Are you looking for exciting and enriching experiences for your youth? Costs can add up fast for sporting events, theaters, museums, and more. Tickets for Kids provides these tickets to organizations that serve low-income and at-risk youth by providing no-cost tickets to hundreds of different events. Tickets for Kids partners with 350 social service agencies, schools, government programs, and more to provide 35,000 tickets to Minnesota kids each year. Learn more by contacting Susan Murray, TFK Regional Director, at Susan@ticketsforkids.org or visit their website by clicking HERE. 

Our small team working on Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) was acknowledged at the Public Health Heroes ceremony hosted by the Minneapolis Health Department. Receiving the award on behalf of the group was Gretchen Musicant and Dr. Chuck Oberg. We're grateful for this award while understanding there is a lot of work ahead of us this year. The Health Department produced a short recap video which has been posted on the side. 

Researchers at Cornell University need our help with a project called "Growing Up In Cities" (GUIC). The project seeks to understand what youth need and want from the community spaces around them. Minneapolis, along with 4 other cities, has been selected so let's make sure our voices are heard! They want to hear directly from youth ages 10-18, so please spread this opportunity widely. Youth who participate are eligible to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Visit THIS PAGE to learn more and to take their survey. 

We are keeping our eyes and ears open as legislators work in St. Paul. There is excitement in the youth and early childhood fields this year as it appears that we will get substantial investments. While we don't have specific staff tracking the work in St. Paul, we will do our best to follow the news and keep everyone updated. Especially on the topics that link to our community and our work. The best way to stay updated and connected will be to follow us on social media (Facebook page + Twitter page) or by signing up for our Minneapolis Afterschool Network Newsletter. Click HERE to sign up for our newsletter.

The PDF below contains information on some topics we are tracking. 

Do you have an open job that you want to fill with the best possible candidate? One of the roles of the Minneapolis Afterschool Network is to ensure the youth work field of Minneapolis remains healthy by promoting professional development opportunities and by making sure we're all aware of important open youth work positions. We're here to help spread news about your open positions! We've now made it easier than ever with a short form that will guide you through the essential information we need. Now there is no need to contact us to have a back-and-forth! Find our new form HERE and we'll have your information in our next newsletter and social media soon. Thank you!  

On February 14, 2023, we collaborated with UNICEF USA and the Minneapolis Health Department for our big Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) Local Action Plan Launch Event. It was a great day that brought elected officials, community members, youth workers, and people from around the country together. Our Minneapolis Youth Congress were in school that day, but we wanted to make sure youth voice was present in our celebration, so they recorded a video for us. Here is that video!