NORTHFIELD RECEIVES NEARLY $75,000 THROUGH GRANT PROGRAM BY NATIONAL NONPROFIT STRIVETOGETHER TO IMPROVE RESULTS AT MAJOR MILESTONES FOR KIDS

Northfield Promise is one of 21 cradle-to-career partnerships that will advance equity and spread bold strategies to help children and families access opportunity and move up the economic ladder

Northfield Promise — a community movement to enable all Northfield area children to thrive, from cradle to career — has received nearly $75,000 from StriveTogether, a national nonprofit working to bring communities together around data to make decisions and improve results for kids. Northfield Promise will use its grant award to help promote innovative local solutions to address transportation challenges for children and families.

The grant award is part of StriveTogether’s Cradle to Career Community Challenge, which seeks to create local change to enable economic mobility. The program’s goal is to strengthen and align the many systems, such as education, employment, health and housing, that shape opportunity for children and families in America.

“We are incredibly grateful for the partnership with StriveTogether and their commitment to our work here in Northfield,” said Zach Pruitt, Executive Director of the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (the backbone organization for Northfield Promise). “Their commitment to equity and to promoting innovative solutions to pressing community needs is inspiring.”

The funded project will provide resources to Northfield Promise’s network of more than 20 local organizations to discover innovative solutions to transportation challenges facing youth and families. The project resulted from conversations with more than 100 low-income Northfield families about major obstacles they face that make it difficult for their children to enjoy academic success.

Northfield Promise has been awarded a grant from the Community Challenge’s Promising Practices Fund, which is intended to find local projects applying bold strategies that can be spread across StriveTogether’s national network. These projects will focus on deeper community engagement and align education with other sectors such as health, housing and transportation. Eleven community-based organizations were awarded grants of up to $150,000 for one year through the Promising Practices Fund.

Through the Community Challenge, up to $7 million over the next three years will fund projects across the country that advance equity and spread bold strategies to help students progress from kindergarten to postsecondary completion and a job. During this round of grants, 10 communities also were selected for the Accelerator Fund. Communities in the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network were eligible to apply for the Community Challenge.

“StriveTogether launched the Cradle to Career Community Challenge because we refuse to settle for a world in which a child’s ability to thrive is dictated by factors like race or income,” StriveTogether President and CEO Jennifer Blatz said. “From partners across the country, we know the urgency of this work and the value of creating lasting change in communities. We are proud to start this year supporting 21 cradle-to-career partnerships to get real results for youth and families.”