Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
$116.7 million for water-crisis recovery efforts. That included $69 million aimed at improving educational opportunities for Flint kids, $24.7 million to revitalize the local economy, and $13.4 million to help mitigate the health impact of lead exposure on families. Mott also spearheaded collaboration with the following nine donors.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
$10 million from 2016 to 2022 to more than a dozen nonprofits and other organizations to support the work of Flint’s recovery. The largest grant, more than $2.9 million over four years, went to the city to increase the number of staff focused on economic development strategies.
Ford Foundation
$2.4 million to Flint-based organizations, the bulk of which flowed through the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and was regranted to the city to support its first chief public-health adviser. Ford also supported groups providing emergency response, like Michigan Faith in Action and the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation.
Kresge Foundation
$2 million to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for its Flint Kids Fund. That money was regranted to local nonprofits working to prevent or mitigate the effects of lead poisoning.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
More than $1.2 million to support local public-health leaders and research. The largest grant went to Michigan State University to study the psychological and neurocognitive impact of lead on a group of 400 Flint children. The results of that research helped establish the Flint Registry, which monitors the health of affected families and connects them with services. Additionally, the foundation gave a $1 million unrestricted grant to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint in 2022 and made grants to public-health professionals in Flint as part of a health leadership development program.
Carnegie Corporation of New York
$1 million to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to support early-child education and literacy efforts.
Ruth Mott Foundation
$1 million to Flint area nonprofits responding to the water crisis in 2016 and 2017 in addition to its regular grant making, which aims to improve the quality of life for Flint residents. Grantees included the United Way of Genesee County, Genesee County Habitat for Humanity, and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.
Hagerman Foundation
$1 million to Flint area organizations working to support families in need and improve the lives of children. Grantees included the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Flint for its summer program and Shelter of Flint, a homeless shelter. These grants were in addition to millions of dollars in grants to other Flint area nonprofits. Since 2020, the foundation has operated as a donor-advised fund through the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.
Skillman Foundation
$420,000 to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, $200,000 of which was regranted through the Flint Kids Fund in support of a public Montessori program, new playgrounds, and new grocery stores. The remainder of the funds supported the City of Flint’s hiring of a chief recovery officer who helped gather resident input as a way to inform local and state government planners to help guide their decisions. The foundation generally uses its grant dollars to serve children in Detroit but stepped up to meet the needs of Flint kids during the water crisis.
Tom Gores
$10 million to support a range of relief and long-term economic recovery efforts. Gores, a Flint native and billionaire financier who owns the Detroit Pistons, gave $6.4 million himself and encouraged $3.9 million in additional donations from foundations and corporations at his behest, a spokesperson said. An effort with Huntington Bank, for example, provided $1 million in grants to Moving Flint Forward, a program created by the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce that provided grants to small businesses affected by the water crisis.
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