In its third year awarding Impact Grants, the Capital Region Community Foundation has chosen the Allen Neighborhood Center, REACH Studio Art Center and the Greater Lansing Food Bank to receive grants totaling $189,280.
When ITEC Lansing executive director Kirk Riley and Impression 5 executive director Erik Larson each learned the other was a finalist for the Capital Region Community Foundation’s Impact Grant, they said they hoped the other organization would win.
Both organizations won. And it’s a win for our community.
After many months of planning and renovating, several Lansing-based nonprofits will be calling the former Marshall Street Armory home this fall.
The historic building at 330 Marshall St. in Lansing is set to open in November 2011. The Nonprofit Center at the Armory will house the offices of the Michigan Nonprofit Association, Capital Region Community Foundation, Capital Area United Way, Michigan Association of United Ways, the Food Bank Council of Michigan and other nonprofits.
The organizations based in the Armory represent a diverse collection of Mid-Michigan’s nonprofit leaders and funders, and the shared space encourages collaboration in every sense of the word.
A grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation helped the Stoneleigh Hospice Residence add a convenience suggested by the adult son of a Hospice patient: Free Wi-Fi. The woman’s son was dedicated to staying by his mother’s side in the residence; however, the demands of his job required him to work remotely. Without Wi-Fi at Stoneleigh, he had to leave every time he needed Internet access.
So in 2009, the Community Foundation granted $1,533 to the Stoneleigh Hospice Residence to enable the installation of a free wireless network for everyone to use. Lars Egede-Nissen, Hospice of Lansing’s executive director, said it was a welcome addition for the families and patients.
A visit to the Southside Community Kitchen delivers a combination of expected and unexpected finds.
Expected: Friendly volunteers working to prepare lunch for an indeterminate number of guests at the Christ United Methodist Church on Jolly Road in Lansing. Rows of pie slices lining the kitchen counter, waiting to become dessert.
Unexpected: Round tables of eight set with paper place mats, plastic ware wrapped in paper napkins and secured with a dark green wrapper. A grand piano in the back corner of the room, being played as lovely background music. Volunteers acting as servers for the guests.
Getting schoolkids excited about classical music might seem like a tough job. But the Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s music director Timothy Muffitt welcomes the challenge.
Through a $3,286 grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation in 2009, Muffitt and the orchestra bring classical music to thousands of kids each spring — for free.
EVE — or End Violent Encounters — provides shelter and supportive services to the victims of domestic violence. Their offices are housed, literally, in a nondescript house on a nondescript street.
Thanks to a $10,386 grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation in 2009, the Beekman Therapeutic Riding Center can provide scholarships for horseback riding lessons to young people with disabilities.
Cristo Rey is the only organization in mid-Michigan with one staff member entirely devoted to helping uninsured, low-income residents receive access to free medication. Veronica Almaguer is an angel to hundreds of tri-county residents who otherwise would never be able to navigate the intricacies of all of the forms drug companies require to qualify for such assistance.
On any given day, more than 1.5 million children in the U.S. have a parent serving a sentence in a state or federal prison, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. To help a portion of those kids, Lansing’s NorthWest Initiative runs the Children With Incarcerated Parents or Relatives Program, with help from a $1,580 grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation in 2009.
Lansing's homeless and working poor can go to Open Door Ministry in downtown Lansing’s Central United Methodist Church, a day shelter that feels more like a community center. The large basement dining hall is full of activity from the moment the doors open at 8:30 a.m. each weekday. Coffee, juice, pastries and listening ears are ready for anyone in need. There’s no sign-in sheet. No one’s required to show ID or proof of need. Just come in, have a seat, take a nap in one of the recliners or catch up with friends.
The Foster Grandparent program was developed in the 1960s by Sargent Shriver and was designed to attract low-income seniors to volunteer work. Qualifying “grandparents” are given a small stipend to offset the cost of volunteering — transportation, food, perhaps a new outfit — and in return they give their time to local classrooms and students.
Food pantries across our region provide valuable help to people in need of groceries to feed themselves and their families. Add to the equation someone in the family dealing with HIV or AIDS and suddenly nutritional needs go beyond the basic to the very specific.
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