Heartland Democracy Center

The Heartland Democracy Center is a non-partisan public charity under the IRS's 501(c)3 classification. It focuses on building relationships and promoting community and civic engagement across various ages and backgrounds.

Mission

Heartland Democracy aims to support and sustain community engagement, working towards creating strong families, resilient communities, and achieving common goals.

Activities

The organization engages in various community-building activities, including training, public events, and programs like the Parent Connect Program Facilitators Training. Specifically, Heartland Democracy has been involved in initiatives to prevent violent extremism among youth, particularly through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aimed at increasing resilience and promoting cohesive communities in Minneapolis.

CVE Grant Program Involvement

In 2016, Heartland submitted a proposal to the DHS to prevent violent extremism among youth in Minnesota. This initiative involved developing a curriculum for local middle schools, facilitating community groups, and hosting anti-violence presentations. Despite controversy surrounding the "Countering Violent Extremism" (CVE) term, Heartland continued its work by partnering with multiple non-profit organizations to expand outreach to different adult communities, focusing on refugees and immigrants.

Community Partnerships

Heartland Democracy collaborates with entities like Minneapolis Public Schools to implement resilience-building school curricula. It also works with various cultural and community groups, including Somali, Bhutanese, and Latin communities, to foster support networks and promote cohesion.

Challenges and Controversy

The involvement in the CVE program led to political opposition due to concerns that such initiatives unfairly target Muslim communities and people of color. As a result, there have been recommendations to rename the CVE grant program to emphasize building community resilience and harm reduction.

[1] https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/cve_heartland_profile-4-10-20.pdf [2] https://heartlanddemocracy.org [3] https://hearthlandfoundation.org/grants/rural-democracy-initiative-s-heartland-fund [4] https://heartlandfund.org [5] https://www.givemn.org/organization/Heartland-Democracy