29 Detroit-area community groups receive two-year grants totaling $1.5 million for place-based connection and beautification from the KIP:D+ grant program
The 2023 Kresge Innovative Projects: Detroit Plus (KIP:D+) cohort kicks off the program’s eighth grant cycle designed to fund community leaders and residents with grants to plan and implement projects that transform, beautify and connect communities. The 29 groups will spend the next two years envisioning, planning and implementing projects that transform and connect communities, with $1.5 million from the 2023 round of the KIP:D+ grant program.
“This year’s cohort of grantees vividly illustrate the diverse and dynamic landscape of community-based initiatives flourishing across the city and in neighboring communities,” said Alisha Butler, chief program officer at Michigan Community Resources, which has provided wraparound support to each cohort since 2017. “It’s great to see the ideas from new organizations, while also celebrating the innovative projects introduced by partners we’ve had the privilege of collaborating with throughout MCR’s 25-year history.”
Organizations from all seven City Council districts of Detroit, as well as Hamtramck and Highland Park, make up the 2023 cohort, with project visions as diverse as the three cities. The KIP:D+ grant program is notable for funding projects led and driven by residents and community leaders. Each project awarded includes a clear plan for resident engagement and inclusion. In addition to implementing projects, many organizations are using funds to leverage data and technology to ensure resident voices inform what comes next for their neighborhoods.
“We convened a selection committee that included a 75% majority of residents, artists and nonprofit and community partners, and we’re seeing the program evolve in ways that continue to center community voice and yield equitable outcomes,” said Allandra Bulger, executive director at Co.act Detroit, which has administered the program since 2021. “The diversity of this year’s cohort is a reflection of the vibrancy and hopes of the Detroit area’s residents.”
Pre-planning grantee, Teachers Supporting Teachers, from left, Kristin Hemingway- Ambassador, Jackie Dunlap – Executive Director and Founder, Melanie Land – Board Member, and Sandra Shackelford Board Member, in front of the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy
Planning grantees, Detroit Achievement Academy. Brigette Wright, left, Director of Development and Kyle Smitley, Executive Director, pose on pile of wood chips in an adjacent lot to the school that they soon will be converting into a community garden.
The selection process was coordinated by Co.act Detroit with support from The Kresge Foundation, which funds the KIP:D+ initiative. In September 2022, Co.act Detroit opened a public call for resident nominations for a selection committee to choose who is awarded through a point-based, deliberative model. The committee chose the 29 organizations to receive one of four grant types, ranging from $20,000 “Pre-Planning” grants to $150,000 “Implementation” grants. (Pre-planning grants allow neighborhood groups to gather residents and find consensus on a community project to pursue. Learn more about the grant tracks here.)
Meet the Grantees
Pre-planning Grants
- DAPCEP
- eleven24
- Embassy Community Development Corporation (ECDC)
- National Audubon Society, Inc.
- Planet Ant Theatre, Inc.
- Read Art Loud Inc.
- SAY Detroit
- Teachers Supporting Teachers Everywhere Inc.
- Wildemere Park Neighborhood Association
- Women’s Innovative Social Enterprise (W.I.S.E) Partnership
Pre-planning grantees, eleven 24 Founder and Executive Director, Tonjie Reese, left, and Program Coordinator Erica Mickens, right, in front of the mural “Spirit” on the corner of Mack and Van Dyke in Detroit
Planning Grants
- Atlantic Impact
- Central UMC of Detroit Community Development Corporation
- Chandler Park Conservancy
- City of Asylum/Detroit
- Communities First, Inc.
- Detroit Achievement Academy
- Detroit Hives
- Hannan Center
- The Konnection
- Living Arts
- Regent Park Community Association
- Veterans Village of Highland Park, Inc
- Woodbridge Neighborhood Development
Planning grantee, Hannan Center, pictured inside the center’s art area. Director of Arts and Culture, Richard Reeves Jr., left, President and CEO Vincent Tilford, Center, and LaTrell Bell, Director of Fund Development and Marketing
Planning + Implementation Grants
- Bulk Space
- TeMaTe Institute for Black Dance and Culture
- Women of Banglatown
Implementation Grants
- Bailey Park Neighborhood Development Corporation
- Brilliant Detroit
- Heritage Works (HW)
Planning + Implementation grantee, Women of Banglatown youth advisory council members pose with the art work they made on their “Art Night” in the park on the corner of Lawley and Mitchell Streets in Detroit
A total of 187 Detroit-, Hamtramck-, Highland Park-based nonprofit and community organizations responded to a November 2022 request for proposals to transform neighborhoods with projects that reflect resident priorities.
Of granted organizations, 76 percent have leaders who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous or people of color) and 72 percent are led by women. Organizations include a wide range of budget sizes, with 62 percent working with annual operating budgets of less than $500,000 per year.
“The launch of KIP:D nearly a decade ago signaled a sea change in our support for resident-led efforts to transform Detroit neighborhoods,” said Wendy Lewis Jackson, managing director of Kresge’s Detroit Program. “With KIP:D+, we see these transformative energies still radiating across Detroit and now into Highland Park and Hamtramck. Along with Co.act and MCR, and the Detroiters joining the KIP:D+ selection and advisory committees, we are able to amplify and extend the essential factor: a multitude of Detroiters who care about improving their neighborhoods.”
This round of grants brings the total of granted projects and planning efforts to 184 for a total of $13.7 million since 2014, when the Kresge Detroit Program announced the foundation’s first effort to invite proposals from nonprofits for transformative, neighborhood-based projects.
Planning grantees, N.O.A.H. Project Peer Community Builder Elijah Earnest, left, and Executive Director Amy Brown outside the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Detroit
About Co.act Detroit
Co.act Detroit is a hub that accelerates transformative impact with nonprofit and community organizations in southeast Michigan through collaborative idea generation, cross-sector resources, and equitable access to world-class programming and learning opportunities.
About The Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation was founded in 1924 to promote human progress. Today, Kresge fulfills that mission by building and strengthening pathways to opportunity for low-income people in America’s cities, seeking to dismantle structural and systemic barriers to equality and justice. Using a full array of grant, loan, and other investment tools, Kresge invests more than $160 million annually to foster economic and social change. For more information visit kresge.org.
About Michigan Community Resources
Michigan Community Resources advances the missions of Michigan nonprofit organizations that serve low-income individuals and communities through pro bono and low cost legal and other professional services, organizational development, and trusted guidance.
Photography by Lon Hordewel