Healthy Community Initiative

Youth in Government (YIG) is a statewide program that simulates the Minnesota state legislature. Every year almost 2,000 youth across Minnesota participate in this program, including approximately 50 from the Northfield area.  The main component of YIG is a four-day conference that takes place in Minneapolis each January, and while the state YMCA offers scholarships to cover half the registration costs there are many other costs to the program which aren’t covered by the scholarship. The local YIG steering committee recognized that an essential part of the YIG experience is the diversity of the participants, including economic diversity. With the additional costs a potential barrier to their peers participating, the steering committee applied for a grant to develop scholarships to cover the costs of professional clothing and food during the conference.