An after-school youth program in Minneapolis, a technology education nonprofit in St. Paul and an organization running youth programs in Brooklyn Center and Mora are among the first recipients of grants put in place when Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana use.
The grants, in this case under the CanRenew program and totaling $1 million, are meant to help communities disproportionately affected by the criminalization of cannabis.
The six grant programs are partly supported by cannabis tax revenue and are meant to fund programs that address economic development, public health, violence prevention, youth development and legal aid.
“Minnesota set aside millions of dollars to be reinvested in communities that have been impacted by the war on drugs, not just to bring cannabis businesses into those communities, but to bring programs that will help our youth, that will help our folks that have been justice-impacted, that will help the health of our communities,” said Jess Jackson, director of social equity for the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).
The grant funds were sent to the 11 CanRenew grant recipients on Wednesday. The state will select one more recipient for the final $70,000 award.
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The following businesses received CanRenew grants:
- Ignite Afterschool (Minneapolis): $75,000 for youth-led cannabis education, civic engagement and nonprofit programs.
- Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Minneapolis): $70,000 to support financial literacy training.
- Hired (Minneapolis): $85,000 to help 40 young people with career skills and violence prevention education.
- Affinity Care MN (Bloomington): $100,000 for staffing, security and education at a 42-unit housing project for people with HIV and disabilities.
- Girls Dream Code (St. Paul): $50,000 for the youth technology enrichment program.
- Walker-West Music Academy (St. Paul): $50,000 to help fund the Rondo Community Music Series.
- World Youth Connect (St. Paul): $100,000 for a program training youth to research and develop resources for those affected by cannabis.
- InTENtions (Brooklyn Center and Mora): $100,000 for a youth program connecting Black, Indigenous and people of color to nature, sustainable farming and community leadership.
- Beltrami Area Service Collaboration (Bemidji): $100,000 for a youth-led cannabis and substance use prevention campaign.
- United Way of Steele County (Owatonna): $100,000 to develop a teen center with mental health and substance use support.
- Vermilion Country School (Tower): $100,000 for youth development and job training in agriculture, forestry and customer service.
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