MCREST receives $50,000 grant
Funds come from Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan
The Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan (CFSEM) has awarded the Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (MCREST) a portion of the $103 million in grants given to nonprofits and local governments.
“We are very grateful to the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan for its generous grant support, which will benefit 125 Macomb County children experiencing homelessness and their families over the next year,” April Fidler, executive director of MCREST and its Women and Children’s Shelter, said of the $50,000 grant.
“MCREST is already using the grant to support an onsite play area in our new Women & Children’s Shelter, fund a new staff position to coordinate services for children and pay for tuition for off-site childcare,” Fidler added.
The funding is provided to nonprofits and local governments working to make a positive, permanent impact in southeastern Michigan.
At its fourth quarter meeting, the Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees also approved more than $22 million toward that annual total and elected Paul Trulik of Macomb County to its board, stating he brings a wealth of experience in financial management and civic leadership to the foundation’s board.
Trulik founded Apparatus Solutions, which provides accounting, finance and talent development services to nonprofits but sold the company to Quatrro Business Services in 2022 with the expectation that it will continue expanding in the Detroit area. He also has played key roles in regional civic organizations including Business Leaders
for Michigan, the Detroit Region Aerotropolis Development Corporation and several nonprofits.
“Paul has had a long, successful career in finance and leadership. We believe he will be an incredible asset as we strive to create a sustainable, flourishing future for our organization and the communities we serve,” Richard DeVore, president of the CFSEM said in a news release. “We’re hopeful that, as a Macomb County resident, Paul will leverage his relationships to deepen our reach and impact in this part of our seven-county service area.”
Fiddler said the foundation’s support of MCREST will also enable families with children to obtain the proper training and education, leading to living-wage employment, housing, and self-sufficiency, and improve long-term outcomes for children experiencing homelessness in Macomb County.
The CFSEM also made $22.3 million in grants to organizations working to advance arts and culture, civil rights, economic development, education, environment and public spaces, and health and human services throughout southeast Michigan.
Other recipients of the grant money in each category included:
Civil rights
• Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion — $20,000 for forming a Youth Council for Racial & Social Justice
• Non-Profit Enterprise at Work — $25,000 to promote inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals within faith communities through a partnership between Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network and Inclusive Justice
• Regents of the University of Michigan — $59,416 over two years to prepare a new generation of leaders to strengthen social justice and civil rights through increased collaboration across segregated boundaries in southeast Michigan
Culture/arts
• Connect Detroit — $50,000 for research and data analysis as part of the Detroit Excellence in Youth Arts initiative
• CultureSource — $75,000 for the Concert of Colors: Detroit Diversity Festival and its goals of achieving organizational stability and extending reach and impact in the region
• Friends of Southfield Public Arts — $50,000 for placemaking through the creation of a connectivity and recreation corridor on Nine Mile Road
• Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit — $55,000 for the Young Artist Scholars program which develops skills and provides support for youth ensemble members as they explore college and career pathways
• The Purple Rose Theatre Company — $75,000 for the development and presentation of new plays
• University Musical Society — $150,000 over 18 months for the activation of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse for arts learning, community-based projects, and small-scale performances
• Wayne State University — $35,550 to increase the reach of southeast Michigan’s Radio Information Service for people with visual disabilities
Economic development
• Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) — $75,000 to strengthen a “whole family” approach to service delivery
• Venture for America — $50,000 for expansion of a program in Detroit for entrepreneurism fellows
Education
• Brilliant Detroit — $50,000 for the development of a community-led early childhood data dashboard in three communities in Detroit
• LAHC-Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities — $45,000 to offer the Youth Leadership Bridge to College Program for high school students at Banaat Academy, Robichaud High School, and Universal Academy
• Lawrence Technological University — $25,000 to conduct a community design/informed study to help build and grow LGBTQIA+ student services, provide a designated space on campus, and develop needed resources
• Michigan Education Excellence Foundation — $70,000 for creation of a pilot program for the Community of Promise Student-Detroit Promise
• Model-T Automotive Heritage Complex, Inc. — $50,000 for restoring and expanding educational programming at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, the birthplace of the Model T
• Oakland Literacy Council — $45,000 for the Oakland Center for Career and College Readiness (Oakland 3CR) program
• The Arc of Northwest Wayne County — $35,315 to provide educational advocacy for families whose children receive special education services
Environment/public spaces
• Huron River Watershed Council — $75,000 over two years for collaborative data collection and water quality monitoring in partnership with the Lake Erie Volunteer Science Network
• Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative — $75,000 for outreach to communities along the Washtenaw County-wide Border to Border Trail to inform future engagement and programming
• Give Merit, Inc. — $50,000 for costs associated with Merit Park and its transformation into a hub with a variety of community assets
• Michigan Interfaith Power & Light, Inc. — $65,000 over three years for developing a model of neighborhood-level climate resilience hubs at places of worship
• NW Goldberg Cares — $50,000 for the completion of Curtis Jones Park, which will provide an accessible gathering place for the public to enjoy
Health/human services
• American Indian Health and Family Services of Southeastern MI., Inc. — $75,000 for revisions to an established health curriculum for Native American youth
• Crossroads of Michigan — $75,000 for organizational capacity building related to volunteer engagement and program data collection
• Hands Across the Water — $21,800 to convene multiple child welfare agencies in southeast Michigan to better serve LGBTQ+ youth and families who are involved in the child welfare system
• South Oakland Shelter — $50,000 to restructure program management and operations
• Wayne State University— $75,000 for the development of a virtual support center and camp for children who have experienced the death of a parent or family member from drug overdose
Chelsea Community Foundation
• The Purple Rose Theatre Company — $5,000 for Chelsea Area Players to produce an original musical by a local artist on the founding of Chelsea
• The Purple Rose Theatre Company — $13,672 for the commission and production of script readings in partnership with the Chelsea District Library
• Silver Maples of Chelsea — $5,000 for increased awareness of gallery space and art-related activities within a senior living center
Community Foundation for Livingston County
• Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan — $10,000 for Livingston County Hunger Council for Mission Nutrition Livingston, a program that conducts mobile food distribution each month to provide groceries to families in four school districts
• Trinity Health-Michigan — $10,000 for community health workers as they address gaps in care to improve individual health and well-being
• VINA Community Dental Center — $5,000 for the Prevention Incentive Program which provides reduced-cost appointments for members of the community.