March 2019 Grants

March 2019 Grants

I am pleased to share news of $3.6 million in new and continuing grants approved at our March board meeting.

Five new grants totaling $570,000 advance the Foundation’s developing initiatives to address environmental contributions to asthma and lead. Four grants addressing air quality impacts on asthma will:

  • reduce exhaust fume emissions in residential neighborhoods by revising truck routes and increasing enforcement of Detroit’s anti-idling ordinance.

The fifth grant pilots a cooperative project between the Detroit Health Department, Detroit Public Schools, school districts, health providers and professionals, and nonprofit partners to increase testing and follow up services for children with elevated blood lead levels. Michigan Medicaid policy requires that enrolled children are tested twice before 24 months but only 62% of Detroit children enrolled in Medicaid are tested on or before their second birthday.

Three grants totaling over $400,000 address environmental stewardship within an arts-based context: continuing to incorporate sustainability in the Midtown cultural campus plan, implementing green infrastructure and cultural programming in Eliza Howell Park, and creating a travelling exhibit on Great Lakes stewardship.

Four renewal grants provide continued general operating support to a set of watershed organizations in metro Detroit and Bayfield, Ontario. As the caretakers of our rivers, watershed organizations are core to the Foundation’s mission. This sustained support has been a priority since our inception in 2009, totaling over $4 million.

A family legacy grant will establish the Michael E. Maddens, M.D., Distinguished Chair of Internal Medicine, in honor of Fred and Barbara Erb’s geriatric doctor at Beaumont Hospital.

Read our complete March grants list.