PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

IMMIGRANT CONNECTION at City Life Church exists to provide low-cost legal services to immigrants who need to apply for United States citizenship, green cards or family sponsorship proceedings. “We are anticipating more refugee arrivals per the new presidential guidelines, with Grand Rapids being a welcoming city to refugees and immigrants,” said Ruth Stenfors, executive director. “We are working on expanding our presence in the community. Our goal is to provide easy access to low cost immigration legal services bringing stability and strength to families, which in turn creates pathways for communities to thrive. We look forward to growing and serving more immigrants and refugees in the future.”

Immigrant Connection has grown and formed a partnership with Senior Neighbors to provide senior refugees over 60 with legal assistance to secure legal status, citizenship and family unity. This refugee assistance program also helps them secure medical waivers to continue receiving disability benefits, which may be their only source of income. Due to the intricacies of these types of cases, many private attorneys do not want to take them on.

TREETOPS COLLECTIVE partners with new American women and teen girls to help create spaces for belonging through mentoring, leadership development and a social enterprise for new neighbors. Their individualized and holistic approach helps women overcome social isolation and economic hardship.

Typically, refugee resettlement-focused institutions focus on survival, meeting basic needs and creating some sense of stability. Treetops aims to disrupt the current system to go beyond job placement and stable housing. It builds trust and ensures that resettled refugees have a voice in improving access to services and opportunities to lead from within their communities. This reimagining of the system is happening within Treetops, as well. As an organization, they are discovering new ways to center the experience of refugee leaders.

“As we continue to evolve, we have redesigned our work to be capacity builders, investors and connectors of new American women leaders. We believe that the more we play a background role for their engagement and community building, the better the work will be,” says Tarah Carnahan, executive director.

Treetops’ Concentric program hosts new American women identified as leaders in their language and cultural communities. Concentric Leaders receive leadership development training and knowledge of community resources, which prepares them for upward mobility in their careers and positions them as systems navigators and experts within their communities. These leaders respond to their communities’ needs in formal and informal ways, including working as translators, supporting parents as they navigate educational systems, cooking for new neighbors, being a first friend for new arrivals to West Michigan and more. QGrand Rapids Community Foundation asked

the first cohort of Treetops Collective Concentric Leaders how they are being adaptive and responsive to the needs of women and girls they are welcoming into the community. They requested to be featured as a group. Here is a summary of their responses:

• Treetops had envisioned many ways that the Concentric program might function, but the reality of community needs has led Concentric Leaders to take some different approaches. We are all learning and growing together!

• One area of learning has been how different immigration statuses impact people differently. The types of resources needed can change depending on the process a person or family went through to arrive in West Michigan, as well as the barriers that exist to feeling a sense of belonging.

We have sought out additional resources and supports that perhaps were not as relevant to people who had immigrated as refugees but are useful to people who have arrived through other processes.

• Treetops expected that of the 20 families we would work with, roughly five would desire or need more consistent support throughout the year. We have found that from month to month we may be working with different families more intensely and that the number of families reaching out for additional help can also change quite a bit. We are committed to extending opportunities to all the women in our cohorts and responding to every need that we can.

• We have had to navigate a lower number of volunteer

Cross-Cultural Partner than Treetops expected this year.

We have provided feedback to Treetops about how to communicate expectations in ways that are not so rigid and allow for changing factors outside of everyone’s control. We hope this will not only limit disappointment when expectations go unfulfilled, but will also ensure that those kinds of things that do “just happen” do not lead to a mistrust of Treetops.

J.C., H.G.F. & A.R.L.

Grand Rapids Community Foundation is a proud grant partner and planning committee participant for the Kent County Welcome Plan.

To learn more, visit https://tinyurl.com/KentCountyNewAmericans.

PARTNERS in community | 7

A LEGACY

of Passion & Planning

“I really wanted to give something back to our community.”

-Max Doering

PARTNERS in community | 8 A planned gift is one way to ensure your passion for our community lives on. Like Max Doering, who passed away in 2019, donor partners who support our unrestricted funds make it possible for Grand Rapids Community Foundation to adapt to our community’s changing needs.

Max Doering played in multiple bands, enjoyed the symphony and theater, and, with his wife, Lois, was an avid patron of the arts. Max even considered a career in music, but joked to the Community Foundation in 2014, “I knew there were a lot of starving musicians around, so I eased up on the music and decided it would just be fun for me.”

After serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, graduating from Western Michigan University and working for a few years in the pharmaceutical industry, Max changed careers. He went to work at a brokerage firm, Roney & Co. (now Raymond James) and stayed for 42 years until his retirement.Besides the arts, Max loved traveling, fishing and skiing. He and Lois were committed philanthropists who prioritized giving throughout their lives and in their estate plan.

The Impact of a Planned Gift

Max and Lois made their first gift to the Community Foundation in 1991, when we prioritized grantmaking for downtown Grand Rapids revitalization, housing and neighborhoods, among other issues. The gift started a relationship that spanned decades. In the mid-1990s, the Doerings created a charitable remainder trust, a type of irrevocable trust that generates a potential income stream for the donor or donor’s beneficiaries. When the donor passes away, the remaining assets are

Max Doering

distributed to charitable organizations like the Community Foundation. “I really wanted to give something back to our community” Max said later. “That’s why it was especially meaningful to establish our charitable remainder unitrust to benefit Grand Rapids Rapids Community Foundation.”

By establishing a charitable remainder trust, Max and Lois became members of the Metz Legacy Society, which recognizes donor partners who have included the Community Foundation in their will or estate plans or have created a life income gift to benefit the Community Foundation. Together they attended events and engaged with the community. Lois passed away in 2005.

After Max’s passing in 2019, a distribution from their charitable remainder trust was made to establish the Max H. and Lois Doering Unrestricted Fund. Because the fund is unrestricted, their gift will be used to meet community needs for decades to come.

A.H.S. T.J.P.

PLANNING IS IMPORTANT, LET US HELP Planning what will happen to your assets after your lifetime is important. Getting started is often the hardest part. We’re here to help you understand all your options and explore creative ways to leave your mark on the community you love. Let’s talk! Reach a member of our development team at 616.454.1751.

DONOR ADVISED FUNDS CREATE OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPACT

Now and in the Future

Grand Rapids Community Foundation is proud to partner with many philanthropists, guiding resources of time or treasure to make impact in Kent County and beyond. Creating a fund that makes grants you recommend is one way to support your vision for our community’s future—and ensure the Community Foundation’s future adaptability.

A Donor Advised fund is a fund from which grants are made under the recommendation of its advisors. An advisor’s philanthropic goals often determine if the fund is non-endowed or endowed. Over the last decade, the number of DAFs at the Community Foundation and other providers has grown tremendously. Their popularity reflects the flexibility and control they offer fund holders.

“People looking to open a DAF do have options when it comes to a provider,” said Shaun Shira, major and planned gifts director. “We find our partners have an undeniable passion for West Michigan, and they choose the Community Foundation because they want their philanthropy to have impact in the community they love and value the benefits of working with a local provider.”

In many cases, the resources of a fund are endowed, meaning each year a percentage of the fund’s market value is used for grants. These funds are permanent and perpetual, and, after the last advisor passes away, the fund resources may be directed to the Community Foundation’s unrestricted or Field of Interest funds. The grant dollars stay in our community and grantmaking decisions are guided by the Community Foundation staff, committee members and Board of Trustees toward the most pressing needs. This guarantee sets us apart and ensures that the impact of today’s gifts will continue into the future.

Katherine Sage and Matthew Richenthal established a nonendowed fund last fall with the support of their professional advisor. By choosing a non-endowed fund, the entire value of their establishing gift is available for immediate grantmaking. Kate and Matt have young daughters, and expressed an interest in supporting education initiatives through their fund. “We were thrilled to create a Donor Advised Fund,” Kate said. “It’s perfect for giving to the local causes that are especially meaningful to us.”

Donor Advised funds also provide the opportunity for an active, effective partnership with the Community Foundation’s philanthropic services team, who can make connections to organizations and networks working in a donor partner’s area of interest. With the team’s support, fund holders can feel confident in their grantmaking.

As the number of DAFs has increased nationally, so have conversations and legislative proposals. Some believe that the funds are simply used as tax havens or that they slow the distribution of philanthropic dollars to community. However, our data shows that when our community needed it most, the Community Foundation’s donor advisors met the challenge. Between February 2020 and January 2021, our donor advisors recommended more than $6,688,000 in grant dollars—a 23% increase compared to the previous year.

A.H.S.

Katherine Sage, Matthew Richenthal and their children

GETTING STARTED

Starting a fund can be a simple process. A DAF can be created from a gift of cash, stocks or other assets. The Community Foundation offers three types of DAFs with no setup fees. We will partner with you to set up your fund in the way you prefer, and we’ll handle all investments, reporting and due diligence.

Contact the development team at 616.454.1751 to start a conversation about your philanthropic goals and establishing your legacy.