Minnesota non-profit Inter-County Community Council supports households in need through energy assistance, food support, health insurance and more
In the middle of a frigid Minnesota winter, a family’s furnace caught fire and was destroyed beyond repair. Thankfully, no one was harmed, and smoke and fire damage were minimal.
But the cost of a replacement furnace was beyond what the family could afford. With temperatures in the northwest of the state regularly reaching -20° Fahrenheit, a working heat source is essential to survival.
When the Oklee, MN-based Inter-County Community Council (ICCC) heard about the family’s situation, the non-profit stepped in immediately and used funds from its energy assistance program to replace the furnace.
Beyond just restoring heat, the gift alleviated financial worry and rekindled well-being in the household.
This family was one of 1,700 to receive aid through the energy assistance program in 2024, says Catherine Johnson, ICCC’s executive director.
The program, which also helps community members pay their energy bills and upgrade their non-working systems to lower-cost fuel sources, dispersed more than $1 million to help people in need.
“Many, many calls come in from working families and elderly folks on fixed incomes,” Johnson explains. “In harsh winters, the energy assistance program is essential to prevent people from freezing to death.”
ICCC will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2025. The energy assistance program has been one of its flagship programs since the early years.
The non-profit offers a range of supports to tackle poverty from different angles — employment and training, health insurance enrolment assistance, emergency food shelf, family services, headstart programs for kids from birth to age 5, homeless youth and home weatherization, a program that goes hand in hand with energy assistance and identifies where the house is losing energy.
“If you took us out of the area, I'm not sure how these households would be able to pay for these services,” Johnson says.
ICCC is one of the largest non-profits in Minnesota’s northwest. ICCC is a designated Community Action Agency, operating its programs to assist people in poverty across four core counties, and serve several additional counties with other programming.
“We tailor our services and put our time and resources into what the community needs,” Johnson explains, noting that a third of the organization’s board of directors are people who have received or been eligible to receive ICCC support.
“Who better to help govern our organization than the actual people we’ve served? Who better to bring forward needs in the community?” she adds.
The organization relies on donations and grants for funding. In recent months, Enbridge awarded ICCC a $10,000 Fueling Futures grant to support its general operations and mission to build a vibrant, compassionate community that lifts up people experiencing poverty.
The families served by ICCC—families who live and work near our Plummer Solar Project—are empowered by ICCC’s resources and services. The assistance they receive is vital to improving their lives and helping them reach their potential.
“If we can help, then it's our responsibility to do so. If (people) come in for one service, we’ll say, ‘Have you heard about energy assistance? It looks like you might qualify. Can we refer you to our employment and training program? Do you have a child that could attend our center, or have home visits, to help get them ready for school?’ ” Johnson reflects.
“Our hope,” she adds, “is that we leave the people we serve better than we found them.”
