History:

Sabathani Community Center was founded in 1966 as a small grassroots organization focused on serving African American youth in South Minneapolis since there were few and inadequate facilities to meet increasing recreational needs. Within a short time, the organization was overwhelmed with requests from residents for broader, more direct services, especially those addressing basic needs and necessities of life. Recognizing that meeting basic needs is a temporary solution, Sabathani developed empowerment programs that focus on skill development, which teach people not only how to survive, but also how to thrive. These programs have continued to evolve and expand to meet the needs of multi-racial, multi-cultural people in surrounding neighborhoods while preparing them to become self-directed and self-sufficient. Sabathani is a modern-day settlement house for the area's most-recent immigrants and refugees, which includes Somalis, Hispanics/Latinos, Southeast Asians, and Russians, and is truly the hub of the community