New Roots Community Integration Program

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Executive Summary

New Roots Community Integration Program is a nonprofit in Minnesota that helps newcomers and their families settle in and take part in community life. Navigators who speak families' languages provide orientation, help with forms and appointments and connections to services, English classes with child care meet at times that fit working families and workshops connect participants with employers.

Newcomers face a long list of tasks at once, finding housing, learning English, enrolling children and understanding health care, usually in an unfamiliar language. Services are spread across many offices and information is often only in English.

With this grant we will serve about 120 newcomers in Year 1 at 2 sites. We do not give legal or immigration advice and we do not promise any outcome for a family. We serve newcomers regardless of immigration status as the law allows. We promise respectful help in participants' languages and careful use of funds.

Our Year 1 budget is about $188,000, growing to about $268,500 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 4 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Program Manager and two part-time navigators) and 8 by Year 5.

We are asking the North Star Welcome Foundation for $60,000 for the Program Manager and interpreters, translation and child care. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

New Roots Community Integration Program is a nonprofit organization in Minnesota. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. Newcomers bring energy and talent, and communities are stronger when they help them settle, learn the language and take part.

What we do.
- Provide a welcome orientation for new arrivals in their languages on housing, health care, schools, transportation and rights.
- Offer English classes with child care at times that fit working families.
- Match each family with a community navigator who speaks their language.
- Run workforce readiness workshops and connect participants with employers.
- Teach civics and how local services work, and encourage participation in community life.
- Host cultural events that bring newcomers and long-time residents together.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We do not give legal or immigration advice and refer newcomers to licensed attorneys and accredited representatives. We serve newcomers regardless of immigration status as the law allows. We do not promise any outcome for a family. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of immigrants, teachers and neighbors began meeting newcomers at the library on weekends to help with forms, English and the bus system. The group grew every month. We kept simple records of who came and what they asked. This proposal asks for support to move from weekend help sessions to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Newcomers face a long list of tasks at once: finding housing, learning English, enrolling children, understanding health care and finding work, usually in an unfamiliar language.

Cost. English classes, transportation and child care cost money, and many families cannot afford all of them.

Access. Services are spread across many offices with different forms, and information is often only in English.

Safety and trust. Newcomers want trustworthy information, and funders want to see that services are well run and respectful.

Missed benefits. Newcomers who cannot navigate the system may miss care, school and work, and communities miss their contributions.

What we hear.
- A mother says she did not know how to enroll her children in school for two months.
- A man says he has two degrees and works nights cleaning because he cannot yet speak English well.
- A teacher says families who understand the school do better.
- A navigator says the first month decides how a family feels about its new home.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that a guide in your language and a path to English and work can help a family settle and thrive.

Products & Services

New Roots Community Integration Program gives newcomers and their families a safe, welcoming place to settle in and take part in community life.

How the program works.
1. Welcome. Navigators meet each family, explain the program in their language and learn their goals.
2. Orientation. A group orientation covers housing, health care, schools, transportation and rights.
3. English. English classes meet several times a week with child care and are matched to each learner's level.
4. Work. Workshops teach resumes, interviews and how the local job market works, and staff connect participants with employers.
5. Civics. Classes teach how local government and services work and how to take part.
6. Navigation. Navigators help families complete forms and make appointments.
7. Events. Cultural events bring newcomers and long-time residents together.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our navigators and instructors speak the languages of our participants, many are former newcomers, and each passes a background check, completes our training and is paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free. We welcome every newcomer regardless of status as the law allows, and we offer services in several languages.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Newcomers, including refugees and immigrants who arrived within the past five years, who live near our partner sites. Eligibility is being a recent newcomer living in our service area, and no one is turned away for lack of English or status.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our weekend sessions we served full rooms and kept a waiting list. Schools and resettlement agencies told us that many more families need help than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 120 participants at 2 neighborhoods. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 360.

Where participants come from.
- Resettlement agencies and schools.
- Libraries, clinics and churches.
- Employers and workforce centers.
- Families who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Employers gain workers. Schools gain engaged families. Communities gain neighbors who feel at home.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a family that found its way in a new city. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Resettlement agencies. Provide essential first help and limited long-term support. We continue the work.

2. Adult education programs. Strong English classes with limited hours and no child care. We add flexibility.

3. Schools. Support children and families who know the school. We help families engage.

4. Faith and community groups. Welcoming and varied in capacity. We add structure and training.

5. Online resources. Plentiful and in English.

What makes us different.
- Navigators who speak participants' languages.
- English classes with child care.
- Orientation and civics.
- Workforce readiness and employer connections.
- Cultural events that build community.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with resettlement agencies, schools and other integration programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Resettlement agencies and schools. We will give staff a short referral form and a named contact.
- Libraries, clinics and churches. We will leave flyers in several languages.
- Employers. We will invite them to workshops and hiring events.
- Ethnic media and community radio. We will share information.
- Word of mouth. Families tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit navigators and instructors through immigrant communities, colleges and adult education programs.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, families helped, English levels gained and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Open orientation and English classes at the first sites.
- Months 4 to 10: Provide orientation, classes, navigation and events through the year.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey participants and partners, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Classes are held in libraries, churches and community centers, provided at no cost.

Safety and privacy.
- Staff follow a written confidentiality policy and never share a family's information without permission.
- Child care staff pass background checks, and two adults are present with every group of children.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $6,000 of equipment once at the start: laptops and projector for classes ($3,000), child care supplies and furnishings ($2,000), interpretation headsets and portable sound ($1,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Manager, paid $44,000 a year, manages sites, classes and partners. Two part-time community navigators, each paid $22,000 a year, work with families. We add navigators as we add languages and sites.

Management & Organization

Hana Mohamud, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as someone who arrived as a newcomer and remembers the first confusing months. I will complete the training we require of our navigators so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Program Manager manages sites, classes and partners, and part-time community navigators work with families. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes an immigrant business owner, an English teacher, a resettlement caseworker, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a community leader. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A school family liaison, an adult education director and an employer give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $52,000 a year; program Manager, paid $44,000 a year; community Navigator (part-time), paid $22,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 120 participants at 2 neighborhoods.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 180 participants at 2 neighborhoods.
- Year 3: About 240 participants at 3 neighborhoods.
- Year 4: About 300 participants at 3 neighborhoods.
- Year 5: About 360 participants at 4 neighborhoods.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 50 percent of our budget, down from about 63 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $60,000 from the North Star Welcome Foundation for the Program Manager and interpreters, translation and child care, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Manager salary, $44,000.
- Other: Interpreters, translation and child care for classes, $16,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 51% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $188,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $7,800 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $118,000; state Refugee and Immigrant Services Funding $40,000; city and Corporate Partners $22,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $52,000; program Manager $44,000; community Navigator (part-time) $22,000; english Instruction Partnership about $10,000; interpreters and Translation about $6,000; orientation Materials about $4,000; child Care During Classes about $6,000; transportation about $4,000; administration and Insurance about $9,000; about $2,800 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $14,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and projector for classes; $2,000 for child care supplies and furnishings; $1,000 for interpretation headsets and portable sound; $2,000 for attorney review of the consent form, confidentiality policy and privacy policy; $1,800 for multilingual flyers and a simple website; $1,700 for navigator training and background checks; $2,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($14,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $44,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $59,000. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $55,000 in startup support from a community foundation and an employer, $61,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $188,000 in Year 1 to about $268,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $118,000, $127,500, $114,500, $124,500 and $134,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: state Refugee and Immigrant Services Funding from $40,000 to $64,000; city and Corporate Partners from $22,000 to $46,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $7,800 in Year 1, about $9,200 in Year 2, about $9,900 in Year 3, about $11,500 in Year 4 and about $12,900 in Year 5. We grow from 2 neighborhoods to 4 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $56,500, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $7,520 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per newcomer. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,502 per newcomer served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more newcomer served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $710 per newcomer.

After the grant. State refugee and immigrant services funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free immigrant integration option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of newcomers and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $118,000 in Year 1, growing to $134,500 in Year 5.
- State Refugee and Immigrant Services Funding: $40,000 in Year 1, growing to $64,000 in Year 5.
- City and Corporate Partners: $22,000 in Year 1, growing to $46,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $8,000 in Year 1, growing to $24,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $52,000; program Manager $44,000; community Navigator (part-time) $22,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: english Instruction Partnership $10,000; interpreters and Translation $6,000; orientation Materials $4,000; child Care During Classes $6,000; transportation $4,000; administration and Insurance $9,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $6,000 at the start, then $1,500 to $2,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $14,000, paid once from $61,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 120 in Year 1, growing to about 360 in Year 5. Sites: 2 in Year 1, growing to 4 by Year 5. Orientation and classes run year-round, with new English cohorts starting each season.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs