey County school districts, nonprofit social service agencies and community members.

The Saint Paul Public Schools received a $50,000 grant from Mardag to help finance coordination and staffing expenses at three Transitional Language Centers. The district is launching the centers meet the needs of new students for the 2004-2005 academic year from the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand. The centers at Como Park, Hayden Heights and Phalen Lake elementary schools will serve a total of 450 children from kindergarten through sixth grade. They will operate from July 2004 through August 2005 as the school district's core effort to meet the unique needs of the newest Hmong arrivals.

Other highlights of the Mardag Foundation's November 2004 grants include:

• A.M. Chisholm Museum, Inc. (Duluth Children's Museum): $15,000 to support the museum's transition to new leadership. In 2004, the museum's board of directors adopted a plan to separate curatorial and administrative responsibilities through the creation of a CEO position.
     
• Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota: $9,000 for capital improvements to the Range Youth Shelter. The organization has operated Range Youth Services Youth Shelter since 1986 to serve the youth of central and northern St. Louis County. The program offers shelter for homeless youth, a group home for adjudicated youth, supervised visitation for parents involved with the child protection system, and safe exchange for families dealing with domestic abuse. Range Youth Services plans to relocate to a facility in Virginia, Minn., that is more centrally located for its clients and has more space for additional services. This grant will assist with much-needed renovations at the Virginia facility.
    
• Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists: $40,000 for capital improvements to the Landmark Center. The conservatory is a newly incorporated nonprofit that will operate as a charter high school. Its mission is to provide a world-class, professionally guided academic and artistic environment to train aspiring ninth through 12th grade pre-professional artists. The conservatory's campus will be within St. Paul's Cultural District, with academic classes in Landmark Center and arts instruction provided at the Ordway Center and the RiverCentre's Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Before opening the school in Landmark Center, significant structural and system improvements need to be made to the building to meet city codes and regulations. This grant will help offset the cost of these capital improvements.

In total, the board of directors of the Mardag Foundation approved 23 grants totaling $591,800 at its November 2004 board meeting. For a complete list of grants, visit the foundation's Web site (select "News").

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