Healthy Community Initiative

By Ashley Gardner as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News Students involved in the RAVE (Reduction and Awareness of Vaping and E-cigarette use) Initiative have launched a campaign to raise awareness in Rice County of how to properly dispose of vape devices. The students organized a vape disposal take-back last month at the Community […]

To Heather Luethje, the Rice County Diaper Bank Collaborative is a blessing; another way she can show her clients that the community cares about young families and is there to help. “Every family is so appreciative and grateful for something so small but yet so big in the grand scheme of managing their month-to-month budget, […]

By Colton Kemp for the Northfield News Emily Culver is back in her college town of Northfield, taking on a new role as Network Impact Coordinator for the Northfield Racial and Ethnic Equity Collaborative of Healthy Community Initiative. As she finds her footing in the community again, she was given an official tour of the city’s […]

We celebrated 10 years of Northfield YouthBank this past Saturday and took a look back at some of the great programs and youth-driven change that YouthBank grants have supported over the years. From the construction of Arcadia Charter School’s hoop house, to providing instruments to the Key Youth Center, and the inception of Community Youth Activity Night (CYAN), Northfield youth have worked to shape the city. […]

Three Rivers Community Action and Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) have exciting news to share about Mobile Home Rehabilitation efforts in Rice County. Three Rivers, with its robust housing and home energy and weatherization programs, is bringing the Mobile Home Rehabilitation Initiative under its umbrella of programs and will employ and provide support for the initiative’s […]

By Tom Steinmetz as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News I started as Healthy Community Initiative’s new Executive Director one month ago, and it’s been delightful to meet so many people who are dedicated to improving the lives of youth and their families in Northfield and Faribault and across Rice County. My whole career […]

“What’s pretty amazing and unique about HCI is there’s this really clear, ambitious mission, but all of that work is done through really strong, creative, trusting, innovative partnerships with people and organizations in a lot of different fields and disciplines and areas. But everyone is coming together with that same shared purpose.

The Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Board of Directors enthusiastically announces that Tom Steinmetz will serve as the organization’s new Executive Director. Steinmetz will start Monday, Jan. 13. 

By Martha Lundin as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News Northfield YouthBank has granted $7,390 to five youth-led community projects for 2024-25, including two spearheaded by middle school students. The theme for this grant round was “level the playing field.” Twelve YouthBank members were involved in the granting process. The projects that received funding […]

By Naidine Villa as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News As a non-traditional student, I spent years feeling stuck in my educational journey, largely due to the stigma surrounding not completing my degree straight out of high school. I often found myself needing to explain my circumstances, and the thought of starting over felt […]