Healthy Community Initiative

The Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition (RCCMHC) is launching a new effort to crowdsource information about the use of Narcan during an overdose. The RCCMHC and the Mobile Opioid Support Team (MOST) have placed 71 Narcan boxes at locations throughout Rice County. Each box contains four free Narcan kits.  If you have used […]

By Chloe Kucera for the Faribault Daily News There’s no better way to get acquainted with a community than to take a tour of some of its unique businesses and organizations. The new President and CEO of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Benya Kraus, has been getting to know the communities she will be serving. […]

Night to Unite is August 5, 2025 Night to Unite (also referred to as National Night Out) is an annual tradition that helps neighbors get to know each other and fosters relationships between residents and first responders with the goal of promoting safer neighborhoods. Residents sign up to organize block parties throughout their cities, giving […]

By Tom Steinmetz as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News My first six months as the Executive Director of Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) have been a patchwork of highs, lows, and everything in between. Saturday, June 14, was no different. My emotions ranged from heartbreak to heartwarming. As Minnesotans mourned the tragic murders of Representative […]

HCI staff from a variety of programs and systems change initiatives attended the WINGS 2025 grant celebration on June 16 at the Northfield Community Resource Center. Representatives from TORCH, Growing Up Healthy, Northfield Community College Collaborative, and Youth Engagement provided information on the important services being supported in part by WINGS. Jen Barrientos, manager of […]

HCI Network Impact Coordinators Ashley Gardner and Emily Culver and the RAVE student leadership team joined other passionate youth advocates from across the Twin Cities at the RAVE Youth Summit in Minneapolis last week — coming together to support Reduction and Awareness of Vaping and E-Cigarette use. Gardner said the youth members left the summit […]

The horrific shootings of State Representative Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, State Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, have left us saddened and shaken. Violence has no place in our community. We send the Hortman family our condolences and join people across Minnesota in grieving a strong leader and champion for youth voice and […]

By Martha Lundin as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News For the last four years, I worked with high school students as Healthy Community Initiative’s youth engagement coordinator. I am a youth worker. I became a youth worker by accident. Accident in the way that I did not aspire in high school to become a […]

Diplomas, scholarships, college acceptances — seniors in the TORCH program had many reasons to celebrate in the final weeks and months of their education at Northfield Public Schools. Thirty two out of the 33 TORCH seniors graduated on time with the Class of 2025, for a 97% graduation rate! TORCH Senior Manager Tessa Kiesow said […]

A new childcare center opened in Faribault last week, marking the result of a year-long partnership between Healthy Community Initiative and Faribault Cares. Little Scholars Academy will serve 77 children from infant to school-age. It’s located at 550 Wilson Avenue and is the second Faribault location for Little Scholars, which also has a facility at […]