Our neighborhood has a high percentage of poverty and ethnic/minority families, many of whom are recent immigrants. Census statistics show:
   38.3% of the population live below the poverty level ($27,750 for a family of 4) 
   69.5% have a family income of $55,500 or less
   33.2% of adults do not have a high school diploma
   14.6% have a college degree
   33.7% of those employed earn less than $15,000 a year. 

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Programs to Increase Hope and Change
We have two programs, both aimed at bringing leadership and economic stability to the community.
 

1 Rising Community Leaders – aims to train community leaders to bring about lasting change in their community. Participants meet for 4 months, learning about urban communities and issues of violence, mental health, helping them break the habits and situations that are keeping individuals in generational poverty.  Outcomes of the training to date include:
40 leaders per year establish strategic plans to better impact their community.  
The cohort of leaders and their mentors are an ongoing networking group.

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2 Lake Street Works – is a trades and life skills training program for seniors in high school.  The trades need more skilled individuals, and these careers pay a wage that will break the cycle of poverty.  Students come to class two evenings a week for a year.  They learn important leadership, technical and life skills to help them in the workplace including:

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The Studio-180 Leadership & Trades Center

Our students and community leaders deserve a learning center that rivals any suburban trade school. We want to provide an excellent center to invest in their future.  To do this, we plan to purchase and remodel our building, creating a true state of the art facility. The new Minneapolis Leadership and Careers Development Center will foster long term inner city transformation.

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