Teyana Gibson Brown, standing in her doorway, reacts after a federal immigration officer used a battering ram to break down her front door before arresting her husband, in Minneapolis, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Written by Meghan Griffith-Greene and cross-posted with permission from Poynter.org.

When federal immigration agents flooded the Twin Cities earlier this year as part of “Operation Metro Surge,” local newsrooms scrambled to cover what was unfolding.

It was a moment when local news mattered — when it could report what was happening, show how it was affecting communities across the region and have the resources to do it.

Press Forward Minnesota moved quickly, too.

Within a week, the philanthropic coalition was mobilizing to support local news organizations. In the end, it raised $700,000 from both national and regional funders and started to deploy it just as quickly.

One critical early step: The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation recognized what was happening and reached out to Press Forward Minnesota to help kickstart the effort, seeding the fund with $200,000 within 24 hours, and helping bring other funders on board. The goal was to get money into the field as quickly as possible.

That kind of speed is rare in philanthropy.

Read the full story at Poynter.org.