Dear friend,

Our recently compiled 2020 Annual Report tells the story of people living in poverty during a global pandemic. While we served 492 people over the past year, with a total of 3,323 visits, 40% of our participants stopped coming to The Dignity Center after the Stay In Place order was implemented at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 65% of the participants who continued coming to The Dignity Center after the Stay in Place order were actively engaged with our program to reach their stability goals. Our participants improved their stability in areas like housing, employment, and income. We were reminded of the impact that direct financial supports have on our participants. When we can provide financial assistance to our participants in the form of rental deposits, paying the first month’s rent, purchasing furniture, paying for laptops and phones, and providing gift cards for our participants to purchase home essentials, our participants' overall stability improves dramatically.  

I want to emphasize that most of the people who continued coming to The Dignity Center after the Stay In Place order were not in crisis. In previous years, we spent most of our time, energy, and resources supporting people in crisis and encouraging them to address their most urgent and immediate challenges. Our 2020 report shows a different participant stability base. Engaging with participants who were not in crisis allowed us to work with people who were committed to improving their long-term stability goals. We are happy to report that this trend is continuing into 2021!

The demographic information of our participants also shifted during the pandemic. Fewer women continued their participation in our program, while we saw an increase in the percentage of our participants who identified as Indigenous. As The Dignity Center responded to the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent uprising for racial justice, we were more focused than ever on providing a safe, respectful, and positive environment for our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color participants, staff, and volunteers. You can find our full 2020 Annual Report on our website.

As we return our attention to our goals for 2021, we are grateful for your support. Whether you donate your time, talent, or treasure, we appreciate you and cannot continue our work without you. Thank you for journeying with us as we live out our mission of supporting people in poverty on their path to stability, during this pandemic and beyond.

With gratitude,

Mary Martin

Director, The Dignity Center

During Women's History Month we are celebrating the incredible women who are part of our community at The Dignity Center. One of those women is Emily, our newest volunteer who joined the Dignity Center this winter! We are lucky that her employer, Abbott Laboratories, is gracious enough to allow Emily time to volunteer with us each week. Emily learned about the Dignity Center through an AlignMN webcast. She appreciates how the Dignity Center empowers individuals in crisis on their path to stability. Emily hopes that volunteering with The Dignity Center will teach her to advocate for and work toward social justice.

 

In the spirit of Women’s History Month, we asked Emily what this month means to her. She replied, “I find Women’s History Month important because it casts a spotlight on topics that can feel uncomfortable to talk about. Addressing inequality makes people uncomfortable, but unless these issues are recognized and talked about, they will not be solved. Women’s History Month is an important means through which to keep talking about women’s rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment until the conversation is no longer necessary.” 

 

Emily continued, “I look up to women who make other women feel empowered, valued, respected, and supported. In particular (and especially lately), I have always looked up to Meghan Markle for her humanitarian work and gender equality activism — all while working as an actress! She is definitely an inspiration to me as a working professional myself.” Thank you, Emily, for volunteering with us at The Dignity Center! We are grateful for you and for all of the strong women who keep us going.

We celebrated The Dignity Center's 19th birthday on Wednesday, March 24! We had a great birthday party with participants and volunteers. Some were present in-person, and others joined in via Zoom.

At our party, we heard from social work students and volunteers about what The Dignity Center means to them. Mary Martin, our Director, gave a synopsis of the past year and provided updates on how The Dignity Center is operating now. Rev. Judy Zabel, a minister at Hennepin Avenue UMC, offered a message of gratitude, saying, "Thank you all for your amazing work and love for The Dignity Center. Happy Birthday Dignity! YOU are all making a difference and many lives are transformed because of what you do. Thank YOU!" 

We still have a long way to go to reach our goal of raising $19,000 for our 19th birthday! Donate here to celebrate our birthday by giving a financial gift to The Dignity Center. Remember, all of the financial support raised during March, our birthday month, will go towards housing supports for our participants. THANK YOU to all of you for being a part of our work through your time, efforts and support! We could not do our work without you.