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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow there\u2019s more of a need to be family oriented,\u201d said Hunter during a June 19 \u201cFront Room Sessions from the Marcus Garvey House,\u201d a Facebook Live program of Insight News<\/em>. \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hunter said Hospitality House\u2019s kids have shown a 25 percent improvement in test scores upon returning to school following the summer break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s thanks to our teachers and volunteer readers who come and read with our kids,\u201d said Hunter, who said the community\u2019s support helps Hospitality House achieve its objective to serve. \u201cI\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of those volunteers come from Northeast Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s mission to \u201cput people first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo be involved with a community organization such as Hospitality House; it\u2019s sound business, but it\u2019s also the right thing to do,\u201d said Beck. \u201cI believe a rising tide raises all boats. What\u2019s going on at Hospitality House, they are saving lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beck said his bank is actively seeking to form other community partnerships such as the one it has with Hospitality House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have a responsibility to do that,\u201d said Beck. \u201cThere\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n