Don Fraser is the man who first dreamed about Way to Grow.  In 1988, United Way of Greater Minneapolis Area decided to rally the best thinking and resources to address a growing problem:  too many children were not ready for school.  It was the first that we had heard that children were “flunking” kindergarten.   Mayor Don Fraser was someone that everyone pointed to as critical to this work.

At the time, Mayor Fraser was mayor of Minneapolis.  He agreed to co-chair a task force with Jim Renier, then CEO of Honeywell, to decide the best approach.  They led a group visiting early childhood programs around the country.  It was on a plane trip back from Chicago that Mayor Fraser said to Dr. Renier, “I have the best suggestion for what our city needs, but it is only a study - a study that is stuck on the shelf.  If you’re willing to bring the energy of business and United Way to bear on it, I think we can make this program model happen.”

That model was Way to Grow, which came out of a study commissioned by Mayor Fraser.  The Way to Grow model was the first home visitor based program that used people from the neighborhood, who knew what life was like in that neighborhood, to reach out to new parents.  Mayor Fraser was personally committed to getting it implemented. 

 With a three-way partnership – between the Mayor’s office, United Way, and Honeywell – Way to Grow began in 1989 as a program of the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board.  Public funds from the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Public Schools, Hennepin County and the State of Minnesota joined private funding, starting with Honeywell and United Way, to move the dream to reality.  Mayor Fraser helped all these partners see that helping our children be ready for school was critical to a successful core city. 

 When the budget cuts of the last few years hit Way to Grow hard, Don Fraser joined a small group of people who helped transform Way To Grow into a more agile, nonprofit.  In 2004, Way To Grow attained independent status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Way to Grow has successfully completed the transition and restructuring.  A recently expanded Board of Directors and a clear plan for the future guide Way to Grow in responding to the needs in our community.  Working with parents, Way to Grow is building a better future for children.

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