Phyllis Wheatley Community Center Inc.

THE MISSION OF PHYLLIS WHEATLEY COMMUNITY CENTER IS TO CREATE PATHWAYS FOR INDIVIDUALS TO DISCOVER THEIR STRENGTHS AND TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR FUTURES.

We envision a vibrant, intergenerational community where everyone has opportunity and access to essential resources. We aspire to create a community where all voices are heard and individuals can advocate for themselves.

Goal One: To address the opportunity and education gaps that exist in the African American community in North Minneapolis in order to create opportunities and reduce poverty.

Goal Two: Provide programming to help the North Minneapolis community access skills training that leads to higher paying employment to help stabilize individuals and families financially.

Goal Three: Provide quality early childhood education to children whose families could not otherwise afford Pre-K

Our entire staff in our child development center is going through training to be certified trauma-informed caretakers so they can better address the trauma that the youngest members of our client base have experienced; with the onboarding of many new members to our leadership team, trainings and other skill-building initiatives are being sought out and attended; our team is seeking out opportunities to use consultants, some from funder orgs, to help steer our program management and provide training for program directors

We partner with several other orgs to provide wraparound services for our clients; this year, our Community Engagement Services program is taking a new approach by building relationships with agencies that address basic needs and services that we do not, creating a network of referral agencies to address people's needs holistically. We are conducting a series of community input sessions as we begin to plan for two capital campaigns in order to find out from the people we serve what resources they need most and what programming will be most beneficial; we are working with the legislature on a funding bill that will have a significant effect on how quickly we are able to raise funds to bring our youth camp back online after 20 years; we are a part of several networks that provide digital skills training and general nonprofit management guidance

Every organization has had to make adaptations to accommodate Covid requirements. We actually addressed the crisis head on by creating our Community Covid-19 program in partnership with the MN Department of Health, through which we worked to provide free testing and vaccinations to a population that doesn't trust traditional medical institutions and has little access to transportation or to quality healthcare. Now, the program is changing to emphasize the mitigation of misinformation around vaccines and the overall mental health impacts of the pandemic, which has left so many issues in its wake. All of our other programs went virtual during the height of the pandemic, and some continue to offer a virtual option. This meant equipping all of our clients in groups with the technology and connectivity to participate. With the help of generous grants from Microsoft and Comcast, among many other, we were able to keep people engaged and continuing to improve their skills without interruption.