For more than 60 years Hospitality House has been serving the youth of North Minneapolis; for the past 25 years it has benefited from its relationship with Northeast Bank.
Hospitality House, 1220 Logan Ave. N., Minneapolis, provides wrap-around services in the form of education, athletics and community outreach to more than 1,500 area youth; prekindergarten to teen. Founded in 1943 by the Christian Businessmen’s Committee of Minneapolis, in 1960 Hospitality House Boys Club was formed and in 1971, took the progressive stance to also open its doors to area girls. The Rev. Johnny Hunter, executive director of Hospitality House, said the community organization has continually evolved to meet the needs of the Northside.
“Now there’s more of a need to be family oriented,” said Hunter during a June 19 “Front Room Sessions from the Marcus Garvey House,” a Facebook Live program of Insight News. “We still have the athletics, but we also offer afterschool programs with certified teachers who are working with the kids to close the (educational achievement) gap.
Hunter said Hospitality House’s kids have shown a 25 percent improvement in test scores upon returning to school following the summer break.
“That’s thanks to our teachers and volunteer readers who come and read with our kids,” said Hunter, who said the community’s support helps Hospitality House achieve its objective to serve. “I’m a product of Hospitality House. I was there in 1967 as a child. Between Hospitality House, The Way and Phyliss Wheatley (two other Northside community organizations) it was that village mentality that kind of raised the kids. I try to bring that to Hospitality House now.”
Some of those volunteers come from Northeast Bank.
A community bank founded in Northeast Minneapolis in 1947, Northeast is partnered with Hospitality House in both business and philanthropy. Northeast Bank CEO Tom Beck said the partnership fits within the bank’s mission to “put people first.”
“To be involved with a community organization such as Hospitality House; it’s sound business, but it’s also the right thing to do,” said Beck. “I believe a rising tide raises all boats. What’s going on at Hospitality House, they are saving lives.”
Beck said his bank is actively seeking to form other community partnerships such as the one it has with Hospitality House.
“We have a responsibility to do that,” said Beck. “There’s more going on on the Northside from a business aspect. I have been so impressed by the level of entrepreneurialism among African-Americans in North Minneapolis.”
The full episode of “Front Room Sessions from the Marcus Garvey House” is available online on the Insight News Facebook page.
