Healthy Community Initiative

by Mariana Cruz as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News Northfield YouthBank is a youth philanthropy organization dedicated to contributing to our town’s thriving and equitable community by providing grant money to organizations and individuals striving to make a change for the better in Northfield. But what does positive change actually look like? During […]

If the Faribault Youth Space hadn’t opened, Ella Morgan might have been climbing the walls at home on a Thursday after school in early October. Instead, the Faribault High School junior applied swirls of color to a white concrete block wall in a downtown building, freestyling a design while her friend Clara painted larger-than-life red […]

Hi, I’m Lynn. I’m 63 years old, and I just want to tell you my story. I started out with addiction really late in life. What happened was, I married a wonderful man in 2004. In 2006, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and my whole world kind of fell apart. They put me on […]

Growing up, I had a pretty abusive stepfather. From a young age, he was not only physically abusive, but mentally abusive, too. He broke me down and made me feel like an outcast in my own family for a long time. He took away my confidence. So when I started using drugs, it became a […]

This summer, the team at Org In Action came to Northfield to sit down with HCI staff, board members, and previous program participants to learn more about HCI’s mission and local impact. Watch their interview with Executive Director Tom Steinmetz below. Spotlight Session: Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Text reposted from the Org In Action website […]

by Ashley Gardner as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News September is National Recovery Month, and at Healthy Community Initiative we are celebrating both the power of recovery and the harm reduction work that’s been accomplished in Rice County during the past year through the efforts of the Rice County Chemical and Mental Health […]

by Candace Godfrey as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News The NCCC — Navigating and Coaching for College and Careers — started in 2018 under the name Northfield Community College Collaborative as a program of Healthy Community Initiative. Since 2018, we have moved our location from downtown Northfield to the second floor of the […]

Northfield Community School’s Summer BLAST and PLUS programs and Faribault Community Schools’ STEAM program provide students with fun, engaging, and supportive summer learning experiences that blend academics with enrichment opportunities. Designed to build confidence, strengthen social skills, and keep students connected to learning, the programs offer a variety of hands-on clubs and activities that encourage creativity, collaboration, and […]

by Emily Culver as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News Last month I had the pleasure of accompanying five middle school and high school girls on a five-day trip to YMCA Camp Menogyn and into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The trip was one of several that students involved in the TORCH program […]

Northfield Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann ends his tenure with Northfield Public Schools on June 30 and starts a new job as executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. His successor, Dr. Tim Anderson, assumes the role of superintendent on July 1. HCI Communications Manager Joy Riggs sat down recently with Hillmann to discuss […]