UNITED WAY OF NE MINNESOTA

Stabilizing families and individuals - uwnemn prioritizes maintaining the most essential resources for the safety and security of our community members. We aim for needs to be met promptly and with compassion in crisis, with thoughtful consideration given to help people become self-sufficient once stabilized. In-house programs to address this focus area include "buddy backpacks", a supplemental hunger-relief program to provide weekend meal kits for children at all schools in our service area throughout the school year; "meet up and chow down", a free summer lunch program for children ages 1-18 at twelve different sites throughout our service area; "comforts of home" which provides household goods to individuals and families who have experienced a fire, or are transitioning into stable/permanent housing, and "united for veterans" has a crisis fund to stabilize the lives of veterans in need, provides holiday meal baskets to homebound and in-need veterans and their families, hosts veterans connections events and retreats to promote comradery, social connectedness and healing for veterans.uwnemn currently funds 15 agency partners which strive to stabilize people in crisis through emergency food and housing services. Funded partners work to reduce hunger and to increase access to food, promote stable living environments, and work with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and work to reduce instances of these abuses in our service area. Uwnemn also provides support to all local food shelves in our region.these programs and agencies serve communities in northern st. Louis county, koochiching county and parts of itasca county.