Boys & Girls Club of the Missouri River Area has been selected as a member of the Bush Foundation’s second Community Creativity Cohort. “We are excited to support the amazing work of The Boys & Girls Club to help make our region better for everyone” said Bush Foundation Community Creativity Portfolio Director Erik Takeshita.

Boys & Girls Club of the Missouri River Area is one of 40 organizations from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and the 23 Native nations that share the geography selected by the Foundation for its commitment to making art and culture central to problem solving. All participating organizations are either led by and serving people of color or Indigenous people, and/or are led by and serving people from rural communities or non-metropolitan cities or towns with populations of less than 50,000 people’s.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the Bush Foundation’s Creativity Cohort. We hope to explore strategies for addressing behavioral health with an emphasis on suicide prevention and strengthening community connectivity. We believe the opportunity to network with the 39 other communities will provide us with idea capital and problem solving potential. Cohort groups with creatives thinkers provide access to potential solutions that can shift entire communities.” stated Amy Doom, Heath and Life Skills Coordinator.

Each member of the cohort will receive a general operating support grant of $100,000 over a three-year period and access to other funds to help them improve their work and strengthen their organizations. Cohort members were selected from a pool of over 100 applicants from across the region. The program will officially kick off in November 2018 in the Twin Cities at the first annual convening of the Cohort. More information on Community Creativity Cohort 2 and its members can be found at https://www.bushfoundation.org/community-creativity-initiative/community-creativity-cohort-2

The Boys & Girls Club of the Missouri River area has been in operation since 1998. The organization operates two Clubs in Wagner and Marty and serves an average of 175 kids a day with a total enrollment of 1,200 youth.

The Bush Foundation was established in 1953 by 3M Executive Archibald Bush and his wife Edyth. Today, the Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them in Minne-sota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the geography. The Foundation works to inspire and support creative problem solving – within and across sectors – to make the region better for everyone.