Showing Up for the Place We Call Home: This Election and Beyond
What we heard across Minnesota this year, what we’re doing about it and resources for election season
By Alfonso Wenker, Senior Vice President of Community Impact
A year of listening
This year our leaders, staff and partners spent a lot of time on the road, at site visits, program launches and community gatherings across Minnesota. Wherever we went, people talked about the places they live and work, and how much those places matter to them.
In one town, the local school closed, so students now travel an hour to school and sometimes three hours to basketball games. Elsewhere, rural hospitals have closed, putting births in those communities at risk. People told us they’re struggling to house and feed their families, while real estate investors wonder how long high-rise buildings will sit empty.
We also saw people responding to the challenges in their communities.
Minnesotans see possibility even in the hardest times. Neighbors organized mutual aid, helped neighbors with childcare and volunteered at their local food shelves. Nobody we met was sitting idle. People believe their communities can be better, and they’re working on it together. We saw this across the state, in everyday acts of care and connection and in active civic participation.
What we’re doing with what we heard
Listening only counts if it’s coupled with action. For many decades, the Foundation has been building and growing relationships so we can consistently and reliably show up for communities.
Just this week, we celebrated 20 years of Facing Race Award recipients with hundreds of people. The next chapter of investing in racial equity leadership is actively being shaped by what participants told us this summer at convenings in Saint Paul and St. Joseph and in virtual community gatherings.
This month, the Foundation made an additional grant to the Democracy Defense Table, a coalition of Minnesota organizations ready to support communities around the election. The idea came straight from communities: to proactively support partners with dollars they can use as they see fit, with decisions made by the people closest to the work. Our partners now have additional capacity to support voter participation, public information, mobilization and legal expertise as needed.
Taking part, this election and after
Throughout our conversations, one theme came through clearly: Minnesotans want a hand in shaping the future of their communities. As a statewide community foundation, our job is to resource the leaders and organizations working every day so that the greatest number of Minnesotans can take part in a rich and full civic life.
I can’t help but think about next week’s midterm election in light of everything we learned this year. The same care that shows up at food shelves and in neighbors trading childcare also shows up at the ballot box, and Minnesota has a voting culture to be proud of. Civic life is shaped by all of us, so we’ve gathered trusted information and resources below to help you take part.
Resources for Voting Information and Guidance
Before you vote
- Check the Minnesota's Secratary of State's website to find locations for early voting.
- Last day to vote early in person: Monday, November 2
- Find your polling place and sample ballot at mnvotes.gov/myballot.
- Vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. You have the right to vote if you are in line to vote anytime before 8 p.m. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- You have the right to vote if you are in line to vote anytime before 8 p.m.
- If you need to, register at your polling place. Bring proof of where you live.
Questions?
Call the Secretary of State’s voter hotline at 1.877.600.VOTE (1.877.600.8683) or text 651-217-3862.
Know your rights
- Familiarize yourself with your voting rights at the Minnesota Secretary of State Voting Rights Guide.
- If you run into a problem, talk to the head election judge first, then your county elections office.
- For free, nonpartisan help, call the Election Protection hotline at 866.OUR.VOTE (866.687.8683).
- Heard a rumor? Check it with the Secretary of State before you pass it on.
Community Resources
- Election Protection Network (Groundwork Institute): A coalition working to protect every voter’s right to cast a ballot and have it counted.
- Democracy Defense Table: A statewide coalition of community organizations, labor unions and public officials working to strengthen civil society.
- Tending the Soil: A strategic alignment of five BIPOC-led Minnesota worker and tenant justice organizations.
- The Somali Brief: A news outlet from Sahan Journal founder Mukhtar Ibrahim covering the people, ideas and issues shaping Somali American life.
- League of Women Voters: A nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights.
What comes next
People across Minnesota want more for the places they live, and they want a hand in shaping them. After a year of listening, the Foundation is investing in the leaders, relationships and civic groundwork to help make that possible in every part of the state, for this election and for the generations after it.
Join us
We'll be sharing updates about our work, stories of Minnesotan's making a difference, and opportunities to engage with us over the course of the next year. Sign up for our email list below to stay in touch.
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