Grants Awarded

Kalamazoo Community Foundation makes community investments in quality programs that we believe will make Kalamazoo County a place where every person can reach full potential.

Kalamazoo Community Foundation (KZCF) awarded $2.2 million in grants to 48 Kalamazoo County nonprofits during the first of two rounds of its 2018 grantmaking. We collaborate and partner with nonprofits throughout Kalamazoo County in a variety of sectors, including food, housing and health. Local nonprofits also received grants and distributions from Advised, Field-of-Interest and Designated Funds. Each grant is made considering the impact it will have to help everyone in our county reach their full potential, considering alignment with our investment priorities of equity and education.

2019 First Round Grantees

  • Action for Liberation | From leadership to liberation
  • Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training for the arts sector
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters | One-to-One Mentoring
  • Boy Scouts of America, Southern Shores Field Service Council | HEROES
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo | General operating request
  • Can-Do Kitchen | Access to Food Entrepreneurship
  • Christian Neighbors | Neighbors Caring for Neighbors
  • City of Kalamazoo | Emergency warming shelters
  • City of Kalamazoo Parks & Recreation | 2019 SuperRec Program
  • Communities In Schools | Integrated student support and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) work
  • CARES | General support
  • Community Healing Centers, Inc. | S.T.R.E.E.T. After School Program
  • Community Homeworks | Critical Home Repairs
  • Community Living Options | 2019 Camp Amigo
  • Disability Network Southwest Michigan | Independent Living Program
  • El Concilio | Multi-year funding for Por un mejor Futuro: Educación, Equidad y Cultura (For a better Future: Education, Equity and Culture) *
  • Equality Michigan | Equality Michigan 2019 Integrated Voter Engagement
  • Goodwill Industries of SWMI | Guias de Vida (Life Guides)
  • Healthy House | Healthy House Resident Extension Program
  • Heritage Community of Kalamazoo | The Memory Care Learning Center
  • InterAct of Michigan, Inc. | Substance Abuse Services Medication Clinic
  • InterFaith Homes | Youth Summer Field Trip
  • Intrepid Professional Women Network, Inc. | Professional Women Network
  • Kalamazoo County Ready 4s | Kalamazoo County Ready 4s
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Arts | General operating funds
  • Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes | Multi-year funding for Food Security in Kalamazoo County *
  • Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services | Homeownership Service, Lead-based Paint Hazard Reduction Program
  • Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | Kalamazoo Kids In Tune & Orchestra Rouh
  • Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | Marvelous Music
  • KYDNet | Equity, Quality, and Social Emotional Learning; Ensuring all Kalamazoo County youth are "Ready by 21"
  • KPEP | Hospitality vocational training
  • Leader Dogs for the Blind | Guide dog and mobility programs
  • Michigan Nonprofit Association | Michigan Nonprofits Count Campaign
  • Michigan United | Community organizing to support Immigrants & returning citizens
  • Milwood United Methodist Church | Milwood Community Pantry
  • Ministry with Community | Drop-In, Resource Center, and Rebuilding Lives Project
  • Muscular Dystrophy Association | 2019 MDA Summer Camp Program
  • Northside Association for Community Development | Multi-year funding for Residents Implementing Our Plan *
  • Northside Preschools | General support
  • Open Roads Bike Program | Leadership Programs & Youth Lounge Resource Access
  • Pine Rest Foundation | CenterPointe Crisis Residential Treatment
  • Planned Parenthood of Michigan | Sexual Health Equity through Education and Care
  • Pretty Lake Camp | First Time Campers Program
  • Queer Theatre, Inc. | Queer Theatre Kalamazoo Expansion
  • Read and Write Kalamazoo | RAWK On! Program Maximization
  • Renaissance Enterprises | Kalamazoo County Senior Outreach
  • Residential Opportunities, Inc. | ROI Affordable Housing Program
  • Seeding Change | Great Lakes PeaceJam capacity expansion
  • Senior Services | Project Fresh
  • SLD Read |General support
  • State of Michigan Department of Health & Human Services | Pathways to Potential
  • The Arc Community Advocates | Educational advocacy in Kalamazoo County
  • Urban Alliance | Momentum Urban Employment Initiative
  • Vibrant Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo County Land Bank) |  Repurposing Abandoned Land & Land Bank Equity Training
  • Western Michigan University Foundation | College Assistance Migrant Program
  • YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo | Youth development and organizational capacity-building initiatives
  • Young Kings and Queens, Inc. | Increase capacity  
* Multi-year funding recipient, a KZCF pilot program. Click here to learn more about multi-year funding process.

2018 Second Round Grantees

  •  AACORN FARM INC. | AACORN Skill-building Program
  • Black Arts & Cultural Center
  • Building Blocks | Building Blocks Neighborhood Leader Academy
  • Community Homeworks | Critical Home Repair
  • Confident S.O.L.E
  • Eastside Youth Strong | Standing in Their Power - Eastside Youth Academic Success, Racial Equity, and Social Emotional Learning
  • Ecumenical Senior Center | Expansion of resources and services for Kalamazoo's most underserved senior citizens
  • ERAC/CE | Capacity building
  • Family & Children Services | Brain Connect
  • Fire Historical & Cultural Arts Collaborative
  • Girls On The Run of Greater Kalamazoo | Girls on the Run 2019
  • Gryphon Place | Gatekeeper Program (Youth Suicide Prevention Program)
  • Gryphon Place | Empowering Latina Leaders Advocates for Success (ELLAS)
  • Gurlz of Color: Set 4 Life!
  • Healthy House
  • Helen L. Fox Gospel Music Center
  • Housing Resources Inc. | Coordinated Entry/Every Heart Deserves a Home
  • ISAAC | Cultivating the Beloved Community
  • Justice for Our Neighbors - Michigan | Justice for Our Neighbors Kalamazoo Clinic
  • Kalamazoo Collective Housing | Affordable Housing Cooperative Property Purchase
  • First Congregation Church | Free part-time child care for low-income families
  • Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes | Kalamazoo County Hunger-Free Community Coalition
  • Kalamazoo RESA | Kalamazoo County Career Readiness Initiative
  • Kalamazoo RESA | Building capacity in Early Childhood
  • Kalamazoo RESA/Valley Center | Social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum
  • Kalamazoo RESA/Woodsedge Learning Center | The Artist in Residency Program
  • Lutheran Church of the Savior | Socioeconomic integration of African immigrants
  • Michigan Immigrant Rights Center | Legal Resource and Advocacy Center
  • Northside Association for Community Development | Aging Gracefully & Earning a Living
  • Kalamazoo Public Library | ONEplace@kpl
  • Open Doors Kalamazoo | Housing Without Borders
  • OutFront Kalamazoo | Building an intentional inclusive community *
  • Portage Community Center | Capacity building and youth program support
  • Project X
  • Seeds for Success | Parents as Teachers program
  • SHARE | The Racial Healing Initiative
  • Vibrant Kalamazoo | Activating Vacant Land: Side Lot & Adopt-A-Lot program
  • WMU Homer Stryker School of Medicine | Educational program to address health disparities in the LGBTQ+ population with focus on transgender population
  • YWCA | Early learning and racial equity projects
* Multi-year funding recipient, a KZCF pilot program. Click here to learn more about multi-year funding process.

2018 First Round Grantees

  • AGW Dance Angel Network | Dance Arts & Culture in Kalamazoo County
  • Big Brothers-Big Sisters | One to One Mentoring
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo | Northeastern Unit Operations
  • Can-Do Kitchen | Inclusive Incubation Continued
  • Center for Transformation | Mentoring Formerly Incarcerated Individuals
  • Christian Neighbors | Neighbors Caring for Neighbors
  • City of Kalamazoo - Parks & Recreation | 2018 SuperRec Youth Summer Program
  • Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo | Integrated Student Services
  • Community Healing Centers, Inc. | Children’s Program Case Management
  • Community Healing Centers, Inc. | S.T.R.E.E.T. After School Program
  • Community Living Options | Camp Amigo 2018
  • Community Promise Federal Credit Union | Community Promise Federal Credit Union
  • Disability Network Southwest Michigan | Advocacy Academy
  • Douglass Community Association | Fulfilling our Promise to Our Community *
  • El Concilio | Nuevo Horizonte Grant
  • Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan | Fair Housing Engagement and Services
  • First Day Shoe Fund | 2018 Shoe Distribution
  • Generous Hand | Strategic Planning Project
  • Goodwill Industries of SWMI | Pathways to Equity II
  • Guardian Finance and Advocacy Services | Road to Sustainability
  • Healthy House | Healthy House
  • Heritage Community of Kalamazoo | Music Therapy in Assisted Living Communities
  • Intrepid Professional Women Network, Inc. | Dressing for Success, 2018
  • Kalamazoo County Public Housing Commission | Homeless millage evaluation
  • Kalamazoo County Ready 4s
  • Kalamazoo Covenant Academy
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Arts | Building a More inclusive Community Arts Resource
  • Kalamazoo Literacy Council | 2018 Everyone Needs to Read Adult Literacy Initiative *
  • Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes | Food Security in Kalamazoo County
  • Kalamazoo Nature Center | Seeds to Cedars
  • Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services | Homeownership Services for Low and Moderate Income Households
  • Kalamazoo RESA | Anti-Racism Education Capacity Building
  • Kalamazoo RESA | STEM Education in Kalamazoo County
  • Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | Marvelous Music/Kalamazoo Kids In Tune/Orchestra Rouh
  • Leader Dogs for the Blind | Guide Dog and Mobility Programs for the Blind and Visually Impaired
  • Ministry with Community | Resource Center & Drop-In Program
  • Northside Best Babies Zone/Preschools | Northside Best Babies Zone/Preschools
  • Open Roads Bike Program | Youth-Driven Spaces: Capacity Expansion
  • Pretty Lake Camp | First-Time Campers Program
  • Read and Write Kalamazoo | 2017 – 18 Capacity Building & Project 802 Capital Request
  • Rootead Enrichment Center | Doula Support
  • Seeding Change (Great Lakes PeaceJam) | Compassion in Action - Anti-bullying Education
  • SLD Read
  • South County Community Services | Wednesday Winners: Program for Adults with Disabilities
  • Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy | Kalamazoo Eastside Hike Our Preserves (HOP!) Program
  • Speak it Forward | Speak It Forward, Speaks It Farther 2018
  • The Arc Community Advocates | FIND – Families and Individuals Navigating Decisions
  • United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region | KYD Network
  • Urban Alliance | Urban Alliance
  • YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo | Summer Achievers
  • Young Kings and Queens | R.O.Y.A.L. program
  • YWCA of Kalamazoo | Cradle Kalamazoo *

* Multi-year funding recipient, a KZCF pilot program. Click here to learn more about multi-year funding process.

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