Stories

“[Our youth] are the ones who are the heartbeat of our communities and are going to start shaping and shifting what the future looks like,” Karla Smith, a Parent Community & Mobilization Coordinator at the Northside Achievement Zone, said after the recent StriveTogether Policy Convening in New Orleans, which took place on June 7-10, 2022. 

Over three days of the policy convening, more than 100 network members and partners connected and built policy strategies at the federal, state, and local levels. Community leaders in New Orleans consulted about the development of the New Orleans Youth Master Plan. The objective of this immense road map is to build and maintain a city that benefits all young people. Youth, parents, educators, community leaders, and other important stakeholders worked together to create the 10-year, multi-sector plan. 

Amy Trombley, President of Education at United Way of Central Minnesota - Partner for Student Success saw the goal of the convening as being focused on cross-community learning, best practices sharing, implementation, and utilization of federal state and municipal funding. EPC partners appreciated looking at local as well as statewide policy and said that they hope this effort leads to national meetings with legislators in the Twin Cities area to advocate for specific legislation and specific issues affecting children. Partners also emphasized the impact of the convening and were able to gain new insights and ideas for the future of their organization or the EPC. StriveTogether shared information with attendees about federal funding buckets. 

Mandy Arden of Redwing Youth Outreach said, “Learning about Fiscal Mapping was way more helpful than I expected. I really, really hope Minnesota can hop on to this pilot to see if we can fiscal map locally at EPC / Strivetogether member-specific sites.” 

Mandy states that she finally understands a policy agenda because it is something that she has struggled with for the past year.  “The first conversation that I had when I returned to Red Wing was about creating a Youth Policy Agenda. We are IN!”  Arden stated that the “New Orleans Youth Master Plan” confirmed Red Wing’s need to step up their youth leadership work and to bring policy leaders in the city together for a comprehensive plan. 

Karla Smith shared that her journey to the nonprofit industry by being a parent of the Northside Achievement Zone, obtaining information and benefits of all NAZ’s resources for parent education. 

Karla said that the convening prompted her to think about how to find and implement policies around mental wellness; Smith says that mental wellness is not a trending topic amongst most children and adults, even though it is greatly needed. Karla underscored how EPC partners need to know that other people are doing the same work as them all over the country.  Karla said: “The plan of action and approach to this in New Orleans is that they are letting the youth help shape policy. The youth advocacy plan is to aid and abet the dismantling of adultism where they help support the youth in communities in an authentic manner”. 

More than 50 teachers and staff members from the Northfield Public Schools have signed up for an intensive training that district officials describe as a “game-changer” for teaching early learners how to read.

The Minnesota LETRS Science of Reading Professional Learning Courses provide 144 hours of instruction in how to teach reading skills based on brain science. The Minnesota Department of Education is offering the optional training to K-5 classroom teachers, administrators, elementary special education teachers, and other elementary reading specialists and coaches from across the state at no cost to the participants, through funding appropriated by the state legislature. Because teachers and staff complete the training outside of school hours, the Northfield district is paying them for their time.

“We think this will make a huge impact, and that impact will be immediate in terms of student learning,” said Hope Langston, director of instructional services for Northfield Public Schools.

Langston said the science behind this method of teaching reading is not new, but the approach is different from what many teachers in the district learned when they were in college.

Click here to listen to a KYMN Radio interview with Hope Langston about LETRS training.

On March 23, Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood Advocacy and Civic Engagement Program Manager Megan Jekot shared testimony with Minnesota lawmakers in support of legislation that would help families stabilize their income.

House File 4124 would reduce income assessments for the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) from monthly to once every six months and would determine eligibility based on more current income information. This income-stabilizing proposal would decrease the likelihood of families becoming income ineligible due to a temporary increase in work hours or pay, and would provide families a pathway into saving and stability.

Megan shared the story of a woman in the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood who is pursuing a business degree and a realtor's license and has had to reduce her work hours to make her education and career goals possible while also caring for her three-year-old son. She looks to MFIP to fill in the gaps as she works to build a better future for her family, but her income and MFIP benefit have fluctuated in this transition. "The stress of not being able to predict her monthly income has been stressful," said Megan. "She is working to become more financially independent, yet feels penalized for doing so."

Learn more about Wilder's 2022 legislative priorities and agenda.

The Education Partnerships Coalition (EPC) hosted legislative leaders at the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Representative Esther Agbaje (D – Minneapolis) welcomed her legislative colleagues to her district for a discussion about the work of both the EPC and NAZ. Legislative guests included Representative Kaela Berg (D – Burnsville), Education Finance Chair Representative Jim Davnie (D – Minneapolis), Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman (D – Brooklyn Park), Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R – East Gull Lake), Senator Mary Kunesh (D – New Brighton), Representative Dan Wolgamott (D – St. Cloud), and Representative Cheryl Youakim (D – Hopkins).  

Legislators engaged in a dialogue with NAZ students, caregivers, staff, and partner organizations about how NAZ is addressing community needs. Niya Johnson, a Patrick Henry High School student, shared how Percy Wade, a NAZ Family Achievement Coach, has helped her focus on achieving academic success. Bertha McKinney, Niya’s grandmother, expressed the positive impact that both Wade and NAZ have made in her family. Amy Luehmann, Principal at Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary highlighted the school’s partnership with NAZ. Tom Steinmatz with Washburn Center for Children discussed the ways he connects with NAZ families to provide mental health resources. Sarah Koschinska from Project for Pride in Living touched on the organization’s innovative approach to provide housing for NAZ families. LaKisha Clark-Burgess shared how 21st Century Academy works with NAZ to create mentoring opportunity for youth. Phyllis Sloan with La Creche Early Learning Center discussed their collaboration on early learning with NAZ. 

EPC members from Northfield Promise and United Way of Central Minnesota shared how their organizations are providing wraparound supports to families. Xochitl Valdez, a Northfield High School student discussed how Northfield Promises’ TORCH program has helped succeed in school and plan for college. Keshia Anderson-King talked about her partnership with United Way of Central Minnesota to support distance learning for St. Cloud students. Jerica Anderson shared about the importance of United Ways’ youth program. Scott Jones with Every Hand Joined in Red Wing highlighted the importance of the EPC because it allows members to share best practices, learn from each other, and amplify their local impact through a statewide network. The EPC looks forward to hosting more community conversations with legislators to partner in reducing the state’s worst-in-the-nation opportunity gaps through locally-developed data-driven solutions.

On Wednesday, March 3, 2021, The Education Partnerships Coalition participated in a 'Day of Action' to support House File 156 File 707, a bill that will allow the EPC to continue its important cradle to career community-driven work and provide a deeper level of services while partnering with organizations, schools, businesses and families.

The day started off with an online gathering of the partners from across the state that do similar work in their communities including the Twin Cities, Rochester, Austin, Red Wing, Northfield and Rochester. The groups were able to break out and discuss their work ahead for the day which included meeting with local legislators and ended the day with parents and caregivers having the opportunity to meet with Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.

Our team, which was comprised of UW-PFSS staff, GSDC, Boys & Girls Clubs, School District Leadership, Avivo, City of Grace Learning Center and CentraCare met with Representative Dan Wolgamott, who is also chief author of the bill, Senator Aric Putnam, Representative Tim O'Driscoll, and Senator Jeff Howe. We were able to discuss the importance of this funding and how it affords us to work collectively and more collaboratively as a community across sectors while also leveraging and maximizing resources.

The day ended with parents across the community meeting with Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Parents were able to share their successes and struggles during the time of the pandemic and highlight the different community and educational supports they have utilized and appreciated during the many struggles of the pandemic.

Jackie has been a Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) scholar with a Family Achievement Coach starting at Nellie Stone Johnson and through Patrick Henry High School. She was the recipient of a NAZ college scholarship to attend Rust College, an HBCU in Mississippi. She recently graduated with a B.S. in Biology and continued on to get an additional certificate in phlebotomy.

“The best thing about being in college was being on your own and experiencing things for yourself. It was great to go to an HBCU to grow in your heritage and know more and expand,” Jackie says.

Jackie also engaged in out-of-school time enrichment programs, Cookie Cart, and YMCA Beacons.

Her appreciation for her Family Achievement Coaches shows in how she talks about NAZ.

“I remember them being very, very dedicated. They have that faith in you, they have that mindset that they know what you can do before you know that you can do it. Telling us that you’re going to succeed not that you can, but that you are going to, that was really great. When I was going to Patrick Henry, the personal check-ups on how school was going and if I needed anything was really helpful.”

Jackie is an extraordinary young woman. As NAZ becomes more and more embedded in the North Minneapolis community, we are excited to see what our young scholars are doing as they become adults. Jackie is devoted to working in health care with children and being in service to others in that way. We’re grateful that scholars like Jackie let us partner with them in their dreams and goals.

I work as a Collective Impact Specialist and Parent Organizer with Every Hand Joined. My colleague Kylie and I developed and launched a program to support parent advocacy in Red Wing called Parents Have the Power. In this work, we have hosted events and meet-ups to bring families together to talk about the possible challenges and barriers in our community. We want families to know that we support them in addressing the struggles they face. We want families to understand that a strong home creates resilient children. Not only that, but having a sense of community can improve outcomes for both parents and their children. We equip parents with the tools they need to advocate for their families.

It is so important to raise up parent voices. In order to eliminate the systemic disparities our families face, we must center parents in policymaking. The lived experiences of parents are critical to creating the change needed to enable families to thrive. My colleagues from the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood, MK Nguyen and Erica Valliant, and I recently spoke at the latest FSG Collective Impact Forum to share the power of parent organizing with a national audience. I look forward to amplifying this important work and to continue supporting parents in their advocacy journeys. Additionally, I am so honored to be a part of the broader EPC Family. I have developed lasting relationships as well as gained tools and resources that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Emily Lloyd was an early reader, one of those kids who always had her head in a book. When she grew up and became a librarian, she thought she could get every child to love reading like she did. But when she became a parent herself — to two active daughters who preferred sports to books — she realized this was unrealistic.

“I have a lot of parents come in and say, ‘I want my child to love reading, and for a long time in my career I thought that was the goal,” said Lloyd, the children’s librarian at the Northfield Public Library. “I’ve learned through my kids that you might not be able to create a kid who loves reading, but you can create a kid who is not intimidated by reading.”

Getting children to feel confident about reading is part of her job as a children’s librarian. It’s also part of her work as a member of the Northfield Promise Reading Team, which she joined soon after starting her job at the Northfield library three years ago.

Lloyd is the organizational representative from the Northfield Public Library; the team’s 23 other members represent local schools and organizations that are working together to support literacy efforts in the community. The Reading Team aims to have all Northfield students reading proficiently by the end of third grade.

Northfield Promise Coordinator Laura Turek, who provides support to the Reading Team, said Lloyd brings many talents to the collaboration.

“She is a true advocate for children and serves them first,” Turek said. “Her partnering instincts are great, and she has been open to aligning efforts with so many community partners through the schools, the YMCA, and the Northfield Arts Guild, among others.”

Lloyd said everyone on the team is passionate about the goal, and she’s enjoyed getting to know people from different walks of life through the work. Initiatives it has launched since she joined include the Books on the Bus program, a partnership between the Northfield Public Library and Benjamin Bus in which books from the old bookmobile were placed on buses for children to read; and the creation of the library’s Book Bike program, in which trained volunteers visit low-income neighborhoods in the summer to distribute free books and community information.

Since the implementation of those and other programs – like Reading Corps, MOVE 5, and a district-wide reading curriculum – the percentage of all Northfield students who are proficient readers by the end of third grade has increased; between 2017 and 2019 it went up 11 percentage points. Although scores for Latinx/Hispanic students and students experiencing poverty are consistently lower than the overall scores, those, too, have improved between 2017 and 2019, by 16 percentage points for Latinx/Hispanic third-graders and by 9 percentage points for third-graders from low-income households.

Although the numbers tell one part of the story, Lloyd says it’s the comments she hears from parents and caregivers that have reinforced for her the feeling that the team is on the right track — like the woman who told Lloyd she’d lived in many different places and felt Northfield truly was a place where people care about children from cradle to career.

“I want families to know how much Northfield is invested in this, if they don’t know already, and to feel the connection between these organizations,” Lloyd said. “It’s an important team.”

I came to Austin Aspires as a Community Navigator. This was a difficult decision for me as I loved my previous work as a paraprofessional. However, I joined the Austin Aspires team because I saw the potential for me have a bigger impact in the lives of students and in my community.

I grew up in a small outstate Minnesota community and faced challenges during my education as woman of color. I realized that with Austin Aspires, I could help students overcome the same obstacles I faced as a student. Getting to know the students has been my favorite part of being a Navigator. Getting to hear their stories, what they want to accomplish for the future, makes my heart full and I know that I am where I should be.

Through this work, I have been able to work with Irving, a junior in high school. Irving’s mother came to Austin seeking to create peaceful lives for her family in a small town. When I first met Irving, he was not sure what he wanted to do after high school. Since we began working together, Irving shared with me, that being part of Austin Aspires motivated him think about his future and find things he is passionate about. He attended our job fair and learned about new opportunity for his future. Now, Irving is a great student and we work together on how to achieve the goals he sets for himself. Seeing his transformation has been incredibly rewarding for me. I look forward to continuing my work with Austin Aspires so I can help more students like Irving realize their full potential. 

It takes us all.

Rochester, MN is a community full of people who want to do good by their neighbors. With over 400 active community based organizations, we have many programs and services doing great work. Now, with Cradle 2 Career in place, we have the potential to have an even bigger impact. Chad Campbell, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Rochester said, “I know well the power of our collective action to change conditions in our community. As our High School Graduation network works closer and closer to shared actions, I couldn't be more excited to see our team focusing on how we can ensure that adults working with youth have adequate training in equitable youth development practices and cultural competency. If we're going to make progress on the disparities in our community, it'll start with those of us who work with kids reaching a deeper understanding and stronger skill set to serve across racial and cultural boundaries.” 

With the collective action of the network, we are ensuring more students are interacting with adults who see, hear, and value young adults for who they are and value the culture from which they come. Whether a place of business that employs young adults, a sports program, or an afterschool program, we have an opportunity, as adults, to create an inclusive community for our youth. A community in which they feel like they belong. 

Over the past 12 months, collective impact in the St. Cloud area has gone through an amazing transformation, leading to some exciting results. Our community had its initial collective impact work in education through an organization named Partner for Student Success.  Founded in 2009 as a data-driven community-wide partnership serving the communities of the St. Cloud Area, Sartell-St. Stephen, and Sauk Rapids-Rice School Districts, we focused on the cradle to career continuum to support our youth through aligning community resources, creating awareness, and advocating for financial support.

In 2016, Partner For Student Success joined StriveTogether, a national cradle to career model, to meet the needs of Central Minnesota. Later that year, because of the strength of partnerships that were developed and the strong alignment with United Way education initiatives, Partner For Student Success merged with United Way and became United Way’s education initiative. This partnership has aligned in data, partnerships, collaborations and funding opportunities to strengthen the education opportunities and goal-driven strategies within our region. 

Research Phase 
In 2017, Partner for Student Success conducted a community-wide visioning with the Search Institute to identify priorities for articulating a common agenda for students across the greater St. Cloud area. These priorities focused on a need of literacy for multilingual learners, positive identity and family engagement. United Way of Central Minnesota shifted in their methods with consideration of these priorities in funding decisions. 

Grant Activity
In 2019, United Way of Central Minnesota and Partner for Student Success in tandem with the Sauk Rapids-Rice Public Schools and St. Cloud Public School District 742 received a 21st Century Community Learning Center (“21st CCLC”) grant with the recognition that out-of-school time has incredible potential to provide enhanced meaning, context, and relevance to school day learning in unique ways.

This grant allows the United Way of Central Minnesota the ability to focus on: 

1)     Intentional Program Design: While each program is unique, the need for intentional program design is universal. Programs identify their desired youth outcomes and directly connect program activities to those goals.

2)     Supportive Relationships & Environment: A young person needs a time and a place to develop — a place to safely fail and try again, a place to explore their interests or discover new passions.

3)     Youth Voice & Leadership: Programs authentically partner with youth to build their leadership skills. Young people are involved in meaningful opportunities to plan, implement, and evaluate program activities.

4)     Responsiveness to Culture & Identity: Programs create a safe and adaptive environment which recognizes that culture, family and personal history is core  to a young person’s identity formation.

5)     Community & Family Engagement: Programs communicate their value to and connect with the wider community. Staff builds positive relationships and meaningful interactions with families and community partners.

6)     Organizational Management, Staff Support & Youth Safety: Research  shows that programs must be high-quality and have a sturdy infrastructure in order to positively impact youth success.

This grant will enhance our community’s skills in evaluative thinking to critically examine and reflect upon quality practices, student participation, the experiences of our students, and student outcomes in areas of social/emotional development and academic performance. 

Quality Practices
Through Youth Programs Quality Assessment (YPQA), afterschool centers and programs will be able to identify strengths in nationally-aligned best practices, consider the attributes that made their work successful with youth in those areas, and develop goals to expand that success in observable ways. United Way of Central Minnesota will be well-placed to better understand the needs of afterschool programming across the greater Saint Cloud community and be positioned to provide resources, training and support according to those areas. 

Attendance & Participation
It is not enough to maintain attendance. It is important to critically review what these reports tell us in supporting student access, understanding how we are reaching low income and diverse communities. 

Program Experiences
With this practice, our collective strengths can more fully be recognized and the opportunities for enhancing that success can be illuminated. With incredible partners, local resources and a statewide network, our community is positioned well to strategically align in support of our students and the specific challenges and possibilities they face. 

This grant will provide our community with new resources to engage in continuous improvement processes across the greater St. Cloud area and with nationally aligned standards of program quality. This is an opportunity to better position out-of-school programming to support school day student outcomes utilizing statutory definitions of program effectiveness according to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The 2015 reauthorization of ESSA encourages – and in some cases requires –approaches backed by rigorous research showing improved student outcomes. The 21st CCLC initiative within Title IV Part B of ESSA is the only federal funding source dedicated to supporting local summer learning and afterschool programs. 

This grant is in many ways an adventure in and of itself. But it is also the culmination of several years of hard work, partnership development, trust-building and a community-wide focus on collective impact for positive outcomes for our youth.

Rose Chu worked as a Senior Policy Fellow for Minnesota Education Equity Partnership (MnEEP), where she lead the efforts on TeachMN2020, a collective impact effort to increase and retain teachers of color and American Indian teachers in Minnesota. A former classroom teacher, Rose is a professor emeritus at Metropolitan State University where she had provided leadership as interim dean of Urban Education. In addition, she has served as Assistant Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Education.

In 2018, Generation Next began exploring a partnership with MnEEP to leverage each other’s work around teacher diversity. “Michelle [Walker-Davis] wanted to make sure that the work was well-coordinated between Generation Next and MnEEP. She wanted to make sure that MnEEP continues to lead [a state-wide effort around teacher diversity with other coalitions] and that Generation Next was not unnecessarily intrusive,” Rose said.

When Generation Next applied for the Accelerator grant from StriveTogether, Rose was one of the key thought partners to formulate a proposal strategy.  “I recommended for us to focus on the transition of teacher candidates from BECOME to GROW (which is part of Teach MN2020’s “EXPLORE, BECOME, GROW, and THRIVE” teacher journey framework) and aligning that with creating a coordinated way of learning about the residency programs in the Twin Cities. I felt this was a value add to our efforts to advance teacher diversity.”

Rose has witnessed the benefits of the partnership between MnEEP and Generation Next focusing on the transition from BECOME to GROW. “There has been a lot of cross-pollination. There are people who would go to a Generation Next meeting on teacher diversity because of their interest in students from Minneapolis and St. Paul. And then, they want to come to TeachMN2020 meeting to learn more, which has been great.”

Recently, when Terra Luna joined the work to deepen the understanding of the teacher residency programs, Rose shifted her role from facilitator and subject-matter expert to subject-matter expert only. “I learned from [the StriveTogether] results-based leadership training that the subject-matter expert does not always facilitate, so my focus shifted towards guiding the direction of the meetings, so I’m really involved in the planning of the meetings. I kind of help tie everything together.”

Rose is unapologetic about advocating for teachers and the support they need to be effective. “We should not focus on fixing teachers.” Instead, teachers are eager to grow professionally to impact student success. Besides focusing on supporting individual teachers, we must also pay attention to systematic and structural conditions and barriers that are in the way for teachers to thrive. 

In general, she believes strongly in not playing the blame game, whether it is about teachers or about teacher preparation programs. “The goal is to get to the root of the problem,” Rose said. For example, to understand (and possibly influence) the role of teacher preparation programs in creating a diverse teacher workforce, Rose emphasizes getting everyone on the same page first about how programs are accredited, the requirements for clinicals, and requirements for recommending licensure.

“Once we start there, then we can make changes that are very targeted. If we don’t have that baseline of understanding, the tendency is to make generalizations or inaccurate assumptions, that keep us stuck and don’t forward the cause,” Rose said.

I am a mother of three sons in Saint Paul, Minn. My children are 7, 10 and 17. I do not have a bachelor’s degree, so I have only secured jobs that do not require a college degree. I began working in call centers and was good at it. As I moved through corporate jobs, I gained additional skills in sales, customer service and management. I was hired for a call center position at a financial firm that required securities licensing. I passed the relevant tests and I could trade stocks, bonds and other securities, in addition to supervising colleagues.

Without much notice, I was laid off. Because of my unique skills in securities licensing and my strong work ethic, I was confident that I would get another job quickly. Unfortunately, that did not happen. After months of rejection from various companies, I was behind on rent. My landlord was empathetic and allowed my family to remain in the property for four months for free. Eventually, my family had to move out of our apartment. We started moving in with other families that provided temporary housing. Although I was grateful for the families that opened their homes to us, I worried about being a burden. I sent my two youngest boys to stay with their great aunt in Chicago while I tried to pull things back together.

My family was homeless for a few weeks. I was embarrassed to tell my children’s school about our situation. My younger sons often showed up late and sometimes had to borrow uniforms from the school. When I finally told the school about our living situation, Elder Joanne, a staff member of the school’s Center for Culture, Families and Learning, shared information about a state-sponsored rental assistance pilot program that helped families secure stable housing to support their children’s academic stability. I applied for and was accepted into it. I finally felt like my family was on solid ground. The boys were doing better emotionally and academically. I had space to think beyond meeting our immediate needs. I finally could focus on my family’s future.

Then I met Elder Pam, a long-time housing advocate and respected community leader, who introduced me to the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood Parent Council. When I joined this group of parents who secured stable housing through the same pilot, they were advocating at the Minnesota legislature to make this a permanent program. Quickly becoming an active member, I went to weekly meetings and formed relationships with group members.

My first experience engaging leadership was speaking on a panel in front of Ramsey County service team leaders. I began developing relationships with county leaders and I was asked by policy advocates to join them for legislative visits and testify at committee hearings. As a result of my advocacy efforts, I was invited to join local and state advisory groups, including Ramsey County’s Low Income Committee and Heading Home Together: Minnesota’s 2018-2020 Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. For the Low Income Committee, I serve on the Citizens Advisory Council, a group of volunteers advocating for individuals and families that need help meeting basic needs for food, shelter, clothing and medical care, because their income falls below federal poverty guidelines. I am a member of the Regional Expert Network for Heading Home Together: Minnesota, a table of public and private stakeholders responsible for executing the state’s plan to end homelessness.

Through the network I built as a volunteer parent advocate, I came across a job opportunity one day. Although I had not done community engagement in a professional capacity, I was qualified for the position based on the skills developed through my work with the Parent Council and my previous customer service jobs. I was hired as a community engagement specialist for the Science Museum of Minnesota in the Access and Equity Department. While working there, I joined and graduated from the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation’s Neighborhood Leadership Program, which helped me focus on my personal leadership journey and skills. I also joined the foundation’s Community Equity Program, where I further honed my legislative advocacy skills.

Recently, I was hired by People Serving People, a Community Equity Program policy partner and the largest and most comprehensive homeless shelter for families in Minnesota. My role as the whole family systems manager is to lead a five-year learning process and partnership to explore the problem of homelessness that overwhelmingly impacts African American and Native American families. I am also a Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute fellow at Nexus Community Partners, where I am learning about how to impact change at different levels of government. I was elected chair of my neighborhood organization, the Summit-University Planning Council. Additionally, I am a newly trained Circle Keeper, which helps me to effectively facilitate group conversations.

Now, through the Education Partnerships Coalition, a statewide network of collective impact organizations in Minnesota, I work alongside organizers from rural and urban communities to coach other parents on how to speak up for their families and teach institutional leaders how to listen to us. Through this work, I build awareness that parents do not need fancy degrees to positively change state and local systems.

From my advocacy experiences, I have learned that my community is a rich and abundant place of knowledge. The beloved ecosystem that I have built over the years has nurtured my educational growth — like my own personal college. Every little choice and every little step I took made a difference for me, my family and my community. I am in a new position and place, both figuratively and literally. I am committed to making sure other parents see and exercise their power from their position and place.

SEE ERICA’S STORY ON THE STRIVETOGETHER WEBSITE HERE!

I am a mother of two beautiful young ladies, ages 14 and 16. In addition to raising my children, I worked and went to school. I became severely ill and my doctor ordered me to take time off from work and rest. The jobs I worked at did not have paid medical leave or any other accommodation that would allow me to recover from illness and secure basic needs for my children. After two months, my job let me go. I was unable to pay my rent. My daughters and I moved out of our home and into a shelter.  

A community elder at my children’s school told me about a statewide rental assistance pilot program, Homework Starts with Home. This program works with families to provide access to stable housing which allows children to focus on school. girls and I were accepted into the program. I had a village of support through this program. My family finally had stable housing again.  

After getting settled in our home, my children’s behavior both in school and at home dramatically improved. Their grades shot back up and their attitudes towards people shifted from mistrust to trust. I began attending community gatherings and building relationships with families in the Homework Starts with Home program. At a family gathering for program participants, I heard Rena Moran, my state representative, speak for the first time. She shared her story as a mother who decided to move from Chicago to the Twin Cities to raise her children in safer conditions. She described her experiences with homelessness and eventually finding home in the Rondo neighborhood.  She became civically engaged, ran for office and won.  

Representative Moran’s story resonated with me. She motivated me to actively work towards a better future for our babies. After hearing her story, a few other parents and I decided that we wanted to learn more about how we, as parents, could advocate for the future of our children. We wanted to part of the solution. We wanted to learn together, alongside other parents, community members, and elders. We partnered with Representative Moran and other folks from the St. Paul Promise Neighborhood to embark in a 12-week journey through the legislative process. I'll never forget my very first time testifying at a committee hearing. This felt like the scariest thing I had ever done. But, it was also the most freeing experience of my life. after testifying, a fire was lit in me. I had a new way of thinking, living, and being. Through our advocacy efforts, we secured an additional two years of rental assistance pilot program. This gave more families the opportunity to secure stable housing. After the legislative session ended, we wanted to continue the momentum. We started a parent advocacy group that focused on policy, called the Parent Council.  

I remember my very first time walking through the Capitol doors. I had two major feelings. First, it was okay for me to be in this building. Second, I was speaking up on behalf of the babies of my community and being a part of something I never thought I could be just a few months earlier. Even when the Capitol space made my fellow parents and me feel completely unwelcomed, I was still encouraged to advocate for my community members and advocate for the babies. Through this process, I was also learning how to advocate for myself. That was the most important part. 

 It's amazing to reflect back on my transition and continue to actually take the journey back to where I started, with more knowledge. To be a part of this work is a reward in itself. My five years have been a journey. I have watched myself grow, stumble, and repeat the cycle.

Esther, her husband, and their four children moved to Northfield last September. The three oldest children go to school during the day; still at home was Ben-Felix, about to turn 3. “My husband works nights, so I work mornings,” Esther explains. “I go in to work; he cares for Ben. He can’t sleep good. To work nights, you need better sleep.” Likewise, Ben was not being stimulated at home. Esther didn’t know what preschool programs were available in town, how old Ben would have to be to go, or if their family could afford it. She speaks French at home, so piles of application paperwork are extra-daunting.

That’s when a Community Action Center staff member introduced her to Kayla. As one of Northfield Promise’s new Early Childhood Navigators, Kayla works with families of young children to overcome obstacles that prevent kindergarten readiness. Both English-Spanish bilingual navigators assist with preschool registration and scholarships; connect families to early childhood screening, childcare applications, financial assistance, and other community resources. Kayla came to visit Esther and Ben to learn more about their situation and talk about preschool options, bringing along some learning activities for Ben to do at home. Together, they were able to enroll Ben in Head Start in January. Does he like it?

“You can see for yourself,” Esther laughs, as Ben runs and plays with other children.

Esther noted his social skills in particular are improving. “He’s really opened. He was so sad, to himself.” On weekend visits to the Northfield Public Library, Ben would get scared and reluctant to interact with the other children. Now he’s making friends, playing with cars, and identifying blue and green colors. Having an Early Childhood Navigator to help them navigate the preschool options in their new community has made a difference for their family, Esther says. “It’s better for [my husband], that he can sleep. And me, at work — my heart, my thinking, is calmed down, because I know somebody is taking care of [Ben]. Here, there are friends, there is learning.” In the first year and a half of this pilot program, a partnership among Northfield Promise and other local family-serving organizations, the Early Childhood Navigators have helped over 60 children find, afford and enroll in Northfield preschool programs.

Sean is the single father of four children ages 3, 8, 10, and 14. He is currently in the Foundations for Fathers class which is an all-male class that address the specific challenges of NAZ fathers.

“I appreciate the classes because you all really enlighten the parents. The classes really reveal a lot and reveal what people think.”

Sean spent part of his childhood in Jamaica where he experienced a lot of trauma and violence that comes with extreme poverty. He continued to face adversity when he moved to the United States, where he dealt with pressure from gangs, family problems, and housing instability.

"I made some detours in my life that I shouldn't have, but I was stuck in the mode of survival. It was every man for himself even in the household."

In contrast to his own upbringing, Sean is incredibly invested in his children's future and their schooling. He talks about the potential he sees in Northside schools to expand his children's opportunities. "We should [be telling our kids] that they can go to the police academy, the firefighting academy, become nurses and doctors."

"I do thank NAZ for the opportunity to even think that they could go to college."

“I am proud that Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood is located in the district I represent as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

I have strongly supported the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood and the Education Partnerships Coalition because the work they are doing is critically important to eliminating disparities in education, health, and employment. The Coalition’s collective impact approach is key to empowering families and communities.

Since I began working with the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood and the Education Partnerships Coalition, I’ve been amazed by the parent leaders I have gotten to know. I have enjoyed partnering with parents to advocate for their families and their communities at the State Capitol. As a mother of seven children, I know the sacrifices these parents are making to create a better life for their own children.

I’m grateful for their voices in policymaking because I believe that the lived experiences of parents is the foundation for enacting policies that truly uplift families.”