Healthy Community Initiative

By Mariana Cruz and Byrd Lenzen as Guest Columnists for the Faribault Daily News

Northfield YouthBank is a youth philanthropy program dedicated to uplifting the voices and ideas of young people in the Northfield community. YouthBank has its roots in Ireland, where it started in 1999. Since then, the YouthBank model has been adopted all over the world, expanding into an international network of organizations that aim to empower a whole generation of youth through leadership and community engagement.

The Northfield YouthBank chapter has become one of the longest running and most successful of these programs. Operating in the Northfield community for more than 10 years through Healthy Community Initiative (HCI), YouthBank has demonstrated the importance of youth leadership. Young people play an integral part in our community. Northfield YouthBank leans into young people’s perspectives, which are often overlooked by adults. The crux of Northfield YouthBank is to provide support and funding for projects led by youth, for youth. These projects address concerns, support passions and further equity in our community.

Since its inception, Northfield YouthBank has granted nearly $200,000 and funded more than 77 youth projects. These projects include the installment of the water station at the Northfield Skate Park, the construction of a Hoop House at Arcadia Charter School, the purchase of instruments for the Key Youth Center, and the construction of new playground equipment at Viking Terrace.

Support from the local and regional community is vital for continuing these projects. This is where you come in. YouthBank is a community-driven organization, and the input and support of the entire community is crucial to fulfilling our goals. If you are a young person in Northfield, we need your perspective on what could be changed and improved in the community. Think about what you are passionate about and where the community is lacking. Once you have an idea, contact us and we will work with you to turn your idea into a project that we can fund to improve our community. We will begin accepting applications for the next grant round in November.

If you are an adult, your donations and support are essential to our organization. If you would like to donate, you can visit our website or contact us, and if you are unable to donate, simply sharing our message with the youth and other people in your community is greatly beneficial.

Check out our website for more information, healthycommunityinitiative.org/impact/youthbank. You can also email us at northfieldyouthbank@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram, @northfieldyouthbank.