Riverside Plaza Tenants’ Association (RPTA) is a non-profit organization serving residents who live in the Cedar Riverside area of Minneapolis and especially those living in the Riverside Plaza community. RPTA has successfully operated as a community service organization that creates a cohesive community that embraces, represents, and furthers the diverse economic interests of the Cedar-Riverside area as well as residents in surrounding neighborhood residents. Our core missions include:
- empowering youth, young adults, and families by helping them develop professional experience, education, employment, and advocacy skills,
- providing education to our immigrant population and teaching them English and other skills necessary to pursue their business and/or employment goals and ultimately integrate into American society as fully contributing members of their new country.
As part of this mission, we have successfully partnered with numerous employers and job agencies all around Minnesota to connect them with employees from the immigrant community who live in our community. We have been providing English classes and training workshops on various topics to our residents for years. Our senior staff and board members are educated and experienced business leaders who have successfully built and/or guided businesses for many years. We also help residents with understanding the local government system and benefits available to them. We regularly address questions about health-related referrals and obtaining health coverage and financial assistance.
What We Do:
RPTA provide advocacy services for tenants and services of ESL adults and youth in the community. RPTA provides various community services supporting people in obtaining employment, including Adult Basic Education classes, work readiness training, workforce training, understanding and completing health and employment forms, providing food assistance, acting as a liaison between landlord and ESL tenants and more. RPTA also provides youth enrichment programs that provide tutoring, homework help, youth mentoring, youth leadership activities, drug & violence awareness workshops, environmental education and more. The youth programs seek to stem community crime and violence through fostering positive relationships with responsible and healthy adults as well as provide youth and young adults with opportunities for leadership training, mentoring, and hands-on learning through activities and field trips.
RPTA has been providing IT career training classes for several years. This program allows students to obtain the training they need to enter the IT career field. The program is continuously being improved upon to reflect current job markets and demands. Students are supported through classroom training, support from instructors, certification tests, and hands-on learning opportunities. Students also receive support to prepare them for resume writing, job interviews and more. Recently, RPTA has found another partner to also allow us to provide training for entry health care jobs as well.
RPTA also now has a Youthbuild program which prepares Minnesota's young people, ages 16-24, for high demand, living wage careers. The Youthbuild program also focuses on supporting struggling youth and young adults successfully complete their high school education and/or obtain a GED while they are in the Youthbuild program. Through work readiness training and credentialed pre-apprenticeship training while building affordable housing, Youthbuild offers employers young workers vetted for their work ethic, maturity, safety practices, and occupational skills. In addition, the Youthbuild Plus component offers youth credentialed training in health care, advanced manufacturing, automotive, IT, and Arborist tree care. Youthbuild also offers system-involved youth intensive one- on-one guidance, support, and mentoring to transform their personal and work lives.
Programs & Services
Empowering the Youth
- Youth Coaching/Counseling
- Professional Development
- Education/Training
- After school Meals & Summer food program
- Connections to resources
Residents Advocacy & Referrals
- Education on government systems
- Benefit Access assistance
- Civic Education
- Housing assistance
- Immigration Issues
Career Pathways
-
IT Training:
- System Analyst
- Network Technician
- Network Engineer
- Help Desk Technician
-
IT Certifications:
- Cisco CCNA
- A+
- Active Directory
- Network+
Tutoring
- After school instruction
- Homework help
- Standard Test Prep
Small Business Training
- Training classes
- Sewing Lesson
- Business Ownership training
Community Programs
- Art & Literature
- Environmental Education/Enhancement
Job placement assistance
- Workforce training
- IT field careers
- Youth & Adult employment connections
- Hands-on training
Sport Programs
- Soccer
- Basket ball
- And other Youth activities