Co.act Detroit and CDAD Award nearly $300,000 to 54 Detroit-area Nonprofits
Grants will cover critical response services related to COVID-19
Photo credit: Auntie Na’s Village
Co.act Detroit and Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD) announce today a second round of recipients for the Detroit Community Development Mini-grant Fund. Fifty-four Detroit-based organizations will receive funding for costs related to pandemic-related critical response services. Funds will most commonly be used for food distribution, followed by personal protective equipment (PPE), household or hygiene items, and support for homebound individuals. McGregor Fund and the Hudson-Webber Foundation supported this second round of critical response services funding, with $200,000 and $100,000, respectively.
The first round of relief funding, a $50,000 mini-grant fund administered in August 2020, was provided with support from JPMorgan Chase. That fund provided general operating grants of $4,545.45 each to 11 Detroit-based organizations.
Detroit’s Other Social Safety Net
“We chose to focus on smaller, community-based organizations because of the relationships they’ve fostered and their critical connections to the communities they serve. When you consider the impact of all their work in the aggregate, you can see clearly how they form a critical safety net for people throughout the city,” said Co.act Detroit executive director Allandra Bulger.
With eligibility limited to organizations with budgets less than $500,000, the mini-grant was designed to leverage the specialized expertise and intimate relationships that small nonprofits and community-based organizations have with the communities and neighborhoods they serve. A glance at the list of grantee organizations reflects the inclusive philosophy beyond our grant programs; organizations are engaged in a variety of core capacities designed to stabilize and improve the quality of life in Detroit, including physical development, land use planning, and community organizing, and all seven city council districts are represented.
Local Connections, Local Wisdom
Photo credit: Southern Christian Leadership Conference Detroit
“McGregor Fund doubled its initial investment because we know that with Co.act and CDAD, these resources will meet community needs,” said Heidi Alcock, director of grant development and communication at McGregor Fund. “This is about putting people at the center of our response to critical needs; and ensuring that the vital community-based organizations serving residents have resources to help.” Both foundations have commitments to bolstering the city’s capacity for community-wide approaches to the COVID-19 crisis.
Selection of grantees was not limited to the Co.act Detroit and CDAD teams; rather, we gathered a diverse, cross-sector selection committee to score the more than 80 applications received. Selection criteria included planned use of funds, ability to mobilize resources quickly, and ability to sustain or expand existing activities in response to urgent needs not currently being met.
“Being awarded funding allows us to extend and to expand our reach into the community,” says Lisa Williams, CEO and Director of New Beginnings CDC, a recipient of funding for both the first and second round of the Detroit Community Development Mini-grant Fund. “The grant helps us to leverage our funding, reach more people, as well as reach new people in new ways during this broadly turbulent period. We are grateful for the support granted to our organization and ultimately to the end-users of our pandemic-related critical response services within the community.”
The Grantees
The following organizations will receive grants of $5,000 each:
- 20 Books, Inc.
- At Bat, Inc.
- Auntie Na’s Village
- Chosen Generations Community Center
- Church of the Messiah Housing Corp.
- Concrete Oasis
- Crescendo Detroit
- Determined Exceptional Fearless Youth
- Detroit Change Initiative
- Detroit Community Solutions
- Detroit Hives
- Detroit Impact Inc.
- Detroit Magic Child Development
- Detroit Sound Conservancy
- DiverseNote1 Inc.
- Emerald Isles Community Development Corporation (EICDC)
- Friends Of Parkside
- Goddess Great
- Greenway Heritage Conservancy
- Healthy Kidz Inc.
- HOPE Village Revitalization
- Hydrate Detroit
- Journey To Healing
- Joy Southfield Community Development Corporation
- L& L Adult Day Care Inc.
- Ladies Entrepreneur
- Mack Alive
- Metropolitan Detroit Diaper Bank
- Mosaic Community Empowerment
- New Beginnings Community Development Incorporated dba New Beginnings CDC or NBCDC
- Northend Christian Community Development Corporation
- NW Goldberg Cares
- One New Humanity
- Project Unity Community Development Corporation
- RAHAM Inc.
- Rebirth A Non Profit Organization
- SDM2 Project Education
- Sistahs Reachin’ Out
- Sisters Acquiring Financial Empowerment
- Southern Christian Leadership Conference Detroit
- Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition (SWCBC)
- St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen
- T.E.A. (Teach. Empower. Achieve.)
- Take My Hand
- Talbiyah Inc
- The Boulevard Harambee
- The Moss Foundation
- Transition 1 2 3 Inc
- United Block Club Council
- Urban Development Corporation
- Urban Unity CDC
- VICTORY IN THE FAMILY MINISTRIES, INC (VITFM)
- VIP Mentoring
- Voices for Earth Justice