Black youth in St. Paul experience some of the highest levels of poverty and unstable housing, and lowest rates of graduation. Traditional non-profit programming, governmental control, and common distribution methods serve to oppress rather than liberate our communities.
Our programs tap into youths’ brilliant and resilient lineages, bridge broken connections with family members and honor the cultural principles that galvanize our young people to discover their unique course, not just to the livable wages and personal healing needed to acquire and attain stable housing, but to make contributions to our community.
Direct youth support
Chauntyll Allen has led street-level youth engagement for years, making it part of her mission to address young people’s basic needs — from clothing to food to finding work opportunities — in addition to being someone for them to confide in as they work through their trauma, the loss of a friend and/or family member or are dealing with homelessness. Love First provides essential financial support to youth who need immediate resources to pay their rent, maintain reliable transportation to their jobs, or other critical needs.
NEW in 2022: HBCU Tour
From November 1-6, 2022, Love First will be taking 20 Black girls — in 9th through 12th grades — on a Black Joy excursion and tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This trip will include visits to Wilberforce University, Central State University, Tennessee State University and Fisk University, while also providing educational experiences at the National Underground Railroad Museum, National Civil Rights Museum, National Museum of African American Music and Beale Street.
Fill out this short application form and we’ll get back to you with more details!
NEW in 2022: Glow & Grow
Created and led by Satara Strong, Glow & Grow creates intentional space for Black girls to embrace and be affirmed in their unapologetic Black brilliance, joy and resiliency. Through connection, education and healing activities, Glow & Grow builds networks among Black girls and bridges opportunities in the community for them to step into their full power and chart successful futures on their own terms.
Housing stability
Preventing homelessness and addressing housing instability reduces criminalization and interrupts the mass incarceration system and the school-to-prison pipeline. As leaders and mentors embedded in the communities most impacted by housing instability, we know it’s not just putting together the right bureaucratic pieces to keep youth off the streets tonight, but giving them unapologetically Black spaces to be themselves, without shame or constraint, and provide guidance to identify their purpose and path for tomorrow.
Community safety
Love First has been in deep collaboration with Guns Down, Love Up to hold spaces in St. Paul’s North End and North Minneapolis to address recent gun violence involving youth. Through restorative justice sessions, outreach healing events, community resource responses, and youth mentorship and outreach, Love First is working with directly impacted community members, organizers and circle keepers to prevent and respond to violence with a restorative justice and community-first approach.