Welcome Center, Inc. has been selected as a member of the Bush Foundation’s second Community Creativity Cohort.

“We are excited to support the amazing work of Welcome Center, Inc. to help make our region better for everyone,” said Bush Foundation Community Creativity Portfolio Director Erik Takeshita.

Welcome Center, Inc. is one of 40 organizations from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and the 23 Native nations that share the geography selected by the Foundation for its commitment to making art and culture central to problem solving. All participating organizations are either led by and serving people of color or indigenous people, and/or are led by and serving people from rural communities or non-metropolitan cities or towns with populations of less than 50,000 people.

Among those affected by this announcement in the Welcome Center of Austin.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the Bush Foundation’s Second Community Creativity Cohort,” Welcome Center Inc. Social Services Coordinator Herve Idjidina said in a press release. “We believe this experience will be invaluable to helping us address the issues that are of most concern to our community.”

Each member of the cohort will receive a general operating support grant of $100,000 over a three-year period and access to other funds to help them improve their work and strengthen their organizations. Cohort members were selected from a pool of over 100 applicants from across the region.

The program will officially kick off in November 2018 in the Twin Cities at the first annual convening of the Cohort. More information on Community Creativity Cohort 2 and its members can be found at www.bushfoundation.org/community-creativity-initiative/community-creativity-cohort-2.

The Welcome Center, Inc. is a non profit, tax-exempt corporation founded in June 2000. It was organized by a group of concerned citizens who saw a dramatic change in the area’s work force and demographic composition. In order to create an inclusive and welcoming community, the founders developed the Welcome Center.

The Bush Foundation was established in 1953 by 3M Executive Archibald Bush and his wife, Edyth. Today, the Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the geography. The Foundation works to inspire and support creative problem solving – within and across sectors – to make the region better for everyone.