Welcoming Community resources cited in our Master Programming document include:
- Our baseline will use the Intelligent Community Forum’s indicator benchmarking tools: https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/method
- As part of the Arrowhead Intelligent Region (AIR), this report was recently completed and will assist in the creation of our progress indicators: Arrowhead Region Analytics Report v2 (blandinfoundation.org)
- Northspan reviewed both academic literature on concepts related to welcoming communities and best practices employed by other groups in Minnesota that are already working in these areas. Sources: A Review of Literature on Immigrant Incorporation in the Workforce and Case Studies of Immigrant Integration in Minnesota
- Northspan reviewed resources for communities and groups within them who would like to promote welcoming communities. For example, Region 5 has facilitated IDI training for several hundred individuals and several dozen organizations.
- Several other regions of Minnesota have pursued integrative approach that brings a group together regularly to share best practices at summits and in workshops (Region 9, Itasca Project)
- There are many examples of resource provision to new arrivals, including both short-term immediate support (welcoming committees through chambers of commerce, refugee resettlement agencies, job resources) and longer-term efforts such as business coaching (Region 5) and longer-term check-ins and support (Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association in Rochester; many Twin Cities examples, usually ethnically focused).
- In early 2020, Northspan sent 113 regional public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders a survey on the welcoming concept. We provided the following purpose of the survey: To learn from regional partners in community and economic development, workforce development, government, foundational, and education about their efforts to create welcoming communities, communities that work for all, and explore potential avenues for regional cooperation and/or to further promote their efforts. According to the Blandin Rural Pulse survey, 85% of rural people already think they’re welcoming.