Otto Bremer Trust awards $15 million in 43 strategic grants and program-related investments

SAINT PAUL, January 16, 2025 — The Otto Bremer Trust awarded $15,010,000 in strategic grants and program-related investments in the last quarter of 2024.

“These investments will support the inspiring work of organizations driving meaningful change in communities across our four-state region,” said Frank Miley, co-CEO and trustee, OBT.

State totals for grants and program-related investments awarded include:

• Minnesota: $10,140,000
• Montana: $3,300,000
• North Dakota: $450,000
• Wisconsin: $1,120,000

A complete list of grants and PRIs by region and state appears below.

The Otto Bremer Trust is a private charitable trust based in St. Paul, Minn. Created in 1944 by business and community leader Otto Bremer, it is committed to supporting an enhanced quality of life for residents of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Since its founding, OBT has invested more than $1 billion in its region’s people, places, and opportunities.

North Dakota Statewide

Dream Center Bismarck, Bismarck, ND, $100,000. To provide meals and food to families in need.

Great Plains Food Bank, Fargo, ND, $150,000. To address hunger through the recovery and distribution of shelf-stable and perishable food to individuals living with food insecurity across North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota.

Nexus PATH Family Healing, Fargo, ND, $100,000. To provide individualized, wrap-around mental health services and foster care for youth with complex needs.

Red River Valley

The Village Family Service Center, Fargo, ND, $100,000. To provide behavioral health care to individuals and families in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Minnesota Statewide

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, $550,000. For capital and support of education programming to improve the cardiovascular health of individuals and communities.

True Friends, Annandale, MN, $100,000. To provide programs focused on personal care, adapted activities, and targeted therapies for children with disabilities.

Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, Saint Paul, MN, $35,000. For membership to support the Minnesota Compass Collaborative.

Central Minnesota

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Saint Cloud, MN, $250,000. To provide basic needs support and wraparound services for families in central Minnesota.

Twin Cities Metropolitan Area

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, $1,000,000. To support Dorothy Day Place in downtown Saint Paul to provide shelter, housing, and services for people in need.

Children’s Home Society of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, $75,000. To help youth and children living in foster care achieve stability through adoption and other permanency options.

Connections to Independence, Minneapolis, MN, $100,000. To provide comprehensive programs and support for foster youth in and aging out of the foster care system.

Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, $150,000. To provide mental health and wraparound services.

Keystone Community Services, Saint Paul, MN, $130,000. To provide a food shelf, mobile food delivery, and other services that address hunger in St. Paul.

Listening House of St. Paul, Inc., Saint Paul, MN, $100,000. To provide low-barrier day shelter and supportive services for unsheltered individuals in St. Paul.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, $1,000,000. For a capital campaign to create a hub that increases access to integrated and centralized direct services for families in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Mni Sota Fund, Minneapolis, MN, $250,000. To support business loans and consumer loans for indigenous families and entrepreneurs.

Native American Community Clinic, Minneapolis, MN, $500,000. To support a clinic expansion that will enhance the health and wellness of mind, body, and spirit in American Indian families.

Native American Community Clinic, Minneapolis, MN, $1,500,000. To support the health and wellness of mind, body, and spirit in American Indian families.

Neighborhood House, Saint Paul, MN, $250,000. To provide food support, housing stability, family centers, literacy and adult education, parent and early childhood education, and youth programming in St. Paul.

Northside Economic Opportunity Network, Minneapolis, MN, $50,000. To build intergenerational wealth and economic prosperity in north Minneapolis by elevating BIPOC entrepreneurs.

Northside Economic Opportunity Network, Minneapolis, MN, $1,200,000. To build wealth for low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs, transforming north Minneapolis and the surrounding area into a prosperous, visible, sustainable, and highly diverse multicultural community of entrepreneurs.

Regions Hospital Foundation, Saint Paul, MN, $1,000,000. For capital support to provide radiation therapy and expand the emergency center arrival area.

Union Gospel Mission Association of St. Paul, Saint Paul, MN, $750,000. For a capital campaign to expand and enhance access to shelter, food, and wraparound services for people experiencing homelessness in the Twin Cities.

Southern Minnesota

Channel One, Inc., Rochester, MN, $150,000. To support the collection and redistribution of food.

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, $1,000,000. For capital support to provide access to critical medical care.

Montana Statewide

Child Bridge, Inc., Bigfork, MT, $100,000. To find and equip foster and adoptive families for children who have suffered abuse and neglect.

Eagle Mount, Bozeman, MT, $150,000. For a capital project to provide adaptive recreation opportunities for people with disabilities and young people impacted by cancer and to provide support to participants’ families.

Montana Children’s Home & Hospital dba Shodair Children’s Hospital, Helena, MT, $1,000,000. For a capital campaign to expand therapeutic resources for children and adolescents receiving psychiatric care in Montana.

Montana Food Bank Network, Missoula, MT, $500,000. To acquire and distribute food for Montana’s network of community programs addressing immediate food insecurity.

Central Montana

Great Falls Development Authority, Inc., Great Falls, MT, $1,000,000. To support economic development efforts to create economic opportunity and improve quality of life in the 12-county metro, rural, and tribal Great Falls region of north-central Montana.

Human Resource Development Council of District IX, Inc. (HRDC), Bozeman, MT, $100,000. To support a capital campaign to construct a purpose-built, low-barrier, year-round shelter for homeless families and individuals.

Special Olympics Montana, Inc., Great Falls, MT, $100,000. To provide opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities to live active, healthy, and fulfilling lives through sports, health screenings, leadership, and education while promoting inclusion and community involvement.

Eastern Montana

Billings Clinic Foundation, Billings, MT, $350,000. For a capital campaign to enhance pediatric primary and specialty care in Montana.

Wisconsin Statewide

Easter Seals Wisconsin, Inc., Middleton, WI, $100,000. To increase independence, maximize opportunities, minimize barriers, and enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities in Wisconsin.

The Salvation Army – Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Division, Black Creek, WI, $125,000. To address hunger by providing regular nutritious meals and emergency food assistance for low-income residents of Wisconsin.

Northwest Wisconsin

Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin dba Children’s Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, $100,000. To support the welfare of children by providing adoption, foster care, and family stabilizing direct services in Wisconsin.

Feed My People, Inc., Eau Claire, WI, $130,000. To strengthen food access through strategic partnerships and programming for children, families, and seniors experiencing food insecurity in west-central Wisconsin.

Northeast Wisconsin

Curative Connections, Inc., Green Bay, WI, $150,000. To provide person-centered care, resources, and support to enable individuals with disabilities to live independently.

Foundations Health & Wholeness, Inc., Green Bay, WI, $115,000. To support foster care in Wisconsin.

Southeast Wisconsin

Journey Mental Health Center, Inc., Madison, WI, $100,000. To provide access to mental health services.

Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, Inc., West Allis, WI, $100,000. To provide evidence-based and trauma-informed intensive therapy approaches for youth and families navigating mental and behavioral health concerns in Wisconsin.

St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care, Milwaukee, WI, $100,000. To provide intergenerational, community-based health and educational services for adults with disabilities, seniors, and children in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Wellpoint Care Network, Milwaukee, WI, $100,000. To facilitate healing and wellness by providing mental health services for youth in Wisconsin.

# # #