Kindred Post one of five companies in Pacific Northwest to win major development grant

Big news!! 

KINDRED POST ONE OF FIVE COMPANIES IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST TO WIN MAJOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT GRANT
Funds will allow Kindred Post to invest in community art programming

A Colorado-based social impact organization has chosen Kindred Post in Juneau for a major business development grant, making it one of only five entities in the Pacific Northwest to receive the honor this year.

The $50,000 grant is part of the Alma Mater Platform (AMP) Accelerator Program, a new pilot project funded by Wend Ventures, which is an investment portfolio focused on driving transformation and positive change for people, communities and places.

The grant will allow Kindred Post owner, artist and activist Christy NaMee Eriksen to invest in the company’s community art programs. The programs, including a Tiny Post Office Concert series, workshops, readings, and letter writing parties, have been offered mostly free of charge, and the grant will be used to develop a sponsorship model to support and sustain accessibility; fund outreach efforts to publicize programs; and purchase chairs for performance events.

The grant also will allow Eriksen to attend bi-weekly seminars over three months at Alma Mater Tacoma, an artist-led community space in Washington State, to engage with other creative leaders and to hear speakers from fields that contribute to the development of the creative economy.

Eriksen called the award an amazing opportunity and the people behind AMP and Wend Ventures kindred spirits because their goal to promote community engagement through the arts dovetails so closely with her own.

“The opportunity to connect with and learn from others in the small but mighty field of socially-conscious and creative entrepreneurship is exciting,” Eriksen said. “The grant also will allow me to invest in my favorite branch of Kindred Post's business—community art programming— which capitalizes on my experience of creating and sharing together but has so far lacked the resources to grow.”

Wend Ventures supports new and innovative means of promoting and accelerating alternative business model development and community engagement through the arts, which are goals that especially resonate with Eriksen.

“I strive to use my work to lift up my voice and lift up my community. I believe that a community that nurtures artists nurtures everyone, and that art can bring out the best in people,” she said.