Spirit Valley YWCA Receives Sizable Donation

DULUTH, Minn. — The Spirit Valley YWCA in Duluth has been chosen to receive a pretty significant grant.

The South St. Louis County Family Service Collaborative has awarded $225,000 to the local non-profit.

Alice Jacobson, Director of External Programming, says she remembers screaming when she heard the news; she says funding like this can sometimes be difficult to come by.

“This is just a huge, huge donation that is going to make a huge impact on our programs and on the families that we serve,” Jacobson said, adding that her agency’s annual budget is around a million dollars.

The YWCA has a number of programs that help children and families.

“This funding is going to be spread throughout each of our programs and it’s going to help to improve mental health service access and education for our participants,” Jacobson said.

A smaller grant of $25,000 was awarded to the Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative.

Those funds will be used for educational programs promoting Ojibwe culture.