Partners in Philanthropy Partnering with you to love Kalamazoo
Fall 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.
Portage Community Center The Portage Community Center (PCC) has been “Making Life Better” for families in and around Portage for more than 43 years. With the mission to create a better community by serving families and individuals. PCC also partners with KRESA to provide space for two Head Start classrooms. PCC is the only human services agency in Portage fulfilling this need. Services offered by PCC include: Food Pantry - Provided by Loaves and Fishes and operated by PCC, this program is open to all Kalamazoo County residents, Monday through Friday, 10:30-12:30 p.m., serving up to 105 families per week. Emergency Financial Assistance - This provides resources for incomequalifying families to prevent evictions and utility shutoffs, or to purchase medications (financial assistance is for City of Portage residents only). Clothing - Open to all Kalamazoo County residents, PCC provides a wide selection of children’s and adult clothing donated by generous patrons in the community. This program is available on Wednesdays from 9:30-12:30pm. Personal Care Items - PCC provides personal care items such as deodorant, shampoo, diapers, detergent, toothbrushes and body wash for Portage residents. Holiday Program - Holiday food baskets and gifts are available through the Adopt-A-Family program. Transportation Assistance - PCC provides transportation assistance in the form of bus tokens to income-qualifying families in Portage. Youth Programs - Programs for middle and high school students in Portage are available during the school year and summer, with a focus on working with youth dealing with social-emotional learning issues. To support this program, select Portage Community Center on the grant suggestion form.
Photo courtesy of Portage Community Center
More Co-Investment Opportunities Fire Historical & Cultural Arts Collaborative 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.
In one of the most historically beautiful landmarks in town, the next generation is speaking for itself and building their voices to change our community through creativity. At Fire Historical & Cultural Arts Collaborative, teens from across the county gather to share authentic expression through listening and performing at Open Mic events, retreats, workshops, Slam Poetry workshops and visual art interventions. This 14-year-old nonprofit continues to evolve to meet the current heartbeat of its neighborhood with style and culture. This is a place where youth are encouraged to be their authentic selves and know that they are loved and accepted unconditionally. At Fire, you could see youth coming out, reclaiming years lost to trauma, dancing until staff reminds them that the last bus is on its way, and writing their name on the wall – both literally and metaphorically. Their names, like their lives, are worthy of nurturing and creativity. To support this program, select Fire Historical & Cultural Arts Collaborative on the grant suggestion form.
KRESA | Youth Opportunities Unlimited The most critical component to an individual’s economic stability is a career. Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) is a career pathway organization providing young people in Southwest Michigan with academic enrichment, job training and workforce readiness opportunities. Their mission is to cultivate individual and community-wide prosperity through dynamic career development opportunities. YOU always emphasizes service to the community’s most vulnerable youth by providing educational supports and career training for those marginalized by inequity. As a job training organization focused on the development of employability and life skills, YOU’s Career Pathway Initiative directly addresses inequity by improving the accessibility for young people to earn and sustain a livable wage in a meaningful career. To support this program, select KRESA | Youth Opportunities Unlimited on the grant suggestion form.
YWCA | 24-Hour Child Care Center YWCA Kalamazoo is expanding its child care and early learning programming to better serve the children in our community and help address childcare gaps. A new center in the heart of the Edison neighborhood is scheduled to open in the fall of 2020 at The Creamery on Portage Street. Called the Edison Children’s Center, this new location will provide child care during normal hours for children (infants to age 3), and will also provide the only 24- hour drop-in child care and 2nd/3rd shift child care for children (infants to age 12) in Kalamazoo County. Edison Children’s Center will allow the YWCA to bring their programming to many more families each day, particularly the most vulnerable in our community, and continue the YWCA mission of eliminating racism, empowering women, and supporting the families in Kalamazoo. To support this program, select YWCA Kalamazoo on the grant suggestion form.
Photo courtesy of Confident S.O.L.E.
Confident S.O.L.E. Confident S.O.L.E. (Strengthening Our Ladies in Excellence) is an organization that empowers middle and high school girls to love, trust, and believe in themselves through an intentional curriculum. The six core objectives are self confidence, academic success, business and leadership, academic success, public presentation, and etiquette, financial management, community and diversity. Founded in 2017, Confident S.O.L.E. uniquely uses three components to enrich the lives of young girls in Kalamazoo County: enrichment classes, weekly curriculum-based programming and scholarships. More than 130 girls were impacted during the 2018-2019 academic year and the goal for this academic year is to impact over 200 girls. Confident S.O.L.E aspires to improve young girls’ perception of themselves by equipping them with essential skills, such as the skills previously listed in our core objectives. As a result of investing in the girls’ inner self, Confident S.O.L.E. expects to see their participants cease the use of drugs and alcohol, decrease the number of teen pregnancies, and perform better academically. “I’ve been learning how to speak up more
confidently and not really care what people say about how I speak,” says one Confident S.O.L.E. scholar. They hope to accomplish this by providing classes that focus on public speaking, college and career readiness, entrepreneurship, financial management, mental health, etiquette, self-confidence and much more. Also, their curriculum-based enrichment educator groups provide mobile programming which focuses on relationship skills to build healthy peer relationships, optimistic thinking, personal responsibility, and social awareness. Furthermore, their private foundation is available for girls interested in attending summer camps that provide exposure in career exploration, entrepreneurship, business development, and financial literacy. The organization partners with Parchment School District, Paramount Charter Academy, Communities In Schools, Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home (KEYS Program), Let’s Talk About It Girls Home, Mercantile Bank, and The Kalamazoo Promise. To support this program, select Confident S.O.L.E. on the grant suggestion form.
Partners in Philanthropy / Fall 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 Confident S.O.L.E. $ Contact: Dominique Hunt, Executive Director Address: P.O. Box 19466, Kalamazoo, MI 49019 Phone: 269.270.6019 | Email: conect@urconfident.com q Fire Historical & Cultural Arts Collborative $ Contact: Allison Kennedy, Executive Director Address: P.O. Box 51161, Kalamazoo, MI 49005 Phone: 269.220.0152 | Email: director@thisisfire.org
q KRESA | Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) $
Contact: Eric Stewart, Director - YOU Address: 422 E. South St., Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Phone: 269.775.1660 | Email: eric.stewart@kresa.org
q Portage Community Center
$
Contact: Chris Buckley, Executive Director Address: 325 E. Centre Ave., Portage, MI 49002 Phone: 269.323.1942, ext. 212 | Email: chris@portagecommunitycenter.net
q YWCA Kalamazoo $
Contact: Emily Deering-Caruson, Development Manager Address: 353 E. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Phone: 269.345.5595, ext. 304 | Email: edeering@ywcakalamazoo.org
Our Donor Relations Team Beth Gregory-Wallis / 269.585.7245 / bgregory-wallis@kalfound.org Cindy Trout / 269.585.7248 / ctrout@kalfound.org Joanna Donnelly Dales / 269.585.7260 / jdales@kalfound.org Julie Loncharte / 269.585.7270 / jloncharte@kalfound.org Raven Britt / 269.585.7273 / rbritt@kalfound.org 402 East Michigan Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888
t 269.381.4416
f 269.381.3146
e info@kalfound.org