Nearly $20,000 Awarded for Equity and Inclusion Efforts

Photo credit: Benzie Area Pride Network

Image description: Parade participants walk down a residential street holding a "Benzie Area Pride Network" banner, with rainbow flags and festive attire celebrating diversity and inclusion.

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The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation has awarded $19,050 to support 13 organizations advancing equity and inclusion efforts across Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Leelanau Counties and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Funding is provided through the Foundation’s new Endowment for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Diversity Equity Inclusion Fund.

These diversity, equity, and inclusion funds primarily provide support for organizations led by or serving community members of color, including Black and Indigenous people, as well as LGBTQ+, immigrant, neurodiverse, veteran, and/or disability community members. Trainings, programs, and other partners advancing equity and inclusion are also considered. Grant decisions are made by our fund advisory committee, a voluntary group of local community members with diverse lived experiences.

A list of recent grant partners and awards include:

• 217 Recovery – funding for safe, peer-supported transportation for individuals with substance use disorder who need access to inpatient treatment, detox facilities, and ongoing recovery efforts
• Benzie Area Pride Network (St. Philip’s Episcopal Church) – support for mission-focused needs and operations
• Child & Family Services of Northwestern Michigan – funding for serving Native American families in the foster care system
• Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology – support for the Antrim Writers Series event with visiting author, Des Cooper
• Crystal Community Ski Club – funding for the ski club’s outreach efforts to reach nontraditional youth in snow sports via scholarships and direct outreach trips
• Gospel Army Black History Group – support for the student living history project through historically accurate uniforms and local educational programming focused on Michigan’s African American Civil War regiment, the 102^nd United States Colored Troops
• Grand Traverse Dyslexia Association – funding for the organization’s tuition assistance project
• PFLAG Traverse City – support for mission-focused needs and operations
• ROCK of Kingsley Youth Center – funding for creating sensory calming space within the youth center designed to support neurodivergent students, including those with ADHD, autism, anxiety, and sensory processing needs
• Skegemog Raptor Center – support for Indigenous storytelling efforts to foster reconciliation and environmental conservation
• TC Curling Club – funding for the Mighty Ducks Curling League which provides curling opportunities for adults with disabilities
• Utopia Foundation – funding for the 2025 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month event, Speaking Truth to Power: An Evening with Photographer Taro Yamasaki
• National Writers Series – funding for the author event, An Evening with Robin Wall Kimmerer: On Nature’s Gifts—Gratitude and the Joy of Giving Back to the Planet

For a full list of grant awards, visit: www.gtrcf.org/grants/grant-awards.html. Since 2021, the Community Foundation has awarded over $230,000 in grants from its diversity equity and inclusion funds. Consumers Energy Foundation, the Foundation’s Rotary Endowment directed by Rotary Charities of Traverse City, and other local donor partners have made these grant awards possible. The Community Foundation is continuing to build its new Endowment for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and welcomes gifts of all sizes at: www.gtrcf.org/betterforall.

To apply for a diversity, equity, and inclusion grant, nonprofit, educational, governmental, and Tribal entities across the region are invited to submit an online written or video application by August 1 on the Foundation’s website: www.gtrcf.org/grants/apply.html. Grant awards are available for up to $2,500 per organization per year.