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Bethel University
Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL)

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Connecting Learners and Practitioners through Community Collaboration

In alliance with the Bethel Frogtown/ Summit- University Partnership (PAC), the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) fosters academic and place-based community collaborations that provide rich educational learning opportunities for Bethel students and neighborhood partners. 

Our Vision

Bethel is committed to providing learning opportunities through the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL).

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What We Offer

If you are a faculty member or community partner, visit our "Resources" Page for a comprehensive list of what we offer, and resources that may be of use to you. If you need the password, email fsu@bethel.edu

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2023-2024 in Numbers

564K

Dollar Value of Community Engaged Learning

Hours*

(based on data from the Independent Sector)

568

Total Student Participants

17,582

Total Community Engaged Learning Hours Done by Students

Community Partner Testimony

"Participating in Bethel's Center for Community Engaged Learning community work- study program has been a transformative journey for our organization. The invaluable contributions from our committed student interns—including program assistance, system development, outreach, and data collection, have tremendously boosted our efficiency. Embraced as family in our small, tightly-knit team, their involvement has expedited our client service, effectively helping individuals overcome conflictual challenges swiftly through the use of restorative and mediation practices. The relief provided by this program and the enrichment it has brought to our community-centered endeavors has made this partnership absolutely essential."

Roslyn Harmon

Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Center

Our Community Partners:
A Selection

Vietnamese Social Services Logo
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Dispute Resolution Center Logo- Color
Urban Homeworks Logo
Urban Farm and Garden Alliance Logo
City of Saint Paul Logo
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Saint Paul Public Library Logo

Full List of Community Partners
 

Ashes to Beauty Program

Ashes to Beauty Program will be working in the community to support individuals who are transitioning back into the community from prison, and sober-living by providing resources, and life-skill workshops.
 
Breaking Free

Founded in 1996 by Vednita Carter, Breaking Free is a non-profit centered on social justice. We forefront a movement of freedom for victims of commercial sexual exploitation, releasing them into a life of safety, restoration,
dignity, and strength. 
 
Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church

Camphor Memorial UMC is a predominantly Black/African American Church who is part of the United Methodist Church, a global connection whose mission is "To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the World". Being rooted in Jesus, Grounded in Wesleyan theology, inclusive of all people and being engaged in the work of Justice and Reconciliation, we strive to grow in our love with God, with one another and the community we are called to serve.  
 
Central Community Services

Central Community Services, Inc. exists to develop resources and programs that engage our organization in effective educational, artistic, and community development endeavors in the Midway community of St. Paul.

City of Saint Paul

The City of Saint Paul’s mission is to integrate equity and inclusion into how we approach all our work. We are committed to building an equitable and inclusive city that will shift the culture in city processes and policies, eliminate structural inequities, and ensure timely and relevant access to services, resources, support, and opportunity for every person in Saint Paul.
 
Community Stabilization Project

CSP’s mission is to build TENANT STABILITY THAT WILL LEAD TO COMMUNITY by: informing, educating, advocating for and organizing tenants to take action to preserve and increase the supply of healthy, safe and affordable housing in the City of Saint Paul. Our goals are to work with tenants, landlords and community stakeholders to:
 
1)Prevent rental property condemnation/foreclosures and tenant evictions;
2)Prevent homelessness for tenants affected by condemnation,
foreclosures, and evictions;
3)Increase awareness of tenant/ landlord responsibilities and rights to
ensure housing stability
4)Strengthen relationships between tenants and landlords
 
ComMUSICation

We amplify young voices and cultivate skills for success through equitable access to music, collaboration, and opportunity.

Dispute Resolution Center

The Dispute Resolution Center promotes the constructive resolution of conflict through open communication and shared decision-making.  We believe that people can resolve disputes respectfully, without litigation, to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.  We advocate for managing disputes peacefully through the use of problem-solving techniques that help build
feelings of community.

Free Arts

Free Arts programs provide youth in challenging circumstances a safe place for expression and self-discovery. With the support of caring adult volunteers and partner sites, we work alongside youth while engaging in art projects. Providing these safe, supportive and consistent experiences enables participants to build trusting and positive relationships that have a life-changing impact.
 
Frogtown Green

We're residents of Frogtown, St Paul's most diverse and vibrant community. We want to make Frogtown the greenest and most sustainable neighborhood in St Paul. We grow crops, plant trees, promote parks, share information, and celebrate Frogtown, our neighbors and nature.  Join us!

Good Helps Inc.


Hmong American Partnership

HAP is a non-profit organization focused on empowering the refugee and immigrant community by moving our clients out of poverty and towards social and financial prosperity.

Hubbs Center for Lifelong Learning

The Hubbs Center provides educational services to adults who want to improve their basic skills, earn a GED, prepare for employment or post-secondary education, or learn English.
 
Hue Life

At HueLife we strive to inspire creativity, facilitate learning, and design innovative strategies to help our clients achieve their goals in the workplace. We are a collaborative team of leaders who use Human Understanding and Engagement as a core strategy for change, leadership development, and skill transfer. Hue Life’s methods ignite participation in groups and establish space for transformation.

ICCM Life Center

Changing our city one life at a time: the Life Center is a place for those living in the inner city to come together for worship, learning and support;  building one another up as we  “Do Life” together and  strive toward personal success.

Irreducible Grace Foundation

Irreducible Grace Foundation works with youth, especially youth of color and youth who are aging out of foster care or state guardianship, to become highly successful adults. We assist youth to develop or repair emotional trust in adults while planning and achieving their college, career, and life goals.
 
Mapping Prejudice

Mapping Prejudice identifies and maps racial covenants, clauses that were inserted into property deeds to keep people who were not White from buying or occupying homes. From our base in the University of Minnesota Libraries, our interdisciplinary team collaborates with community members to expose the history of structural racism and support the work of reparations.
 
Midway Chamber of Commerce

The Midway Chamber of Commerce represents businesses and organizations that are dedicated to Building a Stronger Midway by providing programs and services that help members grow and thrive.
 
Minnesota Interfaith Coalition on Immigration (ICOM)

ICOM engages in courageous spiritual, multicultural action in solidarity with immigrants and refugees to achieve justice and stand up to
systems of oppression.
 
Pilgrim Baptist Church

At Pilgrim, we celebrate our past while marching towards an incredible future. We invite you to join us on a life-long journey of spiritual growth and let your journey of faith prosper where the walk of faith transforms lives.
 
Public Achievement

Through Public Achievement, people of all ages work with others to meet challenges and solve problems. They learn from each other the meaning of citizenship and democracy. Ordinary people do extraordinary things. 

Reading Partners

Reading Partners is a national nonprofit that works to expand life opportunities for students who need additional support in building strong literacy skills. We do so by collaborating with Title I schools and community volunteers to deliver data-driven, one-on-one tutoring to students during the school day hours. We provide ongoing training and an easy-to-follow curriculum that includes all of the books and materials needed for an effective lesson. There is also an on-site staff member that readily answers questions and helps tutors and students work through the lessons.

Rondo Community Library

We connect people in Saint Paul with the imperative and the joy of learning through a lifetime. We are a cornerstone of a thriving city: welcoming people of all ages and cultures; strengthening neighborhoods and learning networks, and inspiring all with the world of ideas.
 
Saint Paul Public Schools Early Childhood Family Education

Early Childhood Family Education’s (ECFE) mission is to strengthen families through education and support of all parents through providing the best possible environment for the healthy growth and development of their children.  ECFE provides education in child development and parent/child relationships, which sets the stage for children’s school success.
 
St. Paul Fellowship Church

Our vision is to be a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-generational church that serves as a catalyst to individual and neighborhood transformation.

St. Peter Claver School

St. Peter Claver is a school that fosters academic excellence in all areas of study, encourages discipline based on respect and responsibility, and develops a sense of service and social justice.
 
TMC Publications Co

NEWS FOR EVERYONE, DELIVERED TO EVERYONE. We are for profit and for a purpose – and we don’t sacrifice one for the other. As a media company, we work to highlight issues, solve real, meaningful problems, and repair existing social systems. We are working with our readers and advertisers to create a more just and responsible society that hears, helps and heals the customers and communities we serve.
 
Twin Cities Community Agricultural Land Trust

TCALT is a community-driven network that advocates for long term, affordable access to community governed land for growing food. Our board, collaborators, members and volunteers facilitate equitable relationships between urban farmers, community gardeners and organizers, local government, and planners. We believe that growing food promotes community health and wealth, and provides space for intergenerational healing from the ongoing trauma of systemic racism and poverty.
 
Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities

Fighting homelessness, addiction and poverty in the Twin Cities since 1902. We welcome all with kindness, compassion and dignity.
 
The Urban Farm and Garden Alliance

Founded in 2014, the Urban Farm and Garden Alliance (UFGA) is a collaboration of eight to ten Community Gardens and a group of Backyard Box Gardeners that promotes reconciliation, healing, peace, social and environmental justice through the
cultivation and sharing of food.

Urban Homeworks

The mission of Urban Homeworks is to lead the fight for housing justice so that all people have a safe, stable, and dignified place to live.

The Urban Village

The Urban Village is a 501c3 non-profit that serves the Karen and Karenni refugee communities in Minnesota. The Karen and Karenni people are persecuted ethnic minorities from the country of Myanmar. Myanmar is home to the world's longest running civil war and is host to a tragic record of human rights abuses. Many Karen and Karenni refugees started arriving in Minnesota in 2006 and now Minnesota is home to the largest concentration of Karen and Karenni refugees anywhere outside of SE Asia with an estimated 30,000 calling Minnesota home. Resettlement is a multiple year process that - while ripe with opportunity - also comes with significant challenges and unforeseeable difficulties. Our unique vantage point within the community has allowed us to witness the youth as they navigate the intersection of being both a refugee from Myanmar and now, an American citizen. We’ve seen how the realities created by this intersection can be incredibly turbulent and disenfranchising. Understanding our place in this community has guided the work and mission of our organization.
 
Vietnamese Social Services

Founded in 1987 as a non-profit mutual assistance organization, the Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota (VSS) has since grown into a multi-service agency with programs in health education and promotion, youth development, elder services, English proficiency, and employment and job training. All of these programs work together to equip and empower individuals and families across the life span as they seek to become independent and fully functioning members of American society. 
 
Voices of Effective Change

From a grassroots approach, Lutunji applies her life learned lessons to the guidance of teen parents she comes in contact with. It is Lutunji’s hope and goal to help empower teen parents so that they can succeed in life. She currently has partnership services with Better Futures, Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and has partnered with Oak Park Community Center-Pillsbury United Communities, Oasis of Love Inc., PICA Head Start, Emerge, Minneapolis Public Schools and The City of Minneapolis Health Department. Voices of Effective Change helps market Family Network engagements, coordinate special events, curriculum design, and facilitating parent group meetings .   Another endeavor that Lutunji is involved in is workplace environment assessments.
 
We Resolve

We Resolve is a nonprofit organization that stands with and supports loved ones, their families, and communities as they go through the criminal legal process, in order to tip the scales of justice towards community healing and away from a harsh discriminatory punishment system.    
 
Bethel University: Department of Communication Studies

Communication is central to what makes us human. The Department of Communication Studies prepares graduates to be skilled communicators in any setting. You'll learn how to critically analyze situations; communicate in strategic, compassionate, and culturally sensitive ways; and succeed in whatever career you choose.
 
Bethel University: Department of Biological Sciences

The Department of Biological Sciences prepares graduates who make world-shaping discoveries and understand the relationship between their faith and biology. Through experiences in the lab, field, and classroom, you’ll explore the grand diversity of living things and embrace our call to care for all of creation.
 
Bethel University: Department of Business

The Department of Business prepares ethical, inspirational leaders. You’ll explore the intersection of business and faith, develop your God-given talents, and learn to use the tools of business to make a difference in your communities and our world.

Bethel University: Department of English and Journalism

The Department of English and Journalism prepares graduates who are passionate about writing stories, reading literature, or teaching English with a rich, diverse understanding of the world. You’ll be challenged to discern what it means to be a Christian reader and writer in a world searching for strong,
wise voices.
 
Bethel University: Department of Education

Grounded in our Christian faith, Bethel’s Department of Education equips graduates for innovative excellence in K-12 classrooms and beyond. We prepare principled educators to serve and seek justice alongside their students and communities with compassion, humility, and knowledge.    
 
Bethel University: Nursing Department

The mission of Bethel Nursing is to provide leadership in nursing education, scholarship and practice that reflects a Christ-like presence as we prepare nurses to serve, with excellence, a diverse and changing society.
 
Bethel University: Office of Academic Affairs

The Office of Academic Affairs exists to foster an educational environment, grounded in the Christian liberal arts, that promotes student success. 
 
Bethel University: Office of Christian Formation

We know that striving to live more like Christ is a tough task. It engages our hearts, our minds, and our bodies. It challenges our assumptions and exposes us to complicated issues. But we don't work at it alone. We work together as a community-pushing and encouraging each other along the way.
 
Bethel University: Office of Inclusive Excellence

In all we do, we strive to develop leaders, scholars, and servants who humbly step into the world, ready to make it a better place. "Inclusive excellence" is the recognition that Bethel's missional fulfillment is dependent on how well we value, engage, and include the rich diversity of everyone in our community—our students, alumni, staff, faculty, administrators, and friends and families.

Bethel University: Psychological Sciences Department

As a member of Bethel’s psychological sciences department, you'll study the hows and whys of mental processes and behaviors—and you won't just do it through textbooks. You'll collaborate with award-winning professors on cutting-edge research while learning to integrate your faith with current psychological science.

Bethel University: Social Work Program

Join the social work program, a community of learners dedicated to service, justice, and promotion of wellbeing for individuals, families, groups, and communities. In our program, you will develop skills in ethical and justice-informed social work practice, knowledge regarding societal systems impacting human flourishing, and learn to impact change in the lives of others. Our program is built on a deeply rooted Christian perspective that seeks to advance justice, reconciliation, ethical practices, and human rights, honoring the dignity and worth of all people.
 
Bethel University: Undergraduate Student Life

We know college isn't just about getting your degree. It's also about personal growth and becoming well-rounded. It's about doing things that matter, living out our faith, and building relationships along the way.

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