NAZ Programs
NAZ and its network of trusted partner organizations and schools offer vital access to supports, addressing a wide range of needs including early childhood, academics, physical and mental health , financial education, housing, and more. NAZ provides parents and caregivers with parenting classes, goal setting, coaching, and leadership opportunities to ensure their scholar is thriving from prenatal to profession.
Family Academy
Parents are their child’s first teacher and critical voices in their community. NAZ Family Academy parenting classes offer skills and tools to caregivers, welcoming them into a community creating positive change for their family and for all of North Minneapolis.
Early Childhood
Access to high-quality learning opportunities from the very beginning of a child’s life can set them on the path to long term academic success. NAZ provides 150 of our earliest learners with a scholarships to attend a high-quality early childhood education program in North Minneapolis.
Families also have the opportunity to work with a birth doula, home visitor, and a NAZ coach to begin to form an educational support system for their child before they are born.
The Early Childhood Family Toolkit is a guide that can support parents and caregivers during each stage of development, beginning during pregnancy and continuing until the child transitions to kindergarten. This toolkit is made in partnership with Little Moments Count and supported by PNC Bank's Grow Up Great Program.
K-12
NAZ scholars receive high-quality math and reading help and enrichment opportunities through on-site programs both during the school day, outside of school hours, and in a range of summer programs. NAZ after school programs provide high-quality academic and enrichment opportunities. Together, these K-12 supports help improve academic outcomes on the Northside.
College Prep & College
NAZ promotes a college-going culture for North Minneapolis scholars. Through our partner organizations, we offer resources that put higher education within reach and help families and scholars to navigate the path to college.
Career & Financial Mobility
To succeed in school, students need a stable home life. NAZ and its partners offer financial literacy information and skills training that help to strengthen the economic stability of NAZ families. Partners provide one-on-one support to explore education and work history, identify an individual’s employment strengths and barriers, and create plans to create positive change.
Health & Wellness
Physical and mental health are vital to scholars' academic and life successes. NAZ addresses the importance of health in its programming, offering support to families. NAZ coaches paired with partner staff and resources allow for critical health supports, mitigating harm. NAZ also creates spaces to energize educators who work with scholars with resources and events, such as the Northside Institute.
NAZ’s Healthy Ways Northside program—adapted from the Harlem Children’s Zone—promotes healthier physical lifestyles through nutrition education and fitness programs. With this program already present in two NAZ partner sites, with expansion planned for the near-future, this initiative helps reduce health disparities often associated with underserved and low-income communities.
Housing
Families thrive when they have a safe, stable, and dignified place to live—an essential step toward building successful communities and scholars’ achievement. NAZ partners work with families to understand their goals and budget, create a housing stabilization plan, ultimately helping them find stable, affordable housing. NAZ works with a variety of housing partners.
