Nonprofit organizations that are working to address the systemic problems in Kalamazoo County received nearly $4.5 million in grants through the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
The Foundations works "with nonprofit leaders on a daily basis throughout the community to find solutions for deeply-rooted issues that create the symptoms of challenges ranging from homelessness and infant mortality to high school dropouts and unemployment,” says President and CEO Carrie Pickett-Erway.
In the first quarter of 2014 funding, called Responsive Grants, totaled $785,500. They went to organizations and program that address early childhood learning and school readiness, economic and community development, individuals and families, and youth development.
Those receiving grants are:
• Ministry with Community: $300,000 to support the 2014 Capital Campaign.
• Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan: $110,000 for operational support to maintain and increase efforts to eliminate discrimination in housing and foster equal housing opportunities in Kalamazoo County.
• Hispanic American Council: $91,000 for staffing resources to continue cultural brokering work being done to bring existing programming to the community of Latinos and English language learners.
• Guardian, Finance and Advocacy Services: $75,000 to support the Financial Services Network Initiative.
• Fair Food Matters: $73,000 for outreach and operations for the 2014 Kalamazoo Food Justice Initiative, to improve access to healthy, local food in Kalamazoo County through programs and long-term community-building strategies.
• Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo: $40,000 to support Girls on the Run.
• Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan: $32,500 for Life Guides.
• Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity, Inc.: $24,000 to support affordable home ownership for vulnerable families.
• Residential Opportunities, Inc.: $10,000 to support the Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia.
• Council of Michigan Foundations: $10,000 to support the Office of Urban Metropolitan Initiative.
• Building Blocks: $10,000 for 2014 Building Blocks projects.
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo: $10,000 to support Future 4 Teens.
These represent a portion of the total awarded so far this year. Others include:
• Grant distributions through Advised Funds, those suggested by donors, totaled almost $1.024 million.
• Grants from Field-of-Interest Funds, those for which donors request that funds go to a specific area, totaled more than $96,890.
• Distributions from funds established for nonprofit agencies totaled nearly $2.583 million.
The Responsiveness Grants and the Kalamazoo Community Foundations work across the county is "only possible thanks to the many generous people in our community who make gifts, large and small, that are flexible and can be used to address immediate and future challenges in many critical areas of need,” says Joanna Donnelly Dales, vice president of donor relations.
Source: Tom Vance, Kalamazoo Community Foundation
Pictured: Boys and Girls Club, Ministry with Community, Fair Food Matters
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