Partners In Philanthropy | Spring 2019

Partners in Philanthropy Partnering with you to love Kalamazoo

Spring 2019

You’ve already shown your love for this community by creating an Advised Fund at the Community Foundation. Through Partners in Philanthropy, we offer you an opportunity to demonstrate that love again by supporting one or more of the projects highlighted with a grant suggestion from the fund you established. The programs shared in this publication are among the recent funding requests we’ve received from local nonprofit organizations.

El Concilio El Concilio, formally the Hispanic American Council, since 1981 has been working to achieve success for the Latinx community in Kalamazoo County.

Not only does El Concilio continue providing vital services, they have been developing strong partnerships with other organizations and community members, including both leaders and volunteers. Collaborative partnerships include Family Health Center, KCReady4’s, Family and Children’s Services, KYD NET, YWCA of Kalamazoo, ISAAC, and many more.

Through its programs, the Council aims to ensure Latinx families and individuals succeed in the areas of education, leadership, cultural enrichment, economic sufficiency and independence. In its efforts to serve the Latinx community, El Concilio encourages learning and education at all stages of its development. The Council is committed to maximizing the potential for success of individuals and families. Its master plan is to make positive impacts in the areas of education, employment, equity and culture.

To this end, La Escuelita Nuevo Horizonte (Preschool) provides young children with bilingual early childhood education. El Concilio’s Academia Azteca’s after-school program focuses on education success, socio-emotional development, and cultural identity development. To increase service accessibility for Latinx families, the Centro Comunitario (community center) continues its advocacy work and the creation of partnerships with supporting organizations throughout Kalamazoo County.

The Latinx community supports El Concilio because its services and programs are improving the lives of families. The Council believes that working together in unity leads to eliminating challenges and creating greater opportunities for the Latinx community of Kalamazoo County.

To support this program, select El Concilio on the grant suggestion form.

Photo courtesy of El Concilio

PROGRAMS AT EL CONCILIO AZTEC ACADEMY OF SUCCESS A soccer academy that teaches kids great values and good health habits.

FAMILIAS PRIMERO This program provides learning opportunities to parents with culturally relevant and research-based parenting information as well as opportunities for parents to learn positive (constructive) techniques to improve parenting skills and competence. Parental involvement increases support for their children’s academic success.

TUTOR PROGRAM An after-school program designed to help children in the Latinx community with their homework or any other academic assistance they might need.

More Co-Investment Opportunities Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo These co-investment opportunities highlight some recent funding requests from local nonprofit organizations.

If you want to support one or more of these projects through the Advised Fund you established at the Community Foundation, please make a grant suggestion using Kalamazoo Connect — just go to kalfound.org and click on the green Kalamazoo Connect link at the top of the page — or complete the grant suggestion form on page four and return it to us by email, USPS or fax.

You also may email members of our Donor Relations team, who are available to provide you with more information about these and other community needs.

See page four for contact information.

The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, based at the Epic Center — and home to 11 other arts organizations — is in the quality of life business, enriching and engaging the community through arts. The Arts Council networks with other community organizations, including in the education, human services, and economic development sectors, to make the arts part of our community dialogue. They are committed to serving a diverse community. Now, along with a number of partners, including Kalamazoo Symphony, Public Media Network, The Gilmore, and Stulberg Competition, the Arts Council plans to increase inclusive practices throughout the arts community by hosting free workshops for staff from 45 arts organizations in Kalamazoo County. Using a professional social justice trainer, the one-day workshops will accommodate 255 individuals over a six-month period, including a follow-up session and a six-month check-in for participants.

To support this program, select Arts Council on the grant suggestion form.

Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan | Guias de Vida Guias de Vida is part of Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan’s Life Guides program serving Latinx families with children up to 3-years-old. The program offers families culturally sensitive and comprehensive lasting solutions to poverty, racism, marginalization and lack of inclusion through long-term (20 years) coaching and customized support services. In conjunction with Guias de Vida, Goodwill team members provide wrap-around services around employment, financial literacy, community resource navigation, mental health counseling and adult basic education. This 20-year commitment assists participants in achieving their greatest potential so current and future generations can have a better life. Guias de Vida currently has 10 Latinx families working directly with a bilingual Life Guide and Goodwill team members. The goal is for Latinx children to graduate from a post-secondary institution with a living wage.

To support this program, select Goodwill Industries on the grant suggestion form.

Kalamazoo Defender Kalamazoo Defender, Kalamazoo County’s first public defender office, opens this July.

Founded by public health experts, former judges, service providers and civil and criminal attorneys, Kalamazoo Defender will treat indigent criminal defendants holistically, through community engagement and in collaboration with Kalamazoo County’s existing service providers. Social determinants play a major role in who enters the criminal justice system.

Children often enter the school-to-prison pipeline when they experience unstable housing, exposure to domestic violence, poor nutrition, and parents with inadequate skills and resources. Kalamazoo Defender incorporates this understanding into its representation and referral practices. As the law office for nearly every indigent criminal defendant in the county, Kalamazoo Defender is in a unique position to incorporate countywide indigent services into systematic legal representation that can, in many cases, move criminal defendants from the margins of society to becoming healthy members of our community.

To support this program, select Kalamazoo Defender on the grant suggestion form.

Photos courtesy of Healthy House For Women

Healthy House For Women “I remember walking into the doors of the Gateway Treatment Center on March 26, 1996, after 20 years of active addiction. I was court-ordered to go to treatment and my daughter became a ward of the state. On March 26, 2019, I had 23 years of being clean from all drugs.”

This is the story of a staff member at Healthy House for Women, established in 2015. Their staff knows what it takes to turn a life around. They continued, saying, “I can totally relate to the cultural, racial, economic and gender barriers that the women we serve have to address and overcome in order to become responsible productive members of our community.”

Healthy House shares their experience of addiction, healing and growth with women who are at risk of homelessness due to unaddressed issues, such as substance use disorder, mental health diagnosis, unemployment, lack of education and community supports.

Healthy House began by drawing on communitybased values, traditions, customs and working with knowledgeable people from the community to plan,

implement, and evaluate prevention activities. Their program promotes academic, occupational, emotional and spiritual competence, resulting in individual progress toward personal fulfillment and positive contribution to the community. Healthy House creates a judgment-free environment based on an inclusive, strength-based model, with the vision: All women safe, sober, self-sufficient. Their mission is to provide a safe, sober, structured residential environment for women in recovery from co-occurring illness.

Healthy House accommodates eight women at a time, ages 18 to 60, in its fully-furnished house, including bedding, sheets and towels. Some of the residents have temporarily lost custody of their minor children, so Healthy House collaborates with appropriate agencies to arrange supervised visitations.

This community resource works to protect and empower vulnerable women in our community.

To support this program, select Healthy House For Women on the grant suggestion form.

Partners in Philanthropy / Spring 2019

Grant Suggestion Form To suggest a grant in support of one or more of the projects listed in this publication, please complete this form and return it to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. You also may suggest grants online using Kalamazoo Connect at https://connect.kalfound.org or by emailing a member of our Donor Relations team.

I/We would like to recommend one or more grants from the fund named below in the amount(s) indicated.

I/We acknowledge that any grant suggestion made does not represent the payment of a personal pledge or other financial obligation, nor is any personal benefit from this charitable distribution expected.

Name Fund Name Telephone Email

Signature Date

q Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo

$

q El Concilio $

q Goodwill Industries - Guias de Vida $ q Healthy House For Women

$

q Kalamazoo Defender $

Our Donor Relations Team Raven Britt / 269.585.7273 / rbritt@kalfound.org Joanna Donnelly Dales / 269.585.7260 / jdales@kalfound.org Ann Fergemann / 269.585.7238 / afergemann@kalfound.org Beth Gregory-Wallis / 269.585.7245 / bgregory-wallis@kalfound.org Julie Loncharte / 269.585.7270 / jloncharte@kalfound.org

402 East Michigan Avenue

Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888

t 269.381.4416

f 269.381.3146

e info@kalfound.org