Boreal Waters Awards $300,000 Transformation Grant to Support Pathway Forward
A collaborative effort led by Union Gospel Mission, Damiano Center and Chum aims to strengthen the region’s response to homelessness and housing instability.
Boreal Waters Community Foundation has awarded a $300,000 Transformation Grant to support Pathway Forward, a collaborative effort led by Union Gospel Mission, Damiano Center and Chum to create a more coordinated, effective and dignified response to homelessness and housing instability in Duluth and across the Northland.
The grant will award $300,000 over three years to support planning, coordination, shared systems development and implementation of the partnership.
Pathway Forward brings together three long-standing human service organizations that have each played a critical role in meeting basic needs across the Northland. Together, their executive directors are taking on the difficult and important work of redesigning how their organizations work together — not simply adding more services, but creating a clearer system for people moving from crisis to stability.
This is exactly the kind of work our Transformation Grant was designed to support. It is an investment in coordination, trust and long-term systems change. Union Gospel Mission, Damiano Center and Chum are choosing collaboration over turf, and that kind of leadership should give our whole community hope.Shaun Floerke, CEO & President, Boreal Waters Community Foundation
Today, people experiencing homelessness or housing instability often navigate multiple organizations and entry points to access meals, shelter, basic needs, case management and long-term housing support. That can mean repeating their story, moving between buildings and trying to piece together support while already in crisis.
Pathway Forward is designed to make that system work better.
Through the collaboration, Union Gospel Mission will serve as a low-barrier triage and engagement center, Damiano Center will serve as a congregate shelter and basic needs hub, and Chum will focus on transitional shelter and housing stabilization. The organizations will also work to strengthen shared intake practices, referral pathways, case management coordination, data-informed decision-making and communication with the broader community.
This project recognizes that homelessness is not solved by one organization working harder in isolation. It takes a coordinated system, strong relationships and a shared commitment to making services easier to access for people who are already carrying too much. Pathway Forward reflects practical and collaborative problem-solving. Amber Burns, Director of Community Impact and Partnerships, Boreal Waters Community Foundation
The project is especially important because Duluth is a regional hub for services across northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. People come to Duluth for healthcare, employment, public services, housing support, shelter and basic needs. When the systems in downtown Duluth are strained, the impact is felt far beyond downtown. When those systems work better, the benefits ripple across the region.
The Transformation Grant is part of Boreal Waters’ Community Opportunity Fund, an unrestricted fund which supports bold work throughout the region that addresses root causes. Multi-year Transformation Grants are intended to support upstream projects that move beyond immediate needs and help change the systems, shaping people’s lives.
“Downtown Duluth can get better,” Floerke said. “But it will not happen by waiting for one perfect solution. It will happen when enough of us are willing to push the first domino, then the next one, and the next. Pathway Forward is one of those first dominos.”