Featured photo: African Drum and Dance Parents Association
FLINT, Mich., Aug. 27, 2021 — The Ruth Mott Foundation has awarded $1,028,070 to 18 programs that align with the foundation’s priorities identified by north Flint residents: youth, public safety, economic opportunity and neighborhoods.
“The Ruth Mott Foundation is proud to support the people and organizations working in extraordinary times and under extraordinary circumstances to help north Flint residents create and sustain opportunities to contribute and thrive,” Ruth Mott Foundation President Raquel Thueme said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, several organizations have adapted programming in new ways to continue to safely serve the community. For example, a shift to virtual programming may require additional staff training, curriculum redesign, equipment or other needs.
In all, the 18 grant awards are:
YOUTH
African Drum and Dance Parents Association. $20,000 for general operating support to provide culturally relevant, arts-based afterschool and summer programming focused on traditional West African drum and dance for north Flint youth.
Always Hope Ministries. $7,470 for its Youth Summer Program: Prevent, which provides one-on-one reading time and reading activities to north Flint children while also engaging adults, including some parents/caregivers of enrolled youth.
El Ballet Folklórico Estudiantil. $15,000 to provide out-of-school-time Mexican folkloric music, dance and cultural programming in English and Spanish to youth at Richfield Public School Academy, located in north Flint.
Faith Foundation Resources. $65,000 for the Helping Young People with Employment (HYPE) youth and young adult job readiness training and placement program, which teaches professional communication skills, financial literacy and personal credit development to north Flint youth.
Flint Institute of Science & History. $69,600 in project and capital support. Project support will fund the North Flint Advisory Council and out-of-school-time STEM programming (science, technology, engineering and math) for north Flint children and families. Capital support will help fund new hands-on exhibits at the Sloan Museum of Discovery.
Motherly Intercession. $35,000 for the Reading and Counting to Success Plus program in support of the organization’s mission to provide a comprehensive system of support designed to break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration.
Tapology. $90,000 in general operating support to provide out-of-school-time youth development programs and employment through tap dance to north Flint youth.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime Stoppers of Flint and Genesee County. $61,000 to educate, engage and empower Flint and Genesee County residents to share crime-related information with law enforcement anonymously through a secure tips line or secure web connection.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Center for Higher Educational Achievement (CHEA). $35,000 to deliver intensive reading and math supports to north Flint residents who are: over the age of 25, interested in completing their high school diploma or GED and/or pursuing postsecondary education or job training.
First Children’s Finance. $10,000 for the Community Conversations Plus Program to facilitate discussions regarding needs and challenges facing north Flint childcare businesses during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, establishing trust and a clear pathway for low-interest loans and other available technical assistance.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). $75,000 to support operation of the LISC office in Flint, which provides local access to LISC’s national expertise as an intermediary on matters related to community development and economic revitalization.
MADE Institute. $77,000 in general operating support to provide job training and life skills services to people returning to north Flint from incarceration or who have a prior criminal conviction.
Re-Connections, Inc. $25,000 in general operating support to provide job training, life coaching and employment opportunities to individuals returning from incarceration.
NEIGHBORHOODS
Asbury Community Development Corp. $118,000 in general operating support to provide literacy programs, nutrition education, job training, COVID-19 resource services and community meeting space to north Flint residents.
Evergreen Community Development Initiative. $150,000 in support to operate the Flint Development Center as a north Flint neighborhood hub providing a variety of services for area youth and adults.
Genesee County Habitat for Humanity. $75,000 for the Owner-Occupied Repair Program, which funds critical repairs and accessibility modifications to north Flint homes.
Safe & Just Michigan. $40,000 to support Nation Outside’s Flint Chapter, which engages residents who were formerly incarcerated around voting and policy change through voter registration, education and advocacy.
FOUNDATION INITIATED GRANT
Fair Food Network. $60,000 for the Double Up Food Bucks program, which provides one dollar of credit to purchase fruits and vegetables at participating Flint grocers and farmers’ markets for every dollar spent on eligible produce purchases by SNAP participants. (SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.)
Grants made under the Foundation’s north Flint strategy can be found at ruthmottfoundation.org/grants.
