ABOUT US
OUR STORY
Redeemer Center for Life (RCFL) is a nonprofit committed to youth training, attainable housing, and workforce development in the Harrison neighborhood of North Minneapolis. Since 1998, this place-based organization has celebrated and reinforced the diversity of Minneapolis’ Northside through social action as well as financial and programmatic investment in its people, ideas, and enterprises.
Community engagement lies at the core of RCFL’s organizational culture and remains its primary source for the nonprofit’s vision, strategy, and evolution. Fostering an atmosphere of equity and inclusion, RCFL invites community members to participate by voicing their ideas, questions, and concerns. Through these conversations the organization has been able to identify and offer programming, resources, and events which address the community's interests. As the metro area expands into the Northside and the Harrison Neighborhood begins to gentrify, RCFL focuses on residents’ concerns about predatory rent practices, increased cost of living, and plateaued wages, especially in light of North Minneapolis’ staggering 23% unemployment rate.
Northside residents drive RCFL programming, which aims to empower participants and help create financial stability for youth, adults, and families. Twenty two years of experience prove that through programs like Venture North, a full-service bike and coffee shop that offers leadership positions and employment to high school-age youth, RCFL can increase the prospects for young people to create meaningful and prosperous lives by supporting their educational needs and helping them develop work and social skills that lead to a career path vs. a job.
For adults and families working toward economic stability, RCFL offers 26 attainable and transitional housing units. These safe, dignified, and well-positioned homes offer access to public transport, local amenities, and other resources available on the RCFL campus. RCFL attainable housing offers financial, emotional, and community support to all residents.
We invite you to learn more about RCFL by browsing our website. Thank you!
MISSION
To act as an agent of hope and transformation to preserve a vibrant community in the Harrison neighborhood & broader North Minneapolis
COMMITTED TO EQUITY
& INCLUSION
Our year-round approach of social, creative, and athletic activity maintains strong local cohesion and provides a foundation of ongoing community conversation which shapes our organization. Although RCFL is not a religious organization, we maintain a strong support relationship with a regional network of faith partners, led by Redeemer Lutheran Church, which has been part of the Harrison neighborhood of North Minneapolis for over 100 years.
The Center for Life serves, includes and is shaped by the entire community, regardless of cultural background or religious affiliation. Both Redeemer Center for Life and Redeemer Lutheran prioritize a proud African-American identity as an essential element of achieving racial justice in North Minneapolis, and work toward social equity which includes all cultural backgrounds, new traditions, and all gender, sexual and individual identities.