United Way of Washtenaw County awards local organizations $200K in grants

A volunteer from the 2018 Women Build challenge. Photo | Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley Facebook

ANN ARBOR – United Way of Washtenaw County awarded a total of $200,000 in grants to 14 local organizations that work to disrupt the impacts or racism, poverty and trauma.

The grants came from UWWC’s Opportunity Fund. The organizations that received funding include:

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  • Avalon Housing
  • Community Resource Center
  • Food Gatherers
  • Foundations Preschool of Washtenaw County
  • Fresh Start Clubhouse
  • Growing Forward Together
  • Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley
  • Housing Bureau for Seniors
  • Legacy Land Conservancy
  • Michigan Prison Doula Initiative
  • Neutral Zone
  • Peace Neighborhood Center
  • Stand with Trans
  • The Family Learning Institute

“Each year thousands of people in our community give to United Way through their workplaces, and this is just one more example of caring people coming together to create positive impact,” president & CEO of United Way Pam Smith said in a statement. “I sincerely appreciate the donors and workplaces who help raise these funds to invest into the community.”

A community review team decided which organizations would receive the UWWC grants after taking part in implicit bias training, according to a release.

The Opportunity Fund is funded 100% by UWWC’s annual campaign.

UWWC’s grant review committee received an unusually high volume of grant requests this year totaling more than $700,000, according to a release.

“The longstanding purpose of the Opportunity Fund is to resource new efforts to address our community’s most intractable issues and to support emerging organizations in our community,” vice president of Impact and Advocacy at UWWC Bridget Herrmann said in a statement.

“This year’s grantees reflect that commitment– over 50% of grantees have annual budgets under $500,000– and also include some of our long-standing local nonprofits.”