SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — As Juneteenth approaches, celebrating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, a nonprofit organization is opening up applications for part of an innovative $50 million trust.
In tonight’s Your Money Matters, how black people living in South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota can apply to receive a $50,000 grant.
“There’s an incredible black wealth gap, there’s an incredible home ownership gap, the education rates,” Nexus Community Partners Senior Director Danielle Mkali said.
The Bush Foundation has worked to tackle those issues with grants to different nonprofit organizations through the years, but recently decided to take a new approach, creating a $50 million trust aimed at generating more black wealth and prosperity in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
“This fund is really unique in that the funds go directly to people,” Mkali said.
The Bush Foundation appointed Nexus Community Partners in the Twin Cities to come up with a plan for distributing the personal grants.
“We’ll do one hundred $50,000 grants for the next eight years,” Mkali said.
“Something we very quickly all agreed upon was the desire to have a life-changing amount of money. To have something that would be extremely impactful, we didn’t want a drop in the bucket. When you’re looking at what is really systematic problems, we all understood that it could not be a $5,000 grant, a $10,000 grant, we really wanted to empower and give people the opportunity to do something that would change their life for the better,” Chloe Clements said.
Chloe Clements, the founder of Ace Academy in Sioux Falls, was part of the Nexus Advisory board that helped come up with an equitable plan for distributing the $50 million gift.
“When we came up with that collective definition of Black wealth there were all types of ways to invest in Black wealth, ranging from health to housing, security, to business ventures,” Clements said.
It’s why they have opened the grant application up to anyone to apply, with a random selection of 100 people a year receiving the grants as long as they meet the application criteria.
“It’s for Black folks, people that identify as descendants of the Atlantic slave trade ages 14 and up who reside in Minnesota, North Dakota or South Dakota,” Mkali said.
“We are not running DNA tests, we are not tracking ancestry we are just looking at some basic things,” Clements said. “If you identify as a Black American and you believe you are descended from slaves, you qualify.”
Applications open on Juneteenth and will close July 28th.
Again, this is a random selection application process, so there is no income limit or merit consideration. People can apply every year; at least 800 families will receive $50,000 grants over the next 8 years, with an equitable distribution in all three states.
The bush foundation also created a twin $50 million trust for Native Americans in the Dakotas and Minnesota; the NDN Collective in Rapid City will be handling applications for those grants. Stick with KELOLAND News for a future story as we learn more of the details for that application process.
