Pillsbury United Communities - Waite House

Organization history: Established in 1887, Pillsbury United Communities (PUC) is one of Minneapolis’ most experienced and comprehensive human service agencies. Currently, PUC operates four multi-service community centers (Waite House, Brian Coyle Center, Pillsbury House and Oak Park Center), a professional live theatre (Pillsbury House Theater), the Urban Institute for Service and Learning, and many vital programs and important partnerships.

Established in 1958 in the Minneapolis’ Phillips Community, Waite House has a 53 year track record of engaging increasingly diverse constituents, building on peoples’ strengths and enhancing the community’s capacity to care for one another.

Organization’s mission and goals: Waite House’s mission is to create choice, change and connection, one person at a time. Waite House’s primary goal is to effect social and economic change in Minneapolis’ inner-city by fostering capacity building and community engagement in the neighborhoods it serves. Waite House embraces a philosophy that integrates civic engagement with human services in order to bring about necessary changes with individuals and underrepresented communities. In taking this approach with Phillips Neighborhood, the Waite House seeks reciprocal relationships (associated with community engagement) rather than charitable relationships (as associated with more traditional human services). Our organizational democracy is rooted in the countless small actions we undertake collectively as a community.