New round of funding for American Indian Family Empowerment Program and Oyate Network Project Grants.

Greetings Relatives! Our lives have been turned upside down over the last four months. A pandemic. George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officers. Peaceful protests turned into looting and destruction of our community, including the total loss of Migizi’s newly renovated building (Migizi’s Executive Director Kelly Drummer was Tiwahe Foundation’s leader for years, so this loss is very personal to us). The Tiwahe Foundation was one of 22 place-based community foundations awarded grants through the Minnesota Council on Foundations’ Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund. Thanks to this additional funding, we added an additional round of grantmaking, and we are now accepting applications for the American Indian Family Empowerment Program (AIFEP) until July 15 at 5 p.m. Applicants must reside in the seven-county metropolitan area of Minnesota: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Scott, Ramsey, and Washington counties. There are four impact areas: education, culture, economic independence, and health and wellness. Applicants can request up to $2,500.  During the same application period, alumni of the Oyate Leadership Network may apply for up to $5,000 project-based grants through a fiscal sponsor.  “This grant will be added to our current programs that are funded by the F. R. Bigelow Foundation through the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, Bush Foundation, and Blandin Foundation,” Tiwahe Foundation Executive Director Shirley Sneve said, “We are truly grateful for this support in challenging times facing our relatives.”