Kresge Foundation's Fourth Quarter Grants of Nearly $50 Million Highlight its New Values Criteria

TROY, Mich., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Kresge Foundation's fourth quarter grantmaking reflects its new emphasis on a recently articulated set of values: advancing low-income opportunity, promoting community impact in ways most needed by residents, encouraging innovation and risk taking, fostering interdisciplinary solutions, advancing ecological sustainability, and valuing diversity in board governance.

At its December 12, 2007, board meeting, the trustees approved 65 grants totaling $49.8 million for organizations in 28 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and South Africa. A complete list, organized by state, is below.

"Our new values criteria focus our grantmaking and reflect our strategic priorities," says Elaine D. Rosen, chair of the Board of Trustees. "As always, we continue to support organizations working in the health, environment, human services, education, arts and culture, and community development fields."

Prior to the board meeting, the foundation unveiled an updated Web site -- www.kresge.org -- that announced the beginning of what will be a multi-year expansion of its grantmaking to better address society's pressing issues. The site outlines the foundation's new values criteria and renews its commitment to using its resources to promote human progress as stipulated by its founder Sebastian S. Kresge.

"In the 21st century, promoting human progress means working to influence the quality of life for future generations by creating access and opportunity for poor and disadvantaged children and adults, advancing methods for mitigating and adapting to global climate change and supporting the revitalization of our home community, the Detroit metropolitan area," says Rip Rapson, president of the foundation. "It also requires having a variety of grantmaking tools at our disposal to meet the particular needs of a given organization."

Community-based health care

Twelve grants were approved for health and human services organizations. For example, a $1.75 million grant went to Fenway Community Health, a federally qualified health center in Boston that is in the process of raising private funds for a new medical center. Fenway caters to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents, a diverse group of students, seniors and people of color. Eleven percent of its clients live at or below the federal poverty line.

"Fenway offers culturally competent care to neighborhood residents and those living in other parts of Boston and the New England area," Rapson explains. "The demand for Fenway's services far exceeds the space it has available. The new center supports expansion, which will fortify its financial model and enable them to increase the spectrum of services they offer their patients."

Access to higher education

Northwestern College in St. Paul Minnesota; Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi; Temple University in Philadelphia; University of Wisconsin at Platteville; and New York City's Marymount Manhattan College and Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art received a total of $6.35 million in challenge grants.

All of the institutions educate underserved populations -- low-income and first-generation students, non-traditional students and those located in rural and urban settings. Marymount, for example, has extensive K-12 outreach and relationships with four community colleges that serve as feeder schools.

Rust College, one of the nation's oldest historically black liberal arts colleges, typically welcomes 60 percent of its incoming freshman classes from the 23 poorest counties in northern Mississippi. More than 40 percent of Rust students major in the math and science fields. The University of Wisconsin- Platteville, located in the rural southwestern part of the state, offers the only formal program in the state for the recruitment and retention of women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

Kresge's challenge grant program funds nonprofit organizations that are engaged in capital campaigns to construct new facilities, acquire or renovate existing facilities or purchase property or major integrated equipment systems. It awards planning grants to nonprofit organizations interested in environmentally sustainable facilities renovation, historic preservation and new construction that aims for platinum-level certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. In 2007, the foundation began a multi-year effort to expand its grantmaking, including developing methods for providing other types of financial support.

Protecting and enhancing the quality of life in Detroit and the surrounding region

Organizations contributing to Kresge's strategy to strengthen Detroit's neighborhoods, vitalize its downtown, promote arts and culture, invigorate the regional economy, and enhance the area's environmental and natural resources, received a $12.9 million influx of support in the fourth quarter.

The grants made in Detroit attempt to combat the devastating consequences of the subprime mortgage crisis and housing foreclosure, spur new business development and bolster the health care safety net for homeless individuals. Each grant is an award for operating support, working capital or growth capital -- grantmaking methods currently under development for the foundation's other fields of interest.

Testing new types of financial support

"As a foundation, we are asking ourselves, 'How do we best address the extremely complex challenges we as a society face today?'" Rapson says. "Having flexible tools and the ability to invest over the long term in innovative solutions is a distinct role philanthropic organizations such as Kresge can play."

Many grants reflect the foundation's exploratory use of new types of financial support, all of which are intended to meet a broader range of capitalization needs. For example, a $2.5 million grant enables the Environmental Law and Policy Center, a public interest and advocacy organization based in Chicago, to expand its operation into the Midwest and Great Plains states to advance the region as a center of technological and policy solutions for alternative energy and global warming.

Similarly, a $2 million grant was awarded to the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a national organization dedicated to strengthening the financial health of nonprofit organizations. With the grant, the fund will grow its operation and expand its services, including creating new products to increase client understanding and access to financial markets. "This grant reflects our desire to partner with intermediary organizations, when appropriate, to support entire sectors," Rapson adds.

A $1 million grant was awarded to Portland, Maine's Preble Street Resource Center, a provider of comprehensive services for homeless adults and children living in northern New England. The center has reduced chronic homelessness by 11 percent in the past three years, eliminated waiting lists for shelters, and decreased the average annual costs of services for the homeless population by 50 percent. It is nationally recognized for its advocacy and innovation and now has Kresge's support for its expansion campaign.

Dismantling Apartheid through education

The Kresge Foundation has a special International Initiative in South Africa to strengthen the young democracy's system of higher education and increase the ranks of its knowledge workers. A $3 million grant was approved for the University of the Western Cape in Bellville for the construction of a new Life Sciences Building.

"This grant is as an endorsement of the university's bold action," explains Rapson. "As the blacks-only university under Apartheid, the University of the Western Cape historically has struggled against oppression and disadvantage. The institution is now in the midst of an impressive turnaround that includes building its research capacity in order to attract black South Africans to pursue studies and careers in the sciences."

Here is a list of grants approved in the fourth quarter:

(The list includes current and future planned grants. The type of grant is noted as challenge, green planning grant or special grant.)

    Arizona
    Children's Museum of Phoenix
                      (challenge grant)          Phoenix            $900,000

    California
    Link Media, Inc.  (special grant)       San Francisco           $200,000
    Old Globe Theatre (challenge grant)         San Diego         $1,000,000
    Southern California
     Public Radio (challenge grant)         Pasadena              $1,300,000
    The Tides Center  (International
                       Initiative)          San Francisco            $10,000

    Connecticut
    Chrysalis Center, Inc. (challenge grant)    Hartford            $450,000

    District of Columbia
    Independent Sector (special grant)        Washington            $250,000

    Iowa
    Des Moines Art Center (challenge grant)   Des Moines            $900,000
    Handicapped Development Center
                          (challenge grant)    Davenport            $400,000

    Illinois
    Environmental Law and Policy Center
                           (special grant)      Chicago           $2,500,000

    Louisiana
    Grants Managers Network (special grant)     Metairie             $50,000
    The Greater New Orleans Foundation
                            (disaster relief)   New Orleans       $2,500,000

    Massachusetts
    Fenway Community Health (challenge grant)   Boston            $1,750,000

    Maryland
    Johns Hopkins University - Center
     for Civil Society Studies (special grant)  Baltimore           $750,000

    Maine
    Maine Historical Society (challenge grant)  Portland            $400,000
    Preble Street (special grant)               Portland          $1,000,000

    Michigan
    ArtServe Michigan (special grant)           Southfield          $225,000
    The Center For Michigan, Inc.
                      (special grant)           Kalamazoo           $227,000

    Council of Michigan Foundations
                      (special grant)           Grand Haven         $150,000
    Covenant Community Care, Inc.
                      (special grant)            Detroit            $200,000
    Cranbrook Educational Community
                      (special grant)         Bloomfield Hills      $375,000
    Detroit Parent Network (special grant)      Detroit             $300,000
    Detroit Regional Chamber Foundation
                           (special grant)      Detroit             $375,000
    Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Inc.
                           (special grant)      Detroit           $8,000,000
    Detroit Science Center (challenge grant)    Detroit           $1,250,000
    Local Initiatives Support Corporation -
     Detroit               (special grant)      Detroit           $1,500,000
    Michigan Environmental Council
                           (special grant)      Lansing             $300,000
    Michigan Future, Inc.  (special grant)      Ann Arbor           $230,000
    Michigan Nonprofit Association
                           (special grant)      Lansing             $300,000
    Michigan Suburbs Alliance (special grant)   Ferndale             $40,000
    NextEnergy Center (special grant)           Detroit             $100,000
    Preservation Wayne (special grant)          Detroit              $40,000
    Southwest Housing Solutions Corporation
                       (special grant)          Detroit             $500,000
    TechTown           (special grant)          Detroit           $1,500,000

    Minnesota
    Northwestern College (challenge grant)      St. Paul            $750,000

    Missouri
    Missouri Symphony Society (challenge grant) Columbia            $250,000
    Synergy Services, Inc. (challenge grant)    Parkville           $840,000

    Mississippi
    Rust College           (challenge grant) Holly Springs        $1,500,000

    New Hampshire
    The Children's Museum of Portsmouth
                           (challenge grant)    Portsmouth          $300,000
    New Mexico
    New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
                           (challenge grant)      Santa Fe          $750,000
    New York
    The Cooper Union for the Advancement of
     Science and Art       (challenge grant)    New York          $1,000,000
    Cornell University (challenge grant)        Ithaca              $500,000
    Marymount Manhattan College
                       (challenge grant)        New York          $1,500,000
    Nonprofit Finance Fund (special grant)      New York          $2,000,000

    Ohio
    The MetroHealth System (challenge grant)    Cleveland         $1,000,000
    Mid-Ohio FoodBank (challenge grant)         Columbus             $50,000

    Oregon
    Mercy Corps (green planning grant)          Portland             $50,000

    Pennsylvania
    Temple University (challenge grant)         Philadelphia      $1,000,000

    Rhode Island
    Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
     (challenge grant)                          Providence        $1,000,000

    South Carolina
    Our Lady of Mercy Outreach (challenge grant)Johns Island        $500,000

    Tennessee
    Adventure Science Center (challenge grant)  Nashville           $400,000
    Circuit Playhouse Inc. (challenge grant)    Memphis             $650,000
    United Neighborhood Health Services, Inc.
                           (challenge grant)    Nashville           $250,000
    Youth Villages, Inc. (challenge grant)      Memphis           $1,000,000

    Texas
    AVANCE, Inc. (special grant)                San Antonio       $2,550,000

    Utah
    The Children's Center (challenge grant)     Salt Lake
                                                City              $1,000,000
    Westminster College (challenge grant)       Salt Lake
                                                City                 $75,000
    Virginia
    Council on Foundations (special grant)      Arlington           $150,000

    Washington
    Tacoma Goodwill Industries
                   (green planning grant)       Tacoma               $60,000

    Wisconsin
    University of Wisconsin - Platteville
     (challenge grant)                          Platteville         $600,000
    Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center, Inc.
     (challenge grant)                          Madison             $475,000
    YMCA of Fond du Lac (challenge grant)       Fond du Lac       $1,200,000

    Wyoming
    University of Wyoming (green planning grant) Laramie             $65,000

    Canada
    Evergreen (green planning grant)            Toronto,
                                                Ontario             $100,000
    South Africa
    Centre for Higher Education Transformation  Wynberg,
     (International Initiative)                 Cape Town           $250,000
    University of the Western Cape
     (International Initiative)                 Bellville         $3,000,000