Many people have asked "What does ResourceWest do?"
Our reply:
We do a lot with a little.
We are a small nonprofit based in Hopkins, MN. We help individuals, families, & seniors who live in the west metro area of Hennepin county. We have a small annual budget of just over $220,000 and 3.5 employees. Our programs work with the dedicated help of volunteers (over 350).
Our Mission: “ResourceWest, a responsive community-based organization, assists people and strengthens the west metro community through collaborative programs and connections to resources.”
To fulfill this mission, a number of services have evolved over the seventeen years since our inception, including:
- Information & Referral - staff and volunteers answer questions about everything from the need for food, clothing, shelter and healthcare, to where children will be going to school. We are always on the lookout for new services to meet the needs of our community. We pride ourselves on not duplicating services, but collaborating and partnering with other agencies to refer people to their services.
- Project Starfish - Offers intensive, personalized support to individuals and families to help them identify issues and set priorities. It is an opportunity to sit down with a caring and knowledgeable professional who will listen, ask questions, offer suggestions, provide information and referral, and help set priorities. Support is provided for making changes or reaching a goal -- often a difficult process. Project Starfish empowers individuals to bring about desired changes, and provides information that helps individuals along that path of change. The Coordinator works closely with school staff, Hennepin County, and other nonprofit agencies; clients are referred to appropriate agencies or organizations as needed. Our Starfish Coordinator helps families with budgeting, makes referrals on low-cost car repair, provides housing and job search assistance, and helps find household items. Project Starfish clients may be homeless at the time of service, are new to the area, or long term residents. Many clients stop in to talk with a Starfish Coordinator on a regular basis, knowing they are always welcome.
- Community Technology Center- is a space staffed by volunteers for people to access computers and the internet to help with: Resume/cover letter writing, job searching, online job applications, computer skills, researching educational opportunities, housing search, child care search, and opening e-mail accounts. It has six computers with Internet access and is open to the public--no income limitation.
- Back to School - Providing school supplies is one of our original programs. Being successful in school starts with having the basic supplies. Without this program, over 1000 children from low-income families in the Hopkins and Minnetonka school districts would not be prepared for their first day of school. Through our Back-to-School Program, each registered K-12 student receives a new backpack filled with grade specific basic school supplies.
- Winter Warm Wear - Keeping kids warm through the cold winter is essential in Minnesota. Too often children and adults brave our winter weather with the bare minimum of outer wear -- or none at all. ResourceWest receives frequent requests from Hopkins and Minnetonka school staff looking for winter clothing for students. The Winter Warm Wear program is open from November through March. This program provides winter essentials for more than 600 children from low-income families in the Hopkins and Minnetonka school districts. The program is for children from newborn to age 18. Each qualifying child receives (if size is available) a winter jacket, snow pants, winter boots, a new hat and mittens.
- Toy Chest - Parents continue to struggle with increasing housing, energy, transportation, and food costs. Family budgets are stretched thin and parents have less money available for holiday gifts. Our Toy Chest provides new gifts to children from low-income families in the Hopkins and Minnetonka school districts. Families receive one large gift, 2 smaller gifts, and stocking stuffers for each qualifying child. More than 1,000 area low-income children benefit from this program.
Our History
ResourceWest has been a fixture in this community since 1993. Our organization is the result of a unique collaboration of the Hopkins School District, the cities of Hopkins and Minnetonka, the faith community, businesses, area social service agencies, and individuals in the community. Our history goes back to 1991 when a group of concerned leaders convened to discuss the unmet needs of families and children in our area. This group became known as the School and Community in Partnership (SCIP) (the Hopkins School District’s Family Services Collaborative). This group decided a Family Resource Center was needed in our community. Space was rented on Mainstreet in downtown Hopkins and the Hopkins Area Family Resource Center opened in April 1993. The City of Minnetonka became a partner in 1997. In 2001 we applied for non-profit status and received 501(c)(3) status that year. The Minnetonka School District became a partner in 2003. We have been providing services to our community for seventeen years thanks to the initial funding from Park Nicolett Foundation (then known as the Methodist Hospital Foundation) which was instrumental in the growth of the Center. The purpose of the Hopkins Area Family Resource Center was not to duplicate services — but to assure that families could make the connections to needed services. In 2009, our name was legally changed to ResourceWest to more accurately reflect our entire service area.
2009 Statistics
- Over 9,000 customers either called, e-mailed, or came in for assistance (26% increase);
- Community Technology Center opened January 3, 2009 and staffed by volunteers who assist clients with writing resumes, filling out on-line job applications, and improving computer skills – over 450 visitors.
- The Starfish Program provided one-to-one support to over 450 clients with multiple visits and provided over 700 referrals (29% increase);
- The Back to School Drive provided school supplies to over 1,099 students;
- Winter Warm Wear program distributed over 1,800 items of Warm Wear to over 600 children;
- The Toy Chest provided 2,500 toys to over 1,020 children;
- Through Second Harvest Food Bank we distributed 1,352 boxes of food;
- Distributed 326 emergency food bags (56% increase) and 1,420 emergency bus tokens for ICA food shelf;
- Accountability MN – served 630customers with refunds totaling $1,165,742;
- Children’s Dental Service held two (2) clinics with us. In April 2009 they had approximately 30 appointments and saw 26 children and October 2009 they had approximately 30 appointments and saw 27 children;
- Relate Counseling continues their program here providing four (4) hours of free professional counseling to our customers every week;
- HousingLink – we provide access to information via this website which lists affordable housing vacancies in the seven (7) county metropolitan area; and an Economic Assistance Outreach Worker from Hennepin County Economic Assistance is in the Center every Thursday to assist families with applications for food stamps, cash assistance, and Medical Assistance.
Children's program Statistics2008 2009 Ethnicity
23.3% 14.3% Caucasian
22.1% 17.4% African American
15.6% 12.0% Hispanic
10.4% 5.7% Somalian
1.7% 1.8% Asian
1.7% 0.7% Native American
0.6% 0.7% Russian
20.6% 41.6% Not indicated
4.1% 2.0% Other
Single Parent Households 512
Average Household Income $1,098 (9% decrease from 2008)
Average Household Size 3.4
1 or more Adult Unemployed 253 (36% increase from 2008)
Children Families
All Programs 1,727 714
Back-To-School 1,099 459
Winter Warm Wear 613 239
Toy Chest 1,020 413
Families by City Families by School District
Excelsior 29 Minnetonka 124
Hopkins 458 Hopkins 556
Minnetonka 193
Shorewood 14
Deephaven 2
As the Starfish Coordinator, I have the privilege of working with some clients on a long term basis. 
