Kinship joins GMCC
Kinship of Greater Minneapolis, a community-based program that provides children ages 5 to 15 with caring adult mentors, joined the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches’ (GMCC) family of programs on September 1.
“I can’t imagine a better fit than this,” Gary Reierson, president of GMCC, said. “The missions fit, the values fit, the rootedness in the faith community yet not limited to the faith community, and our impact areas are in synergy.”
With the continuing economic uncertainty and funding challenges facing nonprofits both locally and nationally, Reierson explained the GMCC–Kinship collaboration will strengthen both organizations. “This will allow more resources to be dedicated to programming, not overhead,” he said. “We are both very successful with a long history of service to the community. This strategic alliance will enhance that service.”
“Sustainability is important to us and after several months of studying programs under the umbrella of GMCC, we made the decision to move forward with confidence that this joining of forces will strengthen us,” Margie Edberg, interim director of Kinship, explained.
The forerunner of the mentoring program, Kinsman, was founded in 1954 by a group of Lutheran seminary students. In 1988, Kinship of Greater Minneapolis was established as a separate, nonprofit organization serving much of Minneapolis and the neighboring suburbs. Today, the organization serves Hennepin and Anoka counties where it has mentored 2,000 youth since its inception.
With the addition of Edberg and eight Kinship staffers, GMCC will employ more than 100 people in 30 community service programs.
Tags: collaboration, Gary Reierson, GMCC, Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, Kinship of Greater Minneapolis, Kinsman, Lutheran seminary students, Margie Edberg, mentors
