Agenda Packets - 2011/07/05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dear Mr. Erickson, Again, thanks for the email. In our first proposal to the City dated May 15, 2011 (see copy attached) we stated that Redeemed Life Church will partner with New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG)--a professional work-skills development organization. Not New Horizons. There is no connection between New Horizons and New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) and I am very sure our proposal did not state that and neither was it stated in our discussions last night. Furthermore NHRG designed economic development job training program is more comprehensive than just computer training--it's that and beyond. New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) was established by a few working professionals including myself and we immediately incorporated with the state of Minnesota on December 3, 2009, and has been a member of the Minnesota Council of Non-profits for over a year now--see Mncn.org—member list--under letter N. NHRG has Employer Identification Number (EIN) and Minnesota Sale Tax Exempt number to legally operate in the state of Minnesota. We did our first fund raiser Dinner in 2010 at the Mounds View Community Center. Our second project was a "Lift Liberia 2010 Personal Empowerment (Leadership) Conference conducted in Liberia, West Africa with Kakata City government. At the end of 2010 our lawyer informed us that for NHRG to do a comprehensive economic development through job training and placement, financial coaching and personal leadership development in the United States in general and Minnesota in particular, we needed to seek the Federal Government's approval by applying to the IRS for 501 (c)3 status that will make the organization eligible for grants to start a full scale operation. In March 2011 we submitted our paper work to the IRS seeking a 501 (c)3 status. The approval process takes about 3-6 months. I referred to this paper during my meeting when I said I called IRS to inquire about our IRS status. I think the confusion came about when I talked about we will be opening the Minnesota African Workforce Development Center in Brooklyn Park. This Division of New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) will focus on people of African descent and it has already been registered with state of MN. It will carter to the Immigrant population in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal and New Hope areas. In Mounds View, NHRG will focus exclusively on Job training and placement, financial coaching, and personal leadership development for the diverse Mounds View Community. We will start operation once we get our IRS status and start to apply for grants. NHRG currently banks with US Bank. So as you see, NHRG has been in existence for a while. It's an innovative workforce solution, social entrepreneur non- profit organization that has been around for over a year. I realized that I gave great consideration to the three minutes time limit and spoke just little fast last night, and as a result I might have not full represented our church by giving the Council the information needed to make this important decision. Whatever the case is, we look forward to the Council's decision. And, if we need to meet the Council again, we will be glad to do so. As a point of correction, some of our members live in Mounds View, including one of our associate pastors that attended the meeting last night. I live in Brooklyn Park, not Mounds View. Mr. Erickson, we really appreciate your help. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you need any information that will be helpful to this process. Grace and Peace, Rev. Alexander Collins, Redeemed Life Church, Mounds View, MN