Nonprofit Mission Award for
ADVOCACY

Nonprofit Mission Award for Advocacy Criteria: 
This award recognizes advocacy as one of the most effective and unique roles of nonprofit organizations. Nominated organizations should:

  • Implement an effective advocacy strategy;
  • Demonstrate success in its advocacy efforts; and
  • Have a significant impact on the organization's constituency. 

The selection committee is particularly interested in the work of coalitions, though coalition work is not a requirement to receive this award.Types of advocacy work honored in this category could include: systems change, legislative action, civic engagement, grassroots advocacy, etc.

 

Finalists

 

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Read more about the finalists:

HOME LINE AND LEGAL SERVICES ADVOCACY PROJECT, Minneapolis

HOME Line’s mission is helping tenants throughout the state of Minnesota solve their own rental housing problems by providing free legal, organizing, education and advocacy services. Its Tenant Hotline provides free legal information on renter’s rights that comes directly from lawyers, law students and community volunteers. Furthermore, its Tenant Organizing initiative bands these tenants together so they can work toward solving common issues specifically in effort to preserve affordable housing for themselves and others.

Legal Services Advocacy Project (LSAP) aids HOME Line by providing services to low-income Minnesotans through engagement, research and policy examination. As a part of Legal Aid, an advocacy organization for populations that are considered “under-justiced,” LSAP furthers efforts in protecting civil rights of those who traditionally lack access to the American justice system.

Together, HOME Line and LSAP have recruited hundreds of low-income tenants and local housing advocates in a grassroots campaign to improve tenant’s lives and save them millions of dollars. By proposing their Minnesota Tenant Bill of Rights, HOME Line and LSAP continue to strive toward a healthier balance in tenant-landlord law with twenty-seven suggested law changes.

A portion of changes that have already occurred include: a rent late fee cap of 8 percent; the right to a receipt of if rent is paid in cash; entitlement to tenant’s attorney fees to be paid by the landlord if the landlord request the same from the tenant; consistent screening of apartment applicants; landlord liability if utility bills are illegally divided; landlord penalties for not returning the proper amount of a tenant’s security deposit; and a tenant’s right to the term of their lease or 90 days beyond the redemption period of rental property is foreclosed.

Through recruitment and constant communication Home Line and Legal Services Advocacy Project have kept tenants and participants focused on reasonable law concepts that adhere to their goals and mission. Lawyers and advocates from both organizations continue their involvement in the Legislature by directing their tenant focused advocacy project towards legislators, committees, and landlords directly.

Visit HOME Line: www.homelinemn.org
Visit Minnesota Legal Aid: www.mylegalaid.org


MINNESOTA SECOND CHANCE COALITION, Minneapolis

The Minnesota Second Chance Coalition is a product of community-based organizations and individuals advocating for fair and responsible laws and policies that allow those who have committed crimes to redeem themselves. By supporting and acting on behalf of these citizens, the Minnesota Second Chance Coalition hopes that they are able to fully support themselves and their families and fully contribute to their own communities.

Comprised of community-based organizations and justice system supporters, the Coalition was founded by 180 Degrees, Inc, an organization that provides intervention, prevention and supportive services to formerly incarcerated individuals re-entering communities. The Minnesota Second Chance Coalition currently has partnerships with over 40 local nonprofits and businesses that believe ex-offenders have paid their debt to society and deserve a chance to re-enter the workforce. These partners include but are not limited to: 180 Degrees, Inc., founder and fiscal agent for the Minnesota Second Chance Coalition, A.H. Wilder Foundation-JobsFirst Program, Amicus, Inc., Barbara Schneider Foundation, Central MN Re-Entry Project, Children's Defense Fund Minnesota, Construction Career Training Program, Correctional Transition Services, Inc., Council on Crime and Justice, Elim Transitional Housing, Inc, Emerge Community Development, Friends for a Non-Violent World, Freedom Works, Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota, Greater Minneapolis Council on Churches, Hired, Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, La Familia Guidance Center, L.I.F.E. in Recovery, MAD DADS Minneapolis, Minneapolis Urban League, Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Minnesota Community Corrections Association, Minnesota Fathers & Families Network, Minnesota Catholic Conference, Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, Minnesota State Public Defender, MN Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, National Alliance on Mental Illness of Minnesota, Network for Better Futures, NOLA Investigates-Criminal Defense Investigation, Northside Policy Action, Coalition Peace Foundation, People Escaping Poverty Project, Project for Pride in Living, Prison Policy Initiative, RS Eden, Rebuild Resources The Reentry Clinic at William Mitchell, TakeAction Minnesota and YWCA St. Paul.

The Coalition’s goal is to break barriers facing individuals with criminal records and supporting reforms that:

  1. Ensure that everyone, regardless of means or background, is treated equally and fairly through every part of the criminal justice system.
  2. Maximize the ability of ex-offenders to access employment, housing, and education, and to become fully contributing members of their communities.
  3. Ensure that juvenile offenders are not limited in their ability to become successful adults.
  4. Fully diagnose and treat mental illness and chemical addition.
  5. Limit the potentially adverse impact of the criminal justice system on children and families.

By implementing advocacy strategies, the Second Chance Coalition has organized “Second Chance Day” on the hill, which has raised the visibility of re-entry issues and affected policy reform. Minnesota is now the first state to require employers to wait until someone has been selected for a job interview before inquiring about criminal records (“Ban the Box”). The Minnesota Second Chance Coalition has also mobilized hundreds of individuals at the Capitol, focusing efforts on effected individuals by giving them a voice and positively engaging community members throughout the state.

Visit the Minnesota Second Chance Coalition: www.mnsecondchancecoalition.org


STOPS FOR US COALITION, St. Paul

The District Councils Collaborative of Saint Paul and Minneapolis (DCC) was created by the Saint Paul District Councils and Minneapolis Neighborhood Associations as an effort to facilitate community involvement in the planning of transit development along the Central Corridor. With hopes of representing the needs and interests of residents and businesses between Snelling Avenue and Rice Street, DCC created its Stops for Us Coalition. Offering increased opportunities for citizen involvement in the decision-making process of this large-scale transportation improvement, the Coalition has emphasized accountability to the residents, businesses and communities along University Avenue.

The Stops for Us Coalition has engaged representation from city-recognized neighborhood planning organizations, faith-based groups, businesses and other organizations that focus on affordable housing, transportation and the environment. Coalition members include: Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, Asian Economic Development Association, Aurora/Saint Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, Community Stabilization Project, District Councils Collaborative of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Got Voice, Got Power!, Hmong Organizing Program, TakeAction Minnesota, Housing Preservation Project, ISAIAH, Jewish Community Action, JUST Equity, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Model Cities, Inc., MICAH, Preserve and Benefit Historic Rondo Committee, Saint Paul NAACP, Saint Paul Urban League, Transit for Livable Communities, UFCW Local 789, University UNITED and University Avenue Business Association. With a multifaceted strategy, the Coalition centers itself on influencing public officials, researching station spacing, mapping demographics, drafting state legislation, monitoring public meetings and testifying at public hearings.

The Stops for Us Coalition recognizes that the Central Corridor is home to some of the region’s most diverse neighborhoods, characterized by many factors that contribute to higher transit ridership. There are a high percentage of renters, lower vehicle ownership rates and incomes, and a large number of both origins and destinations within the corridor. Station construction will directly benefit the 8,331 people who live within a quarter mile of the stations, ensuring that these citizens will not have to walk up to a half of a mile to access the same frequency of transit services and amenity packages that is enjoyed along the rest of the line.

As a result, the Coalition has secured three additional stations at Western, Victoria, and Hamline Ave for the environmental justice communities on East University Avenue. At the federal level, Peter Rogoff FTA Administrator furthered the three stops campaign as a standard of why the current transit evaluation measures do not work. This may put decisions about our region’s transit planning back in the hands of those who live and work in the Central Corridor, with influences by our region’s environmental, community and economic development priorities.

The Stops for Us Coalition overall has created opportunities for communities to voice their opinions on how to improve the quality of life along University Avenue. Its work has connected communities with their local officials, thus becoming allies and advocates for said communities.

Visit the Stops for Us Coalition at the District Council Collaborative: www.dcc-stpaul-mpls.org

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The Minnesota Nonprofit Awards are a joint project of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and MAP for Nonprofits.

Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
2314 University Avenue West, Suite 20
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55114
651-642-1904
info@mncn.org

MAP for Nonprofits
2314 University Avenue West, Suite 28
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55114
651-647-1216