The United Way of Southeast Minnesota is excited to share that four programs in Winona County will receive a total of $20,000 in Community Resiliency grants. This effort is part of United Way's goal to support more communities in the region.
These grants are informed by Winona County's community members and leaders. The money will go to programs that focus on four key needs local residents identified: housing, financial security, community inclusion & belonging, and help finding community resources.
Here are the Winona County programs receiving support from United Way:
Supporting Housing Stability
Semcac: Housing Assistance Program
Semcac’s Winona County Housing Assistance Program offers urgent rental and deposit support to households facing eviction, unsafe housing, homelessness, or domestic violence.
SMRLS: Eviction Prevention Services
Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) provides free legal representation to low-income and elderly individuals in Winona County at risk of homelessness through eviction.
Increasing Financial Stability
Habitat for Humanity: Homeowner Education
Habitat for Humanity’s Homeowner Education Program in Winona County equips participants with practical knowledge and skills to prevent eviction and foster stable, long-term housing.
Community Inclusion & Belonging
IMPACT Center
The IMPACT Center is a free, year-round* youth facility in downtown Winona offering academic support, meals, and safe supervision to over 100 children from grades K-12—primarily from low-income and minority families—while also providing transportation and family-focused benefits.
*Grades K-5 in the summer.
These Community Resiliency investments enhance United Way’s ongoing multi-year commitments to health, financial security, youth opportunity, and community resiliency.
This grant opportunity has closed.
In order to build on and appreciate the success of our recent Winona County Community-Led Learning, United Way of Southeast Minnesota is releasing 4 grants at $5,000 each to support programs connected to the report's recommendations. We strongly encourage you to read through the report, recommendations, and rubric to strengthen your application. We will award one grant per recommendation focus area. Please choose the category and recommendation you feel most closely fits with the goal of your program or service. You are unable to click more than one category or recommendation.
Read the full Winona County Community-Led Research Report and examples of eligible programs.
Eligible applicants are:
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501c3 organizations or fiscally sponsored organizations that have a documented relationship with a 501c3
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Government entities
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School districts
AND
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Providing a free or low cost service to low-income* Winona County residents that is directly connected to the recommendations from our recent Winona County community led learning project
Applications will be accepted from January 13th to February 27, 2026 at 11:59 PM. For any questions regarding the Request for Proposal (RFP), eligibility, or your application, please reach out to Sierra Verdin, Grants Coordinator, at sierrav@uwsemn.org or (507) 535-5504
*We define low-income as living in the ALICE population, which is under 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. Learn more about ALICE ranges by household type.
How to use this rubric:
We strongly encourage you to review our rubric and examples of eligible programs to understand how your application will be reviewed. This is not meant to be a fully inclusive list, and we will consider all applications that align with the spirit of the focus area as described within the report.
All applications will be reviewed by staff and some of the original community led learning project team. Those who have a conflict of interest with any applying agency will not read or score that application.
Download a copy of the Winona County Community Resiliency Grants 2026 Rubric.
- Funding is intended to be spent by March 2027.
- Reporting metrics will be developed together alongside UWSEMN staff and typically consist of things you already capture for other funders or your own purposes. UWSEMN staff usually look to receive up to 4 outcome metrics from partners that help tell the story of their work’s impact. We ask that you capture demographic data of participants as you are able.
- Reporting will be a combination of quantitative data and storytelling amongst your funded peers during a group conversation to be scheduled in the Summer of 2027.
Looking for other grant opportunities?
We encourage you to sign up for our listserv that will alert you when new opportunities open.
last updated April 1, 2026 11:45 am