Duluth’s Family Freedom Center gets $100K grant

DULUTH, MN. (Northern News Now) - A Duluth organization received a large grant to help them bridge the gap between Black students and technology-driven careers.

The Family Freedom Center, a Black community organization, will receive a $100,000 grant.

Family Freedom Center builds programs that address cultural racism and internalized oppression that affects Black families in Duluth.

The money will be used to make a new Skilled Trades, Arts, Robotics, and Technology program, also known as the START program.

The grant comes from the Ordean Foundation’s retiring director Joe Everett who wanted to make a lasting impact in the Central Hillside neighborhood.

”My hope is that the $100,000 gift that we’re going to be giving to the Family Freedom Center that it’s going to enable them to address some of those issues that we talked about earlier, about youth programs being underfunded and not having the kinds of equipment or resources that they need,” said Everett.

START has creative spaces that offer free access to high-end technology including computers, software, and printers for Central Hillside residents.

The first phase of the START program includes a multimedia room with arts-oriented training and a recording studio.

For more information about the Family Freedom Center, you can visit their website.