Neighborhoods
Housing + Business Districts
We seek partners who protect and honor culture and legacy in neighborhoods. We invest in projects that build power and amplify the resident voice. Project examples include safe and affordable housing and crime reduction.
Recent Grants From This Area
Recipient
Amount
Date
Purpose
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Baxter Community Center
$450,000
Oct. 2023
Baxter Community Center offers a child development center, a holistic health center, a free food and clothing marketplace, dental care, and out-of-school time programming for elementary and middle school students. This grant supports Baxter’s transition into a workplace culture focused on helping employees thrive financially and professionally.
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Immigrant Assistance Center
$125,000
Oct. 2023
Immigrant Assistance Center, one of the only nonprofit organizations providing immigration services led and founded by a woman of color, provides equal access to affordable legal services in Kent County. This grant supports their ability to offer reduced-fee immigration legal assistance.
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Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
$150,000
May. 2023
Michigan Justice Fund is a funding collaborative designed to advance effective and equitable justice policy, practices, and funding in Michigan. This grant will be combined with resources from other funders working together to support nonprofits across the state. Grand Rapids Community Foundation is a participatory member in the grantmaking and learning collaborative.
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Community Revitalization and Economic Development Center
$10,000
Mar. 2023
This grant supports the Community Revitalization and Economic Development Center through a contract with a strategic planning organization to construct and fully deliver on plan goals and objectives that increase its impact on youth-serving programs.
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Justice For our Neighbors
$120,000
Mar. 2023
This grant supports Justice For Our Neighbors, one of the few providers of free or low-cost immigration legal services in Michigan. The Grand Rapids office annually provides pro bono immigration legal services to more than 150 low-income immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers living in Kent County.
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Meaning in Colors
$10,000
Mar. 2023
Meaning In Colors provides resources and services for individuals struggling with personal, academic, and professional growth. This grant supports its housing program, which focuses on helping individuals gain the skills and resources needed to secure safe, permanent, and affordable housing. Made possible by Martin and Eileen Shedleshi Family Fund and Homeless Prevention Endowment Fund.
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Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association
$9,750
Mar. 2023
This grant will help Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association maintain the neighborhood's integrity as a good place to live, work and do business by empowering neighbors to improve the community and prevent crime. It will help engage and organize neighbors to elevate environmental justice and community safety concerns related to heavy truck traffic on Grandville Avenue. Made possible by The J. Leslie Livingston Memorial Fund.
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Justice for Our Neighbors
$150,000
Feb. 2023
To provide pro bono immigration legal services to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
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Coalition for Community Owned Safety
$10,000
Dec. 2022
Through educational events, the Coalition for Community Owned Safety raises awareness about the City of Grand Rapids’ collective public safety problems, the community’s story, and residents’ solutions for those problems. This partnership was made possible by the George M. Ames Fund.
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Boston Square Neighborhood Association
$1,500
Oct. 2022
Support for Our Neighbors. This partnership was made possible by support from the Fund for Neighborhoods.
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AYA Youth Collective
$10,000
Aug. 2022
To support youth experiencing homelessness through the Youth Stability Fund. This partnership was made possible by the Kathryn L. Adamson Fund for Children, Hydro-Chem Systems Fund for Children, Needy Children Field of Interest Fund, Homeless Prevention Endowment Fund, and Kenneth M. Sweers Fund for the Homeless.
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Immigrant Assistance Center of West Michigan
$50,000
Aug. 2022
To provide low-cost and pro-bono immigration legal services.
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Michigan Solidarity Bail Fund
$10,000
Aug. 2022
To support a revolving bail fund organized through a community collective.
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City of Grand Rapids
$175,000
Jun. 2022
This grant supports the Participatory Budgeting process, ensuring residents determine how public funds are spent to improve their neighborhood. This partnership was made possible by the Kent County COVID-19 Recovery Fund.
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LINC Up
$14,040
Feb. 2022
To provide strategic executive leadership support.
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Housing Kent
$300,000
Dec. 2021
To support the launch and operations of Housing Kent, a community-led effort to drive equitable system change in housing. This backbone organization specifically focuses on addressing the disparate outcomes for Black and Latinx residents in our community.
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Seeds of Promise
$200,000
Oct. 2021
To support a place-based community improvement initiative that empowers those who live in the neighborhood to direct their own solutions.