Press Release
Minnesota’s Immigrant Rapid Response Fund Deploys $12 Million: Hosts April 8 Briefing
The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund (IRRF) will release its 11th and final round of rapid response grantmaking this week, at which point the fund will have granted $12 million to 140 organizations supporting communities impacted by Operation Metro Surge. Approximately $1.5 million and future donations will be granted to organizations positioned to support longer-term recovery of impacted communities.
On April 8, IRRF coalition members will host a briefing to return learning to the field, featuring frontline organizations directly impacted by the surge. Presenters will share how the coalition was able to raise record funds, release grants quickly, and what comes next.
Since January 12, weekly grantmaking has supported 501(c)3 organizations reaching impacted communities statewide, from the Metro to the suburbs, cities and small towns in Greater Minnesota. Unrestricted grants prioritized support for:
- Emergency basic needs such as food, housing, transportation, and health care
- Legal services that defend rights and ensure due process
- Community organizing, education, safety planning, advocacy, and coalition-building
“Community organizations, neighborhood groups, and everyday Minnesotans mobilized and coordinated resources, pivoting from ordinary operations, to help our immigrant neighbors in every way. Tremendous generosity made it possible to provide housing, rent, food, transportation, legal services, community education, and small business support to impacted communities. Recovery will take all of us, working together, to sustain this movement,” said Gloria Perez, president & CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and a member of the coalition.
As rebuilding continues, the coalition will remain connected to support immigrant and cultural communities through philanthropy across Minnesota. Following the briefing, IRRF will release a playbook that details the fund’s process and learnings so that communities nationwide can be prepared to respond to future crises.
The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund has raised $14 million from more than 65,000 donors in all 50 states and 53 countries—a groundswell of support for Minnesota communities facing the largest federal occupation in the country.
“This crisis is not over, and work of rebuilding and repair will continue for our immigrant communities and Black, Native, and other communities of color who were unjustly targeted. To sustain stronger support systems for the long term, the coalition will continue working together and within our cultural communities to ensure that advocacy, organizing, and infrastructure-building continues,” said Ambar Hanson, executive director of the Mortenson Family Foundation and the coalition’s convener.
About the Coalition:
The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund is a coalition of 33 philanthropic leaders rooted in communities most impacted by immigration-related harm. The fund was created by the MN Latine Fund to support the long-term sustainability and thriving of Latine communities. As threats escalated against immigrant communities statewide, the group formed the IRRF with philanthropic leaders from other cultural communities across Minnesota to address immediate harm. Housed at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, the IRRF provides rapid, community-informed funding to organizations responding to immigration-related emergencies in Minnesota. To learn more about the fund, visit: wfmn.org/funds/immigrant-rapid-response/
Not all IRRF-funded organizations are being named out of concern for the safety and security of their staff and operations.
Grantee-Partners include:
Advancing Equity Coalition—Minneapolis
African Career, Education Resource Inc. (ACER)—Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center
Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation—Saint Paul
Awood Center—Minneapolis
Ayada Leads—Statewide
CASA Cultura, Amigos, Salud y Ambiente—Moorhead
Communidad Christiana LaVina—Burnsville
Community Action Center—Rice County
Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action (COPAL) Education Fund —Statewide
East Phillips Improvement Coalition, Inc. —Minneapolis
ESHARA (Ethnic Self-Help Alliance For Refugee Assistance) —Moorhead
Fahan Organization—St. Cloud
Family Housing Fund and Neighbors Helping Neighbors—Metro
Fe y Justicia—Central MN
Frogtown Neighborhood Association—Saint Paul
Greater East Side/District 2 Community Council—Saint Paul
Hmong American Partnership (HAP)—Metro
Hooyo Hour Organization—St. Cloud
Hope Community, Inc.—Minneapolis
Immigrant Development Center—Moorhead
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota—Statewide
Inspire Change Clinic—Minneapolis
Lao Assistance Center of MN—Minneapolis
Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC)—Statewide
Mi Casa MN—Shakopee
Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center—Minneapolis
MN Immigrant Movement—Statewide, including South Dakota, North Dakota
Neighborhood House—Saint Paul
Healthy Community Initiative—Rice County
Nuestra Lucha MN—Minneapolis
OneCommunity Alliance—St. Cloud
Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association—Minneapolis
Powderhorn Rent Relief—Minneapolis
Rabata—Arden Hills
Raices Sagradas Community Mental Health—Metro
Rice County Neighbors United/Barrios Unidos—Northfield
Richfield Community Safety Network—Metro
St. Mary’s Health Clinics—Metro
The Food Group—Statewide
The SEAD Project—Minneapolis
The Sowing Room—Brainerd
Unidos MN Education Fund—Statewide
VANSE— Metro
VEAP—Bloomington
