Roberts Lot, NW Corner of Chicago and Lake Streets

In the spring of 2020, due to concerns about potential gentrification and displacement, we were approached by community to buy the lot at the northwest corner of Chicago and Lake Streets, commonly known as the Roberts Shoes lot. We did and began a process of community listening. We’ve engaged artists and organizations to facilitate conversations and to create events and exhibits on the lot.

Since that spring, East Lake Street has been the site of civil unrest and change. The practices we started on the Roberts Lot of community listening and engagement to prevent displacement and highlight and retain community assets have spread to other lots. We are deeply engaged in conversations with other organization and community leaders on Lake Street to ensure that it remains a diverse and vibrant cultural corridor.

Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA)

The Graves Foundation created the Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA) to recognize Title I Minneapolis Public School District teachers and others working regularly with students in a school, such as principals, paraprofessionals, and support staff, for their leadership outside their classroom or defined job duties. We hope to recognize and elevate hardworking professionals working hard to educate our children who do not get the credit they deserve.

The MELA nomination and selection process is entirely teacher driven.  Candidates for the award are nominated by their educator peers, and finalists are selected by a committee of teachers, administrators, and support staff actively working in the Minneapolis public school district.

The award comes with the responsibility of completing a proposal with AchieveMpls for up to $10,000 in funding for a one- or two-year grant to improve the nominee’s school. The committee awards up to $75,000 in grants annually.

Free College Bill for Former Foster Youth

We work alongside and support organizations committed to changing the systems that impact youth, particularly the foster care system. In 2021 we were thrilled to see legislation passed to provide free college to Minnesota youth who have experienced foster care. Foster Advocates, a Graves grantee, was instrumental in getting this law passed. We’re proud to have supported Foster Advocates since their inception in 2018.

Avivo Villages Beginning

In the summer of 2020, civil unrest and the impacts of a global pandemic made more visible the ongoing housing crisis in Minneapolis. Unhoused neighbors formed encampments in city parks, and as winter approached, a safer solution was desperately needed. Our team worked alongside others in our city to develop Indoor Villages, tiny homes housed in a warehouse or unused retail space that would provide a dignified, safe, and COVID-aware alternative to outdoor encampments. Eventually that concept became Avivo Villages and opened in March 2021.