Ripley Memorial Foundation Awards $74,500 in Grants Focused on Teen Pregnancy Prevention Efforts

The Ripley Memorial Foundation, a donor advised fund of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, has awarded $74,500 in grants to 10 organizations. The grant period is January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

Over the past year, in response to the changing landscape for adolescent sexual health, Ripley Memorial Advisors have adopted a new funding statement for 2020, simplified operations, and aligned with the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota (YWI MN), a partnership between the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and the Governor’s Office of the State of Minnesota to create a state where all young women thrive.

Ripley Memorial is engaging with Recommendation #15 of the YWI MN’s Blueprint for Action, which includes 20 recommendations as a road map to a Minnesota where every young woman thrives. Recommendation #15 is to promote access to women’s health education and services built on cultural and community strengths so that young women know about their bodies and can make appropriate and healthy choices as they grow and age.

Grantees include:

Annex Teen Clinic (Robbinsdale) | $8,000 — To provide comprehensive sexuality education in Northwest Hennepin County. The Annex Teen Clinic helps young people take charge of their sexual health by providing confidential health services and education.

Centro Tyrone Guzman (Minneapolis) | $6,000 —To support Raíces Youth Development Program’s work on supporting activities prioritized by the LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee that will develop posters in Spanish on LGBTQ+ terminology. Youth will share work in community and at the Minneapolis Pride Festival in 2020. Centro Tyrone Guzman contributes to the well-being of Latines through education and family engagement.

Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES)| St. Paul| $8,000 —To fund the multi-generational sexual health education program for Latinx families. CLUES advances the capacity of Latino individuals and families to be healthy, prosperous, and engaged in their communities.

Division of Indian Work (Minneapolis)| $8,000 —To support the delivery of its Live It! Teen Pregnancy Prevention Curriculum through a train-the-trainer model. Live It! is a holistic Indigenous-specific curriculum developed and designed by the Division of Indian Work.

Family Tree Clinic (St. Paul) | $8,000 — To support the delivery of comprehensive sex education in Metro area schools, aiming to positively influence sexual health outcomes among teens. Family Tree Clinic cultivates a healthy community through comprehensive sexual health care and education.

FamilyWise Services (St. Paul) | $5,000 — To support the Bright Beginnings program for teen parents ages 14-22 with a history of out-of-home placement or justice system involvement. FamilyWise Services strengthens families by promoting the safety, stability, and well-being of children.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (St. Paul) | $8,000 — To support the Seeing and Exploring Life’s Future (SELF) pregnancy/STI prevention program, focused on educating self-advocates in the disability community, including youth of all backgrounds who identify as having a disability and who are on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

Way to Grow (Minneapolis)| $7,500 — To support the DreamTracks™ teen parenting program, working with teen parents and their extended families to break the cycle of teenage pregnancy and poverty to move teens towards self-sufficiency. Way to Grow works closely with parents and communities to ensure children within the most isolated families are born healthy, stay healthy, and are prepared for school.

YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities (Minneapolis) | $8,000 — To support the Teen Outreach Program (TOP) club programming for youth, ages 12-18, which includes teen pregnancy prevention.

YWCA of Minneapolis (Minneapolis) | $8,000 — To support Contact Plus, a high-quality youth development program, offering comprehensive sexual health education, leadership development, and school connectedness to youth in Minneapolis Public Schools.