Recent Grants Approved
Academic Achievement
Provide quality schools and education for all students.
- Grand Rapids Public Schools - $250,000for year-one support of a Partnership Pipeline at Harrison Park School that will ensure a Pre-K-12 school culture that promotes post-secondary learning for all students.
- Meijer Good Schools - $120,000to recognize three Grand Rapids Public elementary schools by the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids Program, which highlights area elementary schools demonstrating measurable success. Burton Elementary, Coit Creative Arts Academy and Shawmut Hills Elementary each received $40,000.
- Access Camps - $125,000to provide Good Growth Experiences to young people in Grand Rapids. We awarded $125,000 this year in Access Camps Grants to area summer camps to provide scholarships and transportation.
Economic Prosperity
Develop resources to compete and thrive in a changing economy.
- Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids, Inc. - $100,000to help former prisoners transition into their new lives first with workplace training and a meaningful paid work experience; and ultimately with job placement and follow up.
- West Michigan Sports Commission - $150,000to construct a high quality, 12-field youth baseball and softball complex that will open the door to hundreds of youth and amateur competitions in the coming years.
- Grand Action Foundation - $500,000to support construction of the Grand Rapids Urban Market.
Healthy Ecosystems
Preserve natural resources for the benefit of all people.
- Friends of Grand Rapids Parks - $253,825to significantly increase public engagement in support of the City's urban forest through a citizen inventory, web resource center and public events to achieve a 40% tree canopy goal.
- Friends of Grand Rapids Parks - $27,500to develop recommendations for updating City tree ordinances, policies and regulations to support attainment of the City's tree canopy goals set forth in the Green Grand Rapids plan.
- Kent County Parks Department - $100,000to construct a bridge across Division Ave to provide a needed, safe central link between the east and west segments of the M-6 Trail.
Healthy People
Promote personal safety, healthy behaviors and access to quality healthcare.
- Arbor Circle Corporation - $100,000to provide school and home based intervention for families with risk factors for child abuse or neglect.
- Bethany Christian Services - $80,000to fund two years of start up work with medical providers and newly arrived refugees to bring about sustainable change in the medical treatment of refugees living in the Greater Grand Rapids Area.
- First Steps Kent - $125,000to support the expansion of the Children's Healthcare Access Program (CHAP) to improve the health outcomes of publicly insured children and the quality and coordination of healthcare services.
Vibrant Neighborhoods
Support safe, attractive and self-sufficient neighborhoods.
- Kent County Land Bank Authority - $80,000to acquire and dispose of vacant and abandoned property in order to prevent urban sprawl and preserve neighborhoods.
- West Grand Neighborhood Organization - $10,000to develop an Area Specific Plan for the Leonard Street Corridor in the West Grand Neighborhood of Grand Rapids.
- Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids - $150,000to renovate four homes and construct six new affordable, energy-efficient homes as part of a collaborative revitalization effort in the Wealthy Heights neighborhood.
Youth Grants
- Hispanic Center of Western Michigan - $5,000to lead interactive gang prevention workshops with 8th graders transitioning into high school to assist them in overcoming fear, resisting gang influence and helping them to achieve personal and academic success.
- Kent / Michigan State University Extension - $1,575to enable youth who participate in the Mizizi Maji Mentoring Program of Baxter Community Center to attend a summer pre-college program.
- United Methodist Community House - $5,000to motivate low-income inner-city youths to explore the possibilities of higher education, by providing them with the skills and resources to plan for their future.
Additional Grants
- Hispanic Center of Western Michigan - $5,000to lead interactive gang prevention workshops with 8th graders transitioning into high school to assist them in overcoming fear, resisting gang influence and helping them to achieve personal and academic success.
- Kent / Michigan State University Extension - $1,575to enable youth who participate in the Mizizi Maji Mentoring Program of Baxter Community Center to attend a summer pre-college program.
- United Methodist Community House - $5,000to motivate low-income inner-city youths to explore the possibilities of higher education, by providing them with the skills and resources to plan for their future.
Social Enrichment
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