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The awards - $45.5 million to 82 organizations - are the best example todate of the foundation's efforts to expand its grantmaking to better addresssociety's pressing issues in education, health, human services, arts andculture, and the environment. Twenty-two grants were awarded to projects aimedat the revitalization of Detroit and the surrounding region. And one grant wasmade to the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, as partof the foundation's International Initiative to support higher education inthe fledgling democracy. (A complete list, organized by state, is below.)
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"The Kresge Foundation has a long tradition of directing its grants tobuild nonprofit capacity," says Elaine D. Rosen, chair of the 12-member boardof trustees. "With this group of grants, we also acknowledge that we must moredirectly confront the deep and ever-widening gap between the rich and the poorin this country."
The Kresge Foundation has been a driving force in the building offacilities for nonprofit organizations in the United States for the past 83years. Its Capital Challenge Grant Program, which awards an organization afinancial grant if it raises an agreed upon amount of funds from privatesources, has helped communities across the country build libraries, schools,hospitals, museums, community centers and food banks, among other brick andmortar projects.
Concerned that nonprofit organizations often need financial support forthings other than the acquisition, construction or renovation of facilities,the board of trustees voted in June to expand the challenge grant model toinclude grants for working capital and permanent capital. "Given the extremelycomplex challenges we as a society face today," explains Rip Rapson, presidentof the foundation, "the board believed it had a moral obligation to ask, howdo we best address these issues? This is a first step in what we believe willbe a year-long transition process."
Increasing access in higher education
The third quarter grants illuminate the foundation's expanding direction.In the education sector, Kresge made 18 capital challenge grants totaling$13.7 million. Access, equity and environmental sustainability were commonthemes among the grant awards. For example, a $1 million challenge grant wasawarded to Mills College in Oakland, Calif., for construction of a naturalsciences building.
The college is considered a role model for providing low-income andminority students access to higher education. It also is a model for thebreadth of outreach and support programs it offers, often a critical componentfor academic and social success. Low income and minority students make up 47percent of the student body. The graduation rates for this population - 74percent - are considered exemplary and proof their efforts are working.
With a new natural sciences building, the school will be able to expandaccess to careers in science. Additionally, the building will feature anenvironmentally sustainable design and, upon completion, the college will seeka gold LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - rating from theU.S. Green Building Council.
The Kresge Foundation was an early advocate of green construction andsustainable design and provides green planning grants to encourage thispractice. Of the 81 grants approved, including the Mills College grant, 22involved sustainable design. "This quarter represents a watershed moment forthe foundat
