Mahube Otwa Community Action is a private, non-profit group that works in Mahnomen, Hubbard, Becker, Otter Tail, and Wadena counties, and the staff there focus on helping people become more self-sufficient and supporting families and seniors through all stages of life, so you'll find programs that assist with housing, food, energy bills, exercise classes for seniors, handicap accessible spaces, emergency assistance like food or winter clothing, Medicare counseling, mental health support, homemaking and chore help, yard work, and even rides to doctor visits, and they don't forget things like tax help, legal support, health insurance guidance, and nutrition, which really covers a lot of needs for low-income families and older adults who want to live independently. Their Family Development & Housing program steps in to help people who are homeless or facing emergencies, to find a place to stay or pay the bills, and their energy assistance programs can help with heating when winter hits hard in Minnesota, plus you see they support community improvement and stand by people in a crisis, whether it's a family with children needing affordable, good child care or a senior needing help around the house.
The staff have plenty of training and work in contractor roles-like family child care, weatherization, health services, and energy programs-so they take care of the basic care needs as well as health and home safety, and you end up with a group that manages senior services for older folks and also covers a lot of ground with Head Start and Early Head Start centers for young children, helping families get ready for kindergarten or find child care, and even help with paying for it through Child Care Wayfinder and Child Care Aware, so families don't go without options. The culture at Mahube Otwa cares about the community, wants everyone included, and gives the same support to Native American and Latinx families as anyone else, all led by their Executive Director, Liz Kuoppala, with a board made up of volunteers representing folks in the area, so decisions get made by people who know the community well.
It's common for staff to get benefits, including a 401(k) with contributions, health and dental plans, life and disability insurance, wellness programs, and paid time off and holidays, and they also help their own staff with programs and opportunities for growth. You'll also see them doing needs assessments, sending out surveys to volunteers and the people they help, and offering relationship-based coaching to tailor support, so the work meets the specific needs in each place they serve. With locations and clinics in main towns like Detroit Lakes, Frazee, Park Rapids, Mahnomen, Fergus Falls, and Wadena, both for family health and Head Start, they've made their services easy to get for different communities, and their programs help with about everything from housing forms and landlord applications to food resources, clothes, and finding child care. Their approach covers everyone from small children and pregnant moms to the oldest members of the community, and they're always working toward helping people stay healthy, safe, and able to look after themselves whether times are good or bad.
