The Ruth Mott Foundation Board of Trustees approved 16 grants totaling more than $2.9 million for community organizations in Flint as part of the foundation’s 25th anniversary this year. The grants support a wide range of priorities identified through input from Flint residents.
“Our 25th anniversary is both a moment of reflection and a call to action,” said board chair Maryanne Mott, daughter of the late Ruth Rawlings and Charles Stewart Mott, in a news release. “It reminds us of what’s possible when we listen to community members and take our direction from residents’ voices and experiences.”
The Ruth Mott Foundation was formed in 2001, and in the time since has focused on supporting place-based initiatives in Flint. Strong community engagement and incorporating the voices of residents into their work and grantmaking have been core components of the organization’s work. The Ruth Mott Foundation also opened Applewood: The Charles Stewart Mott Estate to the public, creating a place of beauty and learning for the community in accordance with Ruth Mott’s wishes.
The list below is organized by organization name, followed by the project or program, grant amount, and grant term in months. The grants support youth, public safety, economic opportunity, and neighborhoods.
- Arab American Heritage Council, General Operating Support, $120,000, 24 mos.
- Asbury Community Development Corp., General Operating Support – Neighborhood Hub, $260,000, 24 mos.
- Communities First, Inc., Building Healthy and Vibrant Communities, $136,000, 12 mos.
- Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Neighborhood Small Grants Program, $90,000, 12 mos.
- CPSA Courier, Inc., Courier General Operating Support, $80,000, 24 mos.
- Flint and Genesee Chamber Foundation, Summer Youth Initiative, $75,000, 12 mos.
- Flint Jackson Park Youth League, General Operating Support, $50,000, 24 mos.
- Flint Neighborhoods United, Flint: Our Community Our Voice, $60,000, 24 mos.
- Flint Police Foundation, Enhanced and Integrated Blight Elimination and Community Policing, $210,000, 12 mos.
- Friends of Berston, General Operating Support – Neighborhood Hub, $200,000, 24 mos.
- Genesee County Parks and Recreation, North Flint Public Safety Strategy, $400,000, 12 mos.
- Metro Community Development, Inc., North Flint Neighborhood and Small Business Revitalization Project, $150,000, 12 mos.
- North Flint Reinvestment Corp., North Flint Food Market Operations, $500,000, 25 mos.
- Peckham, Inc., Embers Project, $28,300, 12 mos.
- Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, SBEV Flint General Project Support, $165,000, 12 mos.
- Urban Renaissance Center, General Operating Support – Neighborhood Hub, $379,800, 24 mos.
The Ruth Mott Foundation is Ruth Rawlings Mott’s enduring legacy to Flint, the community she loved and called home for 65 years. The foundation’s mission is to work with the community to connect people, ideas, and resources for a vibrant and inclusive Flint where all thrive.
“Community input is critical to our work,” Ruth Mott Foundation President Sue Peters said in a news release. “As we look ahead, we remain committed to strengthening relationships and ensuring our work reflects the community’s aspirations.”
The foundation’s board is currently working on a strategic plan that will shape the future direction of grantmaking and community programming at Applewood. A series of community forms held last year, led by a committee of 10 Flint residents, are providing insight and guidance in that process. The foundation plans to share more about its strategic plan later in the year.
Ruth Rawlings, born in 1901, was raised in El Paso, Texas. She taught physical education for several years in private and public schools in Baltimore and El Paso and later opened her own dance studio. She met and married C.S. Mott in El Paso and moved to his estate, Applewood, in Flint in 1934. She became a mother, an active partner with her husband in the community, and prominent in her own right as a local leader, foundation trustee, and national philanthropist. She died in January 1999 in Flint at age 97.
The Ruth Mott Foundation is the second philanthropy that was created by Ruth Mott. The Ruth Mott Fund, established in 1979, was the vehicle for her philanthropic grantmaking during her lifetime and ceased operations in 1997.
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