FY26 Year-End Update
826 MSP: A Year of Resilience, Creativity, and Possibility
Dear Friends,
This past year brought real challenges for many of the students and families we serve, but it also showed us the strength of the 826 MSP community. At times, fear and uncertainty in our South Minneapolis neighborhood affected attendance and made it harder for some students to participate in person. We stayed connected with families, encouraged them to prioritize their safety, and worked with school partners to provide virtual and flexible options when needed.
What stands out most, though, is not the disruption. It is how our programs continued. Despite the challenges, 826 MSP remained on track to serve more than 1,300 students through our Afterschool Writing Lab, Story Writing and Bookmaking Field Trips, Young Authors Council, and Young Authors Book Project.
Our young people also kept writing, creating, and publishing. Our growing body of work now includes 58 original publications, from professionally edited books to zines and hand-bound collections. One of our newest projects, Through Our Eyes: A High Schooler’s Guide to Happiness, invited GAP School students to reflect on family, resilience, memory, nature, and everyday sources of joy.
We continued publishing work by Black youth, English Language Learners, Indigenous students, and other young writers whose stories deserve to be heard. We also developed new programming around Ethnic Studies and literacy for immigrant youth and launched Write to Thrive, creating another space for young people to explore identity, resilience, and belonging through writing.
And even in a difficult year, we kept looking ahead. We began expanding the Young Authors Book Project from one publication each year to three, while continuing to strengthen our reserves so we can protect our programs and respond to future uncertainty.
We are deeply grateful to the students who kept showing up, the families who continued to trust us, the educators and community partners who adapted alongside us, and the staff and volunteers who found ways to keep our programs moving forward.
Most of all, thank you to our supporters. Your generosity gave us the stability and flexibility to keep serving young people through a challenging year. Because of you, students continued to write, publish, create, and see their voices taken seriously.
This year reminded us that resilience is not simply getting through difficult moments. It is continuing to create, connect, and imagine what comes next. And that is exactly what our students did.
In Solidarity,
Jamal Adam
Executive Director, 826 MSP