Our Vision: We envision a culture of inclusion where all individuals feel respected and valued, are treated fairly, and have equal opportunity and responsibility to excel in community and life.
Nuestra visión: Concebimos una cultura de inclusión en donde todas las personas se sientan respetadas y valoradas, sean tratadas justamente, y tengan las mismas oportunidades y responsabilidades de éxito en la comunidad y en la vida.
Our Mission: We create spaces to grow as individuals and community through sharing, learning, collaboration and action to unite people and to remove barriers to equal opportunity and responsibility in community and life.
Nuestra misión: Creamos espacios para crecer como individuos y comunidad al compartir, aprender, colaborar y actuar uniendo a la gente y eliminando las barreras que nos impiden tener las mismas oportunidades y responsabilidades en la comunidad y en la vida.
Emily Haeg Nyugen from MN Rural Sustainability Development Partnerships (U of M Extension) wrote this piece about the 2024 Multicultural Fiesta, featuring quotes from some of the organizers.
Emily Haeg Nyugen from MN Rural Sustainability Development Partnerships (U of M Extension) wrote this piece about the completion of the "Who We Are, How We Got Here" project incorporating both research and interviews about the stories different cultural groups' histories living in and coming to the land that is now St. James.
In the News
Multicultural Fiesta
Your Story, My Story, Our Story
Who We Are, Where We Come From
Building Bridges for Thriving Communities - A Summit for Equity
Changing Demographics in Rural Minnesota
St. James Fiesta: "A gift to our community from our community" (2024)
St. James Celebrates All Cultures at Multicultural Fiesta (2024)
St. James Festival celebrates multiculturalism (2019)
Third Annual Multicultural Fiesta! (2019)
2nd Annual Multicultural Fiesta to take place on Saturday (2018)
Celebrating Diversity In a Small Town
July 2022
Thanks to Triple Falls Productions, the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council for the Arts and Cultural Heritage grant, and for the members of Uniting Cultures/Uniendo Culturas and other residents of the St. James community who shared their thoughts and enthusiasm for the Multicultural Fiesta in this just-released video (see above, and it is also linked on our Video Gallery page)!
May 2022
Uniting Cultures/Uniendo Culturas project proposal "Who We Are and How We Got Here" was fully approved by the Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.
From the RSDP "Happenings" June Newsletter: "Uniting Cultures/Uniendo Culturas will use interviews and focus groups, along with historical and cultural resources, to provide education on the history of migration and the ethnic and cultural diversity of people who have made St. James their home, particularly newer arrivals from Central America. Materials will be shared online, at the local library, and presented in public events and in print. Partners include Uniting Cultures/Uniendo Culturas, Convivencia Hispana, St. James Public Schools, Watonwan County Library, St. James Chamber of Commerce and UMN Morris Center for Small Towns.
