The Otto Bremer Trust has announced 2016 grants and program-related investments totaling $47.3 million — the largest annual distribution total in its history — to more than five-hundred and fifty organizations working in Minnesota, North Dakota, and western Wisconsin.

Grants awarded to Minnesota organizations include $60,000 to Rural Minnesota CEP in support of an expansion of its career advisory services to high school students in the Detroit Lakes area; $40,000 to the White Earth Land Recovery Project, which provides food security programming for White Earth Nation youth; and $20,000 to A Place to Belong, which provides services for people with serious mental illness living in Otter Tail and Becker counties.

Grants to organizations in Wisconsin include $60,000 to the Burnett County Family Resource Center in support of its efforts to deliver parenting services to families in Burnett County; $25,000 to the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission in support of the SMRT Bus program; and $60,000 to the St. Croix Valley Sexual Assault Response Team.

North Dakota organizations receiving grants include Community Action Partnership of North Dakota, which was awarded $30,000 in support of its work to provide housing assistance to homeless veterans; the High Plains Fair Housing Center, which was awarded $40,000 in support of its efforts to combat housing discrimination and ensure equal housing opportunities; and L.I.S.T.E.N. (Love Is Sharing The Exceptional Need), which will receive $45,000 in support of its efforts to assist individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the state.

"We are proud of the work we completed in 2016," said Otto Bremer Trust co-CEO and trustee Charlotte Johnson. "Our focus recognizes the individuals and communities of the region where we operate, as well as the increasingly diverse needs of organizations that present unique and compelling opportunities for the trust’s investment."

For a complete list of 2016 grants, see the OBT website.