Northland grants come to county

The Northland Foundation based in Duluth awarded 36 grants totaling over $1 million this past spring, including $150,000 to Carlton County “to help support the implementation of a sustainable, coordinated community response that will improve outcomes for victims and their children and disrupt generational violence.”

Social issues and cultural initiatives were a large part of the foundation’s grant cycle. Northland covers seven counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis, and five Native nations, including Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Grants of $2,500 were available to individuals through the foundation’s Maada’ookiing program, an Indigenous-led program boosting creative projects that strengthen Indigenous community, culture, and regional capacity. Jalisa Ojibway of Cloquet received a grant to run a leadership program for Fond du Lac youth, centering community building and cultural values.

David Wise of Sawyer received $2,500 to hold educational classes to introduce the community to the Ojibwe spirit horse.

The Esko school district received $15,000 to provide hands-on learning materials for a new pre-K program.

The $150,000 grant for Carlton County falls under one of the foundation’s many initiatives, this one in “prevention and intervention in relation to domestic and family violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.”