Our first donations

Thanks to you, the Treehouse Foundation raised over $4800 dollars for organizations we believe are making important efforts to ensure lifelong learning in our communities. After researching and analyzing many organizations throughout the region, we were proud to select two partners to support this in our first calendar year: MIGIZI and Mentoring Positives. 

MIGIZI, a Minneapolis-based organization, provides educational programming tailored to American Indian children throughout Minnesota. Its programs include Native Academy, a science and technology education program, as well as green jobs initiatives and one-on-one partnerships with Minnesota school districts. We hope that our gift to MIGIZI will help them focus on these programs in the aftermath of this exceptionally difficult year for the Twin Cities, which unfortunately included the destruction of MIGIZI’s headquarters during the spring 2020 unrest. 

We also have donated to Mentoring Positives, a small nonprofit organization based in the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood on Madison’s east side. Mentoring Positives is focused on providing direct programming to children and teenagers in the neighborhood by providing them with one-on-one mentoring, cultural dialogues, and vocational training opportunities. We hope our gift will have a positive impact on their ability to provide these services as kids in Madison return to school and deal with the aftermath of the pandemic. 

Although we didn’t realize what events would soon unfold when we began Treehouse Foundation, our gifts this year reflected the turmoil of 2020. Our giving committee rigorously evaluated a range of organizations this year and decided on MIGIZI and Mentoring Positives because of their commitment to racial justice and educational equity. In the years to come we hope to build on these gifts by giving to organizations that are similarly committed to equity for the people whom our educational system does not always serve well. 

We learned valuable lessons about charitable giving this year, which is why we’re so grateful for your donation to Treehouse Foundation. In those years to come, we hope that you will continue to help us meet our financial goals and in turn make a positive impact on the communities that mean so much to each of us.

Brian Phelps

President