FIVE YEAR FOUNDING BLOCK PARTY!

4047 Minnehaha Avenue,Minneapolis MN 55406

10 September, 2021

Description

Let’s Celebrate the successes of the last five years, Fellow Fund recipients and the acquisition of our sweet building at 4047 Minnehaha! Hello Community! We are thrilled to break bread and (block) party with all of you as we move towards All Square’s Five-Year Founding. There will be eats. There will be beats. And, most importantly, there will be a full-on celebration of the community we’ve built together! Background: Five years ago, people from all over the country dropped their hard-earned dollars into the Kickstarter campaign to launch All Square, a civil rights social enterprise that invests in leaders who’ve been impacted by mass incarceration. On September 8, 2018, we opened the doors to a huge piece of our engine—our craft grilled cheese restaurant—and we have been building, brick-by-brick, ever since. Our model believes that Black Lives Matter and lasting criminal justice reform can surface only if the conversation is centered on personal accountability AND systems accountability. And we’re so grateful for all of you who stand by us in this charge. A Few Highlights That Call for EXTRA Celebrations(!) We want to celebrate the success of the past five years as well as our incredible Fellow Fund Recipients and our community-led building acquisition. The Fellow Fund: The purpose of the Fellow Fund is to provide direct capital support to Fellows and Fellow alumni for specified pursuits, projects, or financial relief. The Fund was founded by two former Fellows, Randall & Terrein (now both All Square employees), in the wake George Floyd’s execution. Thankfully, Eric Kendricks and the Minnesota Vikings knew the importance of investing in this Fund, and the pursuits of our fellows—and the Vikings’ Social Justice Initiative contributed $250,000 in seed capital to get the Fund off the ground. With that, we are excited to relay that our first class of Fellow Fund recipients will be honored at the Block Party. Building Acqusition: Our team is also excited—and deeply humbled—to celebrate the recent acquisition of our building, 4047 Minnehaha Avenue. It has been a dream to own our own space, and this acquisition cements the long-term security of our social enterprise. Once we received word that the building was for sale, community supporters came out in full force and helped us secure the property outright (!) With this, our legacy is their legacy, we want to celebrate this monumental step with the community who we hold dear (all of you) :) Oh, One More Thing: Did we forget to mention?! This PARTY is also a FUNDRAISER! :) Recently, we adopted a substantial pay increase for our Fellows—as they are the criminal justice subject matter experts whose value, and insight, add critical dimension to our model. In alignment with our values, we have recently increased their base wage from $14.50 to $19/hour—plus tips—so as to generate a truly livable wage. This increase, with tips, averages out to roughly $22/hour with opportunities for pay increases surfacing mid-way through the fellowship via our “Fellow Choice Benefit” program. In addition, we have fully onboarded a Safe Harbor 401K for all staff and Fellows. With these changes, we’re committed to a stronger fundraising lift, and are so thankful to all of you for your continued support in augmenting our earned-revenue with your philanthropic gifts. Join Us! Please join us Friday, September 10th from 6:00-9:00pm to celebrate, have a grand time and most of all…to be in community! Looking forward to seeing you there! -Team All Square