Help spread the warmth in Faribault, Minnesota!
Faribault is a small city in southern Minnesota that has been hit particularly hard by immigration enforcement over the past year and by the surge over the past month. Faribault is a vibrant, diverse community, with a history of welcoming refugee and immigrant communities.
Faribault is also a city with a large number of families who are immigrants and who are facing economic hardship or poverty. For example, our three public elementary schools proudly serve student populations that include 73% - 83% of students who meet free and reduced lunch criteria. These three schools have between 30% - 42% English Language Learners in their student populations. The combination of immigration enforcement, economic hardship, and the harsh winter conditions we are currently facing have combined for challenging circumstances for many Faribault families.
Faribault Supporting Families is a network of community allies working to support families facing barriers to accessing basic needs in Faribault, Minnesota. We exist to strengthen and complement the work of local organizations by providing trusted, relationship-based support and action where flexibility, dignity, and confidentiality matter. Our work is grounded in collaboration and a deep respect for the lived experiences of families in our community. The group started in the spring of 2025 when community advocates sought volunteers to engage in service work, bolster support for neighborhood organizers, and relieve pressure on the staff in our local programs. We are now a diverse, multilingual group of community members and neighborhood organizers.
Faribault Supporting Families stewards a small, community-supported mutual aid fund to help families facing urgent challenges related to immigration status and documentation. The Community Action Center in Faribault serves as our fiscal host, and funds are distributed with care through trusted referrals and strict confidentiality. The FSF fund provides flexible, immediate funding to help immigrant families meet urgent basic living needs and immigration-related costs. Our role is to fill critical gaps—covering time-sensitive or uncovered expenses that government programs and traditional services often cannot.
Donations to this Go Fund Me will be used in the following ways:
- Continue to support families with expenses like those listed above.
- Fully fund the Faribault Supporting Families fund so that we can also support families with larger expenses such as deposits for immigration attorneys.
- Fully fund the FSF so that we can reserve funding support for people who have signed Designation of Parental Authority (DOPA) forms for families in case those designees need to care for and travel with children. Some members of our community and volunteer network have personally signed DOPA forms more than 10 children. These people are family members, friends, neighbors, teachers, and pastors.
- Support the small expenses of hosting a website and phone contact for the Faribault Supporting Families network. These expenses are currently covered by our volunteers and are approximately $75 a month.
- Maintain an emergency cash fund to support families with urgent expenses and unexpected and novel expenses related to detention, deportation, and the threat of detention or deportation.
Donations through Go Fund Me are not tax-deductible. If you would prefer a tax deductible donation, please visit the donation page of our fiscal host , the Community Action Center. Please designate FSF with your check or online donation. We greatly appreciate the support of the CAC as our fiscal host.
To inform you of our work, we will maintain blog posts here as long as this campaign remains open. We will also launch and link a website when it is ready.
Together, our volunteer coordination and mutual aid work aim to reduce harm, fill gaps, and help families feel supported during moments of uncertainty — because strong communities are built when neighbors show up for one another with care and intention.
Thank you for supporting our community and Faribault Supporting Families.
Organizer
