Do you envision a world where all young people are holistically supported, deeply valued, and fully empowered to thrive?
Do you believe in the transformative power of culturally affirming communities that foster healing, belonging, and purpose?
Support our work at Love First Community Engagement!
Rooted in decades of community organizing, mentorship and activism, Love First was created in 2020 by Saint Paulite, Chauntyll Allen. At Love First, we're building a school-to-success pipeline with culturally competent mentorship that connects young people to their purpose and a village of support.
In 2025, we celebrated our fifth anniversary and set a strategic course for the next three years — but we need your support to ensure our critical efforts can be sustained through funding cuts and federal attacks. Every dollar makes a difference!
Testimonials:
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Community safety program leader: “Getting mentoring from other people has always felt like them being in charge. Satara gave me a lot of creative freedom — but with support. I’d run ideas by her and she’d say “Dope! Do it!” I felt like she doesn’t look down on me but acts like I’m equal to her.”
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Fashion cohort member: “What I just love so much about Love First is it truly is a youth-centered space. Whatever young people want to do, that’s what they make happen. If I want to be a mechanic, they’re gonna figure out some mechanics for me to go to a workshop. If I want to be a fashion designer, they’re gonna figure out a fashion show for me to be a part of. My experience has always been whatever I want to do is what they want for me. With fashion, I’ve always had those passions and that creativity in me, but I never got to really accept that creativity in myself — and Love First gave me the opportunity to do that."
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Glow & Grow leader: "It’s multi-level healing. We’re not here to teach the kids or be above them. We’re here to be with them, connecting to our inner child with them. We’re all serving each other."
Our impact:
- In 2025, we hosted four community dinners, providing free healthy food, connection across generations, and important skill sharing, in Saint Paul and North Minneapolis. With 50 or more participants at each event, we nourished and sustained the village with knowledge, resources (like our Community Closet), and healing activities for many young people who don’t have reliable spaces to be safe and supported.
- At Love First, we don’t provide one-size-fits-all, traditional job training or placement. We work with young people to tap into their talents, embrace their dreams and turn their purpose into a career pathway. In 2025, for instance, a group of young people shared their interest in fashion — and we worked with them as a cohort to develop their passions by connecting them to tangible opportunities to grow and showcase their craft. Now, three of the four are making commercial strides with their own fashion lines and in modeling and film.
- Our Glow & Grow program is cultivating an ecosystem of young Black women who know their worth, recognize their leadership and act in ways that care, not only for themselves, but their peers and community. In 2025, we hosted 20 sessions and a full-day conference that engaged dozens of Black girls in ongoing learning and healing activities and opportunities to build their villages of support. Now in its 5th year, older girls are inviting their siblings, participants are bringing flyers to their schools and new junior leaders are stepping up to take on facilitation roles from senior leaders.
- When we ask youth about the problems in their neighborhoods, they identify chemical dependency and housing instability as key challenges — and they want to do something about it. Led by the youth, in 2025, we hosted three pop-up engagements in outdoor spaces, offering free food, hygiene supplies, clothing and on-the-spot training in overdose prevention. We also continued to help young people meet their basic needs through our mutual aid program that provides direct cash assistance for daily essentials, like food, transportation and rent. In the first 10 months of 2025 alone, we distributed more than $33,000.
- At Love First, we recognize joy as a tool of strength, resistance, and healing. Through events we hosted and those hosted by partners — like the African American Leadership Forum and the Minnesota Lynx — and we give young people space to feel safe and have fun. In 2025, we connected young people to cultural experiences in the community, from art exhibits to professional sports and also collaborated with other organizations to attend and enhance their events, including providing access to our community closet at a food distribution site.