Let’s Work Together to Strengthen Our Community

NACF ACTIVITIES DURING COVID

Social distancing, no large group events – the COVID guidelines have caused NACF to think outside its usual scope of activities these past months.  Beyond the housekeeping tasks of updating policies and refining procedures – similar to stay-at-home chores of cleaning closets and kitchen cupboards – the board has continued to focus on the needs of the people and communities served in Burnett and northern Polk counties.  Here are some of the activities we have been working on this year:

• NACF continues to offer twice-a-year granting cycles to nonprofits.  We awarded $6,200 this spring to five agencies for projects ranging from mentoring programs to helping families pay their utilities to developing mental health training for those working with adolescents.  Since the fall of 2016 NACF has awarded $40,681 in grants to 33 organizations.
• NACF is working with more than 70 area nonprofits and we view these groups and the work they do as the best examples of reaching out to our communities.  We are working on new ways to promote our nonprofits and new ways to offer training opportunities during this time of COVID – Zoom, anyone??
•  The results of a board study conducted last fall have identified the lack of affordable housing as a real challenge in our area, particularly for businesses wishing to attract employees to our part of the state.  More conversations are being planned as we research ways to address this within our counties.

As a matter of fact, NACF is not the only organization to identify this challenge. The St Croix Valley Foundation (SCVF), of which NACF is an affiliate, has just launched a second wave of grantmaking through the COVID-19 Response Fund for the St. Croix Valley.  The fund will grant approximately $600,000 to nonprofits focused on housing, utilities, and transportation and serving Chisago and Washington counties (Minnesota) and Burnett, Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties (Wisconsin).

You can find more information and learn about ways you can contribute to this grantmaking cycle at this link:  https://www.scvfoundation.org/covid-19.  If you wish to make a donation and want your gift to stay in our area, you can choose to designate it to the NACF, and the SCVF will ensure those dollars are granted to support our communities of Burnett and northern Polk County.