The Homelessness Collective: Trust Building & Community-Informed Action
In Traverse City, growing community concern over an encampment known as The Pines, where individuals were living outside without access to shelter in a public space, led the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation and Rotary Charities of Traverse City to convene the Homelessness Collective. Learn how it has brought together key community leaders and organizations […]
Long-Term Goals and Emerging Strategies: A 10-Year Journey Begins with Kent County Mothers
The Steelcase Foundation’s 10-year Investment in Families Initiative is supporting a cohort of 30 Black and Latina mothers in Kent County and learning from these family leaders, analyzing their insights and developing needs over time, empowering more Michigan families to thrive.
Walking Alongside Community: Building Trust & Relationships for Community-Informed Projects
The Community Foundation for Muskegon County (CFMC) and the City of Muskegon Heights received nearly $1 million through the CMF/Michigan Department of Natural Resources Spark Grant Program Partnership. CFMC is taking a unique leadership role in managing and navigating the funding to redevelop the city’s two-acre Rowan Park.
Empowering Youth Philanthropy Leaders with Decision-Making Power
The Center for Arab American Philanthropy is empowering youth through its Teen Grantmaking Initiative, providing youth the opportunity to make grantmaking decisions, and ACCESS’ priority areas of academic enrichment and recreational programs.
Prioritizing Community Voices Internally and with Nonprofit Partners
The Stryker Johnston Foundation (SJF) strives to advance anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices in its organization and grantmaking with its nonprofit partners in Kalamazoo. SJF has been intentional about being explicit about whom it prioritizes as a foundation that focuses specifically on eliminating intergenerational poverty and disrupting and dismantling the systems that lead disproportionate affects.
A Roadmap to Greater Impact: Reshaping Program Priorities and Organizational Practices
The Americana Foundation, powered by a staff of one and a deeply engaged Board of Trustees, supports the sustainable development of agriculture and community food systems, the protection of natural resources, and an inclusive narrative of early American art and history. The Novi-based foundation, which has a Michigan and national focus, is on a path […]
Lifting Children Out of Poverty with Universal, Direct Cash Prescriptions
Rx Kids, a landmark public-private partnership, launched in Flint in 2024 as the nation’s first citywide maternal and infant cash prescription program. As of spring 2025, it has expanded to the cities of Kalamazoo and Pontiac and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, which includes Alger, Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac and Schoolcraft counties. More than 16 CMF members […]
Rest is Justice
The pressures and challenges facing nonprofits, particularly those led by and serving Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) have only continued to intensify in recent years. Data has shown BIPOC-led organizations historically receive less funding and for many leaders, they are required to be resourceful and innovative with support, oftentimes leading to burnout. The […]
Community Engagement and Compensation: Reducing Barriers to Community Voice
The Michigan Health Endowment Fund (Health Fund) encourages organizations seeking grant support to develop community engagement strategies that ensure people with lived experiences who are closest to health issues are part of creating solutions. This focus cuts across all Health Fund grant programs with added emphasis in its Community Health Impact initiative, which supports community-driven […]