Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan Awards Nearly $13 Million in Grants to Improve Region’s Quality of Life

Detroit, MI, October 24, 2007 --(PR.com)-- The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan Board of Trustees approved $12.9 million in grants to nonprofit organizations working to improve the quality of life in the seven-county region and beyond. The board approved the grants at its quarterly meeting in September. Organizations receiving grants include:

• The Detroit Institute for Children, Detroit, $7,500 for support for therapy aids for physical, occupational and speech therapy programs for children with special healthcare needs in the city of Detroit.

• Greater Detroit Agency for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Detroit, $5,000 for support for a summer enrichment program for children ages six to 10 with visual impairments.

• Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County, Pontiac, $7,500 for support for the Youth United Build program, which involves K-12 and university students in raising funds for constructing homes for families in need.

• City of Hazel Park School District, Hazel Park, $5,650 for support for a peer mentoring program at Hazel Park High School, to aid the transition of freshmen into a high-school environment.

• Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, $10,000 for support for unmet needs of families with terminally ill children receiving care through the Kaleidoscope Kids Hospice program.

• Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority, Brighton, $50,000 to support the construction of a hike/bike trail within the Hudson Mills Metropark. The trail will comprise the northern leg of the Border-to-Border Trail and follow the western edge of the Huron River. It will eventually link to the village of Dexter and beyond.

• Huron River Watershed Council, Ann Arbor, $65,000 over two years for support to assess and preserve high quality natural areas in southeast Michigan’s Huron River Watershed. The project will result in a plan to preserve wetlands and important natural areas within the watershed, a 900-square-mile area that touches seven counties.

• JARC, Farmington Hills, $5,000 for support for social and recreational programs aimed at increasing the social skills and interactions of children with disabilities.

• Judson Center Inc., Royal Oak, $5,000 for support to enhance respite services for disabled children at the Macomb Respite Home

• Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, Detroit, $5,050 for support for a leadership development program for students at Howell High School in Livingston County.

• Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit, $50,000 to support production expenses and educational programming associated with the world premiere of Cyrano, an opera written by MOT General Director Dr. David DiChiera.

• Oakland Schools, Waterford, $75,000 for support for an initiative to implement Chinese language and culture programs in seven school districts in Oakland County, and to establish a 40-hour immersion course in Mandarin Chinese for adult learners in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

• Oakland University, Rochester, $5,000 for support for communication workshops for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.

• Oakland University, Rochester, $98,100 for support to launch the Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship at the Oakland University SmartZone Business Center, known as OU INC.

• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, $43,000 for support to expand the “Family Reading and Science” program to Detroit and Monroe County. The program, which currently operates in libraries in 22 communities in southeast Michigan, increases family involvement in children’s science literacy and learning.

• VSA Arts of Michigan, Detroit, $75,000 for support to expand the artsJAM Gallery & Studio program for high-school aged youths with disabilities. The program allows metro Detroit youth with the most severe learning disabilities, emotional impairments and autism to learn and develop life and career skills through the arts.

• City of Wayne, $40,000 to support the construction of a “Play 4 All” universally accessible playground at Soroptimist Park. The playground, whose features will be based on input from children with disabilities from a nearby school, will accommodate children with a wide range of physical, developmental and cognitive impairments.

• Wayne State University, Detroit, $124,500 for support to preserve, restore, catalog and display 18 outdoor sculptures and 125 works of art from the Cass Corridor movement, a renowned mid- to late-20th century movement of artists, many of whom studied or taught at Wayne State University. Several of the sculptures will be displayed along the Midtown Loop greenway, which will be constructed in 2008.

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, founded in 1984, is a permanent community endowment built by gifts from thousands of individuals and organizations committed to the future of southeast Michigan. The Foundation works to improve the region’s quality of life by connecting those who care with causes that matter. It supports a wide variety of activities benefiting education, arts and culture, health, human services, community development and civic affairs. The Foundation has assets of more than $570 million and, since its inception, has distributed more than $260 million through more than 27,000 grants to nonprofit organizations throughout Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, St. Clair and Livingston counties.

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