SAOIC: About Us

About Summit Academy OIC

Located in the Heritage Park neighborhood of North Minneapolis, Summit Academy OIC is the only community-based vocational training and job placement program in North Minneapolis.

In 1996, two well-established training and job placement programs, Twin Cities Opportunities Industrialization Center (TCOIC) and Two or More merged to form Summit Academy OIC. The merger of these two entities created a stronger, more effective organization that has positively impacted the lives of thousands of individuals.

Want more information? View our fact sheet.

Our Mission

We exist to assist individuals in developing their ability to earn and to become contributing citizens in their community. We support the development of self-sufficiency in every person, regardless of background, economic status, or level of ability. We strengthen the community by preparing individuals to assume their roles as workers, parents, and citizens.

Our Promise

For those individuals who aspire to provide a better life for themselves and their families, Summit Academy OIC instills self-discipline and offers hope and progress.

A Community of Workers

In healthy communities, adults work and children learn. Conversely, unemployed adults are forced to depend either upon public assistance or illegal means to support their families and their children grow up in a community that does not value education or work. Children of unemployed adults are most likely to mature only to perpetuate the poverty of their parents, not understanding their roles as citizens in their community, with little hope for a brighter future.

In his book, When Work Disappears, Dr. William Julius Wilson, a Harvard professor of African American studies, notes that the major difference between today's neighborhoods compared to poor neighborhoods of the past is the absence of working adults, and the discipline and order that work brings. The economic and social benefits of a community of working adults is evident in earned wages that are spent within the community, home ownership, equal distribution of taxes, and most importantly, seeing adults go to work everyday sets a positive example and inspires hope in neighborhood children.

Summit Academy OIC is leading the way in building healthy communities by filling some of the most economically challenged neighborhoods in the Twin Cities with skilled workers. It is Summit's fundamental belief that "the best social service program in the world is a living wage job!" Summit offers students a seamless support and training system to ensure their success on their journey to a life of opportunities and self-sufficiency.

SAOIC employs three strategies to accomplish its goals. Learn More