Affinity Plus Foundation, FHLB Des Moines Award $1 Million in Grants to 41 Minnesota Nonprofit Organizations
ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Affinity Plus Foundation, in partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines (FHLB Des Moines), is excited to announce $1 million in Member Impact Fund grants to 41 nonprofit organizations across Minnesota. The Member Impact Fund matches up to $3 for every $1 contributed by FHLB Des Moines member institutions, supporting affordable housing and community development initiatives statewide.
In partnership with FHLB Des Moines, the Affinity Plus Foundation announces $1 million in Member Impact Fund grants to 41 nonprofit organizations across Minnesota to support housing and community development initiatives statewide.
Share
"Through this grant program, we are able to significantly expand our local charitable impact and support the incredible work of nonprofits serving our communities,' said Jacquie Twedt, Board Chair of the Affinity Plus Foundation. 'Whether it's building transitional housing, delivering financial education, or improving food security, these organizations are the backbone of a stronger Minnesota."
The Affinity Plus Foundation has been a proud partner of many of these nonprofit organizations for several years. Together, they remain dedicated to improving their communities through affordable housing, community development and basic needs programs.
Notable Grant Recipients
Joy Collaborative ($140,000): Construction of a mobile 'Joy Zone' for sensory-friendly respite at events for youth and adults with disabilities or life-limiting diseases.
Lutheran Social Services ($100,000): Statewide re-activation of Train the Trainer financial education for nonprofit educators.
New Pathways ($100,000): Funding towards a new, state of the art transitional housing center for families in Isanti County, including on-site resources for families experiencing homelessness.
Kitchen Coalition/Second Harvest Heartland ($45,000): Providing additional culturally connected 'heat & eat' meals for food-insecure Minnesotans, expansion of local meal distribution partners.
Minnesota Council for Economic Education ($15,000): High School Personal Finance workshops certify high school educators to deliver required personal finance curriculum, making these life skills more accessible to students. The donation will expand the organization's capacity to offer this workshop to 15 additional educators.
'The Member Impact Fund continues to be a powerful resource in supporting our members as they expand access to affordable housing and drive community development,' said Kris Williams, president and CEO of FHLB Des Moines. 'It's inspiring to see the partnerships centered around improving local communities in such a variety of ways.'
Community & Regional Grant Recipients
Grants were also awarded to nonprofits making a difference in affordable housing, housing stability, and food security, including:
Housing Stability Grants ($25,000 each):
One Roof Community Housing (Duluth), St. Vincent de Paul dba St. Phillips Conference (Bemidji), ServeMinnesota (statewide), Northwoods Habitat for Humanity (Bemidji), Neighborhood House (St. Paul), Habitat for Humanity of Morrison County (Little Falls), Women's Shelter & Support Center (Rochester), Relationship Safety Alliance (Brainerd), Life House (Duluth), Habitat for Humanity serving Winona County (Winona), Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (St. Paul), Community Action Center (Northfield), Partnership for Affordable Housing (Mankato), Fergus Falls Habitat for Humanity (Fergus Falls), Habitat for Humanity of Douglas County (Alexandria), Committee Against Domestic Abuse (Mankato).
Food Security Grants ($10,000 each):
Feeding Our Community Partners (Mankato), Open Arms of Minnesota (St. Paul), Duluth Community School Collaborative (Duluth), North Country Food Bank (East Grand Forks), Kaitlyn's Kloset (Eagan), Open Hands Midway (St. Paul), The Sanneh Foundation (St. Paul), Neighbors, Inc. (South St. Paul), Outreach Food Shelf (Alexandria), Bridges of Hope (Brainerd), United Way of Bemidji Area (Bemidji), Open Cupboard (Oakdale), Emergency Community Help Organization (ECHO, Mankato), Valley Outreach (Stillwater), Channel One Regional Food Bank (Rochester), Rural Enrichment & Counseling Headquarters (REACH, Moorhead), People's Church (Bemidji), The Food Group Minnesota (Minneapolis), The Open Door Pantry (Eagan), Second Harvest Northland (Grand Rapids).
About the Affinity Plus Foundation
The Affinity Plus Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union and based in St. Paul, Minn., is committed to building stronger communities through brighter financial futures for all. Through initiatives focused on housing stability, financial well-being, food security and access to education, the Affinity Plus Foundation creates lasting impact in the communities it serves. Since its inception in 2000, the Affinity Plus Foundation has awarded more than $2 million in grants and scholarships, empowering individuals and organizations to overcome barriers and achieve brighter financial futures. Learn more about the Foundation's mission and programs at www.affinityplusfoundation.org.
About Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines
Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines is deeply committed to strengthening communities, serving 13 states and three U.S. Pacific territories as a member-owned cooperative. The bank works with more than 1,200 member institutions to support affordable housing, economic development, and community improvement. Learn more at fhlbdm.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EDITORIAL: Farmers markets play a vital community role
Jun. 13—This week, the Farmer's Market Place in Austin received a grant of $4,380 from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, one of 29 farmer's markets across the state that benefit from the one-time funding to help expand nutrition assistance efforts during this summer's season. According to a press release on Wednesday from MDA, farmers markets are a vital access point for Minnesotans who use nutrition assistance program benefits. This is something that long-time shoppers of these markets will easily attest to as they make use of local purveyors of fresh produce, baked goods and so much more. The Farmers Market Place has been a long-standing tradition in Austin, kicking off the week on Mondays at Main Street and Third Avenue NE, right next to the SPAM Museum. They always have a fresh assortment of goods that contribute not only the good tastes of fresh, home-grown or home-made items, but that are good for the area. And the good news is, it's not the only one. There is also the Cedar River Farmers Market on Fridays and just a short jog down Highway 218 you'll find the Rose Creek Farmers Market on Tuesdays. Food is always better when it's made with fresh ingredients, but it's also a prime destination for healthy eating. These goods are coming from their growing platforms within days of being ready. They are grown holistically and oftentimes organically. Not to mention, it's just very good food and you're helping out our local growers and our local communities. The farmers markets are a chance for everyone to win so take some time and help these producers out. Every dollar you spend with them they are spending to bring you the same great products you've come to enjoy.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Women's Shelter and Support Center receives $155,000 in support of its new emergency shelter facility
Jun. 13—ROCHESTER — The Women's Shelter and Support Center received a $155,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank Member Impact Fund in support of the center's new emergency shelter facility. The grant will help expand staffing and programming to support survivors of domestic violence across 10 counties in southeastern Minnesota. "This investment not only strengthens our capacity to serve more survivors but reinforces our mission to provide safe shelter and supportive services for survivors and their children," Artyce Thomas, executive director of the center, said in a statement. "We are incredibly grateful to have financial partners who recognize that access to safe housing is not a privilege — it's a foundation for healing and long-term stability." WSSC supports nearly 3,000 individuals through shelter and advocacy services each year. The new shelter, currently under construction, will more than double the organization's housing capacity to provide a safe haven for up to 75 individuals at a time, the statement said. In 2026, WSSC will mark 50 years of service. "We are proud to partner with our member financial institutions and local nonprofits to invest in the well-being of Minnesotans," Kris Williams, president and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, Iowa, said in the statement. "Everyone deserves access to safe, stable housing, and this project reflects that shared commitment." The Member Impact Fund is a matching grant program from FHLB Des Moines that leverages the strength of member financial institutions to invest in community-based initiatives across the bank's district, according to the statement.
Business Wire
2 hours ago
- Business Wire
Securonix Acquires ThreatQuotient to Deliver Industry's Broadest and Deepest Threat Detection Investigation and Response
PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Securonix, a five-time Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), announced the acquisition of ThreatQuotient, a four-time leader in threat intelligence based on QKS Group Spark Matrix report and the force behind ThreatQ, the most innovative external threat intelligence platform. This combination will create a comprehensive, modular, and fully integrated AI-driven platform for threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR), leveraging advanced analytics and insights across both internal and external threats. This acquisition accelerates the modernization of security operations by uniting internal and external threat intelligence with real-time analytics and agentic AI. Unlike external threat intelligence bolt-on solutions with disconnected management interfaces, the integrated platform from Securonix and ThreatQuotient will deliver unified visibility, faster response, and greater operational clarity. "Bringing threat intelligence management and SIEM together in a unified platform is a game changer. We've already seen the value of deeply enriched advanced analytics and detection in our Securonix SIEM environment—but coupling that with integrated threat curation, prioritization, and response should help customers move even faster. It means fewer swivel-chair investigations, more accurate triage, and greater confidence that security analysts are working with the most relevant threats. This kind of integration has the potential to accelerate the ability to detect, respond, and stay ahead," said Marcel Jonker, Director of Cybersecurity Operations at Cambia Health Systems. The integration of Securonix and ThreatQuotient promises to deliver up to a 70% reduction in Mean Time to Respond (MTTR), enabling security teams to detect, investigate, and remediate threats significantly faster. By combining curated threat intelligence with AI-driven automation, the solution will deliver exponential improvements in filtering out false positives, enriching alerts with actionable context, and automating historical threat sweeps and incident response. This reduces alert overload, speeds up root cause analysis, and minimizes manual handoffs—cutting investigation time from hours to minutes and enabling automated containment before threats escalate. 'Security teams are drowning in noise and struggling to keep up with evolving threats,' said Kash Shaikh, CEO and President of Securonix. 'This acquisition brings together Securonix's Agentic AI-driven Platform with ThreatQuotient's deep threat intelligence to deliver clarity, speed, and automated workflows to our customers, reducing false positives by up to 90%. Together, we're building the modern SOC Platform—proactive, intelligent, and built for what's next.' Kash added, 'Securonix and ThreatQuotient bring together complementary strengths—deep innovation across internal and external threat domains, and a shared commitment to innovation and customer service. Both companies serve enterprise and government customers as well as managed security service providers (MSSPs), and we're excited to welcome the talented ThreatQuotient team and their customers to Securonix.' Purpose-Built for Analysts. Proven Against Real-World Threats. ThreatQuotient's Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP) strength lies in delivering curated, contextualized threat intelligence that drives smart, timely decisions. When combined with Securonix's EON Agentic AI-based SIEM, SOAR, UEBA and Data Pipeline Manager, customers can accelerate their migration from reactive threat hunting-based defense to proactive, real-time, behavior-driven, open-agentic security operations. With this integration, Securonix customers and partners will enjoy the following benefits: Gain clear visibility: Integrate deep enriched real-time analytics from Securonix with curated external intelligence from ThreatQuotient to create a single, high-context stream of alerts. Eliminate blind spots and accelerate threat identification with confidence. Stay ahead of risk: Auto-enrich Indicator of compromise (IoCs) and preemptively respond to repeat attacks, blocking 90 percent before they start. Act smarter: Automate repetitive tasks, reduce false positives, and streamline investigations. Teams can stay focused on high-priority threats and reduce time spent on manual triage. Deploy your way: Continue to use ThreatQ as a standalone threat intelligence platform or as part of the fully integrated Securonix solution. Deploy on-premise or SaaS in a way that fits the current architecture and scales with needs. Accelerated Roadmap: Combined R&D synergies will accelerate upcoming roadmap innovations, including Agentic AI and ThreatQuotient's innovation priorities. With this acquisition, ThreatQuotient customers and partners will enjoy the following benefits: Increased Scale: ThreatQ customers can take advantage of Securonix's global R&D scale and GTM reach, including access to Securonix's Threat Labs Intelligence. Deeper Integrations: Gain access to an enriched roadmap and integration between Securonix's best-in-class SIEM, SOAR, and UEBA portfolio and ThreatQ, including extension of Agentic AI advancements. Continued Focus: Zero interruption of their existing service, as ThreatQuotient will continue to operate as a standalone offering, with no disruption to existing roadmap and workflows. 'Enterprises, government institutions and managed security service providers rely on ThreatQuotient to protect their mission critical businesses. Joining Securonix marks a powerful new chapter for ThreatQuotient. By uniting our strengths, we can accelerate innovation, expand our reach, and deliver greater value to our customers. I'm proud of what we've built and excited for what's ahead,' said John Czupak, CEO of ThreatQuotient. BTIG, LLC served as exclusive financial advisor, and King & Spalding LLP served as legal advisor to ThreatQuotient. Vinson & Elkins LLP served as legal advisor to Securonix. About Securonix Securonix is leading the transformation of cybersecurity with the industry's first Unified Defense SIEM powered by agentic AI, purpose-built to decide and act across the threat lifecycle with a human-in-the-loop philosophy. Built for scale, precision, and speed, our cloud-native platform empowers global enterprises to shift from reactive security to proactive, autonomous operations. Recognized as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for SIEM and a Customers' Choice by Gartner Peer Insights™, Securonix is driving the next era of intelligent, autonomous security operations. Learn more at About ThreatQuotient ThreatQuotient improves security operations by fusing disparate data sources, tools, and teams to accelerate threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR). ThreatQ is the first purpose-built, data-driven threat intelligence platform that helps teams prioritize, automate, and collaborate on security incidents; enables more focused decision-making; and maximizes limited resources by integrating existing processes and technologies into a unified workspace. The result is reduced noise, clear priority threats, and the ability to automate processes with high-fidelity data. ThreatQuotient's leading integration marketplace, data management, orchestration, and automation capabilities support multiple use cases including threat intelligence management and sharing, incident response, threat hunting, spear phishing, alert triage, and vulnerability management. For more information, visit
