Healthy Community Initiative

05/31/2026

The new childcare and private meeting space at the NCCC is finally finished! We furnished it with space-saving drop-down tables, child-sized chairs, and storage cabinets with a small countertop. This has been a long project, but it was worth the wait for the impact it is already having on the functionality of the Study Center.

05/28/2026

Congratulations to Megan and Brianna, the two youth members of the HCI Board graduating this spring! Megan and Brianna have provided invaluable insight into the needs of youth in our community. Megan (board member since 2024) is graduating from Northfield High School and Brianna (board member since 2023 and Co-Chair for two years) is graduating from Faribault High School. We are excited to see where these two leaders go next!

Youth on Boards had a strong recruitment cycle this spring, welcoming 45 new members to local boards and commissions! The program has also added two new boards for the 2026-2027 school year: Rice County Family Services Collaborative and Arcadia Charter School Board.

05/25/2026

HCI offices are closed for Memorial Day today, Monday, May 25.

05/24/2026

It’s been a busy spring for Youth Engagement programming at HCI! The Mayor's Youth Council's (MYC) Early Youth Engagement sub-committee held a poster contest for elementary and middle school students, with the theme: "What do you love about Northfield?" MYC members had a blast selecting the winners and had the opportunity to recognize the winners at the April 21 City Council meeting. Winners received gift cards for local businesses including Tin Tea, Content, Memorial Pool, and the Blast.

MYC also hosted their annual City Council Brunch on April 12 with the Mayor and members of the City Council. Students were thrilled at the good turnout and had incredibly insightful discussions about everything from literature to bike lanes with their elected officials.

05/23/2026

Faribault Public Schools’ Community Unity Day was a big hit last Friday, May 15! Staff from HCI’s Growing Up Healthy and Rice County Chemical and Mental Health Coalition were present to connect with families and provide them with information about available resources and how to access them.

Unity Day is an annual event designed to bring the community together, provide resources to families, and create a space where everyone feels welcomed, valued, and honored. It’s an evening filled with resources, fun family activities, a movie, and food!

05/22/2026

Interested in getting your nursing career off the ground? Get paid to learn! Through the Supporting New Americans in the Long-Term Care Workforce program, you can receive money to take certified nursing assistant (CNA) courses, pay for testing, and continue your nursing education beyond the CNA certification. This program is offered through a partnership between Healthy Community Initiative, the NCCC, and the Community Action Center.

NCCC: Northfield Community College Collaborative support includes: help finding and enrolling in CNA programs, coverage of CNA tuition and additional tuition support, testing fee support, tutoring support while taking classes, additional support for transportation and housing while in school, navigating employment needs (like buying scrubs), and connections to employment in the long-term care industry.

Community Action Center - Northfield Community Action Center - Faribault support includes: food access, housing assistance, and clothing assistance.

Learn more about the program! Contact Candace Godfrey (Manager, NCCC) at [email protected] or (507) 301-6729 (call or text) for eligibility information.

This program is sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Human Services through the Supporting New Americans in the Long-Term Care Workforce grant.

05/19/2026

The Padrinos boys group from Middle School TORCH wrapped up their year of learning about marketing themselves and finding their networks by hosting a Business Poster Showcase on April 20. The students began developing these projects in March, in the aftermath of Operation Metro Surge, and many of their ideas focused on food delivery and supporting impacted communities. They did a wonderful job presenting their business ideas to district and HCI staff.

05/18/2026

Growing Up Healthy staff facilitated a vaccine clinic in April in partnership with Rice County Public Health. This clinic supported Spring Creek and Bridgewater students who are currently without health insurance coverage and who needed updated immunizations. Staff also supported dental clinics at both schools that served more than 40 students.

05/16/2026

Children and families planted 20 new trees last week at the Northfield Community Education Center (NCEC)! Participants included caregivers and children from Growing Up Healthy’s FFN (Family Friend and Neighbor Minnesota) and Rice County ParentChild+ programs.

The tree planting was funded by a grant from Tree Trust. Since 1976, Tree Trust has transformed lives and landscapes and made communities a greener, healthier place to live.

05/11/2026

Check out the summer schedule at the NCCC!

Our summer schedule is here!