Example video title will go here for this video

Example video title will go here for this video

To stream KARE 11 on your phone, you need the KARE 11 app.

Twin Cities Pride also launched a new small business tent to help small creators.

MINNEAPOLIS — When Twin Cities Pride needed help, the community was there.

The non-profit cut ties with Target earlier this year, after the company rolled back its DEI initiatives. Target was a long-standing sponsor, and without it, there was a big funding gap.

Twin Cities Pride started fundraising and reached its goal in a matter of days. In Target’s absence, individuals stepped up, and so did small businesses.

“After the Target thing happened, we had some of our really small community partners reach out and say we want to do more, we want to help,” said Kelsey Alto, director of programming for Twin Cities Pride. “For them, in a time when the economy is down, to go that extra step to help cover the gap means so much to us because we know how much it means to them too.”

Alto said it was an emotional, chaotic time, but it was powerful to see people come together.

“It’s been a really meaningful way to show active allyship. We’re huge believers in supporting LGBTQ2S+ rights,” said Becky McNattin, the owner of Becoming Together Therapy and Wellness.

McNattin started her outpatient mental health clinic in 2022. This is Becoming Together Therapy and Wellness’s third year at Twin Cities Pride.

She said that in January, they started to hear from their clients a feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness. McNattin said they’ve talked about being more involved with Pride, and knew they had to do more after listening to their clients.

“So, we went from a $2,000 sponsorship to a $10,000 sponsorship this year, reached out to Pride and said, ‘we want to be one of your silver-level sponsors’,” she said. “It’s a huge percentage of our revenue, but a meaningful commitment that we felt we just had to do.”

McNattin said it’s a great feeling to be putting their financial resources where they matter.

“I think it feels like we’re part of something bigger than ourselves,” she said.

To continue supporting small businesses, Alto said something new this year.

“Some of these vendors make 65-75% of their annual revenue at this festival over two days alone, and so we wanted to provide the opportunity to those small businesses just getting their start to work their way up to a full booth,” Alto said.

She said they launched their new small business tent to give newer businesses more exposure. Alto said they’ll be under that tent for two years to give them time to work their way up to a full table.

“I’m just so glad to be here,” said Jazmin Lambertson.

This is Lambertson’s first year as a vendor at the festival. She sells stickers, magnets, bookmarks, earrings, and prints.

“I illustrate everything on my own,” she said.

As a smaller creator, she said being a part of a big festival is huge.

“Everything that I make is very Pride-related. I like making LGBT-related items in general, so having a place where I can sell my art and feel represented is really important for me,” she said.

Alto said the festival is also an important fundraiser to sustain their year-round programming.

“We exist all-year round, it’s not just a party in June and we have needs all year round, so it’s really amazing to be able see people come to our career fair and then working as a cater waiter at an event for us because they got a job at our career fair,” Alto said.

Alto has been with Twin Cities Pride for three years, and within that time, she helped develop year-round programming and opened a cultural arts center.

“Rainbow Wardrobe, which is in our cultural arts center, provides free gender-affirming clothing and undergarments to the community. We do book fairs, career fairs, and artists in residence program, a junior artist in residence program,” Alto said.

She said without big company sponsorships ,they’ll have to think of new ways to fundraise, so these year-round programs don’t disappear.

“It’s something that we’ve always had to do. We’ve always had to shift, I mean it always gets more expensive to exist and be a festival in Minneapolis,” she said.