What is MORE?

Great Question!

MORE began in the 1980s in the McDonough Housing Community in St. Paul.  Sister Kathleen Spencer, School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), saw an opportunity to attend to the needs of the Southeast Asian refugee residents when she observed the cultural barriers limiting them from fully engaging in their wider community.  Many issues needed solving -- employment, education, lack of access to food, clothing, and other household necessities, as well as access to physical and mental health services.  In her small apartment, she provided these services and more to the refugee community but quickly learned of other communities needing her help.

By 1989 there were staff at a newly established organization called MORE, named after the growing needs of the refugee community, that were ready to move into a larger office and begin providing services to the wider St. Paul refugee and new immigrant community.  They moved into their current home at 96 E. Wheelock Parkway in St. Paul, across the street from the McDonough Housing Community.

The increased space allowed MORE to formalize the English Language Learning (ELL) services and provide additional support in the form of social services, mental health services, social work services, and basic needs services.  Today, MORE operates as primarily an English Language Learning facility while providing its participants access to basic needs services such as free clothing distribution and free food distribution.

MORE accomplishes goals by:

• Providing dynamic, culturally sensitive, and engaging ELL services to anyone who requests it.

• Offering basic needs services such as clothing, household items, and food distribution to newly arrived Americans.

• Promoting cultural understanding not just between native born Americans and refugees but within the diverse refugee community itself.

Why does St. Paul need MORE?

New Americans in Minnesota, especially in St. Paul's North End neighborhood where MORE operates, face challenges in accessing good jobs and escaping poverty. With 8% of the state's population being foreign-born and 75% of them in the workforce, the need for education and support is high. At MORE, we recognize that it often takes more than one generation for families to break the cycle of poverty. MORE provides ongoing support to all New Americans, regardless of how long they've been in the country.  However, MORE primarily focuses on providing assistance to those in greatest need.

Sources: mncompass.org, newamericaneconomy.org, wrapsnet.org, unhcr.org

Mission, Vision, Values & Goals

DEI Statement

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is in the DNA of MORE as an organization - it’s at the core of the work we do. We value diversity. We seek to see the world from another’s perspective knowing that adds to the richness of our own experience and makes our organization stronger. With compassion as a priority, we develop and invest in all people. We work to remove barriers and ensure equal access to important resources, knowledge, understanding, experiences, opportunities, etc. Whether those barriers are cultural, financial, educational, systemic, or because of language, our objective is to make certain that all people have the opportunity to reach their personally defined full potential.