NorthPoint (formerly Pilot City) is a private non-profit human services agency serving North Minneapolis residents. It is one of the original 13 Neighborhood Service Programs (NSP) started across the country in 1967 as part of the Johnson Administration's War on Poverty. In the midst of blatant racial disturbances in urban communities, these multi-purpose service centers were established to provide accessible comprehensive social services to meet the needs of low-income and disenfranchised communities.

Pilot City Neighborhood Services was then established in Minneapolis to provide a comprehensive array of social services to meet the needs of low-income individuals. To ensure that services were available and accessible, the facility was located in the heart of its target population's community - North Minneapolis - and has continued to display excellence serving Northside residents.

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Initially, Pilot City began with various federal and local government agencies that assisted in obtaining program resources and funding. In July 1967, Pilot City received a six-month planning grant, which was administered through the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). TAC became incorporated on Dec. 4, 1967 as the Technical Advisory Committee to Implement Community Services (TACTICS), Inc. - a non-profit corporation with a resident Board of Directors elected from North Minneapolis school districts. The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) provided $154,000 for the administrative and core services and programs. TACTICS then opened Pilot City for services in January 1968.

As Pilot City Neighborhood Services grew in its role as a community-based human service organization, OEO expanded its grant to $400,000 from January 1969 through June 1970. Pilot City also became eligible for HEW funding, under the Title IV-A program of the Social Service Act as amended in 1967. The funding was available on a matching grant basis with 75 percent provided by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). It was also determined that all residents of the Pilot City area could, by definition of the Code of Federal Regulations, be determined as past, present or potential recipients of financial assistance and could, therefore, be eligible for Pilot City services. The Minnesota State Plan was amended to include the Pilot City area as a low-income area and to include the services provided by NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center as services eligible for funding.

TACTICS, Inc and the Hennepin County Welfare Department (HCWD) then entered into an agreement to provide services for NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center on a purchase of service (POS) basis, effective June 1, 1970, in the amount of $400,000. Subsequent agreements were made in 1971, 1972 and 1973 for $540,000, $723,000 and $446,000 respectively.

As a result of the Revenue Sharing Act (RSA) of October 1972, funding for the NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center program came under the auspices of Title XX. The RSA also established that social services be provided on a case-by-case eligibility basis for federal reimbursement, necessitating units-of-service cost factoring. Beginning in 1973, the TACTICS/HCWD POS agreement was changed to reflect pending HEW, Social and Rehabilitation Service regulations. These regulations restricted the eligibility requirements for Pilot City clients. Following a Pilot City program performance study, conducted by Hennepin County Administration, in cooperation with the TACTICS Board and Pilot City staff, Title XX eligibility requirements were deleted as one of the conditions of receiving services, effective May 1, 1981. Currently, the only remaining requirement is that recipients of services be residents of the Pilot City geographical location. Pilot City continues to receive major local and federal funds through the present year.

Today, as the sole survivor of the NSP centers, NorthPoint Health Wellness Center's purpose is more complex. NorthPoint not only aims to provide social services to Northside residents, its focus is also "to assist and empower families…to access resources and achieve self-sufficiency." Rather than just offering emergency services to families in crisis, NorthPoint continues to develop programs and services that empower clients. Avoiding the band-aid approach to solving problems and treating the symptoms, NorthPoint is working toward treating the problems through intervention, prevention and targeted outreach.