Three times each year, HSC’s Community and Regional Empowerment (CARE) Fund provides grants to nonprofit organizations across the Great Lakes Bay Region to support their work to build stronger communities and families and help people in need. In the final round of 2023 CARE grants, six organizations received financial support for projects and programs that align with HSC’s vision for more resilient, equitable and sustainable communities. We are proud to support the work of these incredible organizations.
Carroll Park’s New Concrete Gaming Zone
Parks are a tremendous community asset, providing residents with opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and engage in healthy recreational activities. Bay City’s Carroll Park is a great example. As one of the city’s most historic and treasured community spaces, the park offers walking paths around the duck pond, pickleball courts and a pavilion that hosts weddings, birthdays and other gatherings.
With support from an HSC CARE grant, Bay City will soon build a new “concrete gaming zone” in the park that features permanent corn hole, table tennis and chess boards – all made of concrete.
Shelli Thurston, Bay City’s economic development marketing manager, says the concrete gaming zone will add a new dimension to Carroll Park’s amenities that enhances the multigenerational appeal of the park.
“Pickleball has definitely changed the dynamics of the people who enjoy the park, so there’s a very wide breadth of generations that use the park now,” Thurston said. “For those generations to be able to use the same facility with this gaming zone is very exciting. A grandpa and a grandchild can sit down and play chess together, or they can play corn hole together. To have that kind of opportunity is really cool. We’re very grateful for the grant from HSC and we’re excited to see this come to fruition in the park this year.”
PartnerShift Network Expands Success Coaching
Serving the community for more than 30 years, what is now PartnerShift Network began as the Business and Education Partnership program under the Saginaw Chamber of Commerce to improve graduation rates in the city and help connect talent to local employers. That initial focus expanded to the idea of leveraging education and community resources, including employers and employees, to work in unison to improve workforce retention rates and community economic vitality.
PartnerShift’s Community Workforce Success Initiative (CWSI) offers “success coaching” that strengthens the well-being of low-income families and their ability to remain employed through life challenges like vehicle repairs, housing instability, food insecurity and childcare costs.
An HSC CARE grant is now helping PartnerShift extend CWSI and its success coaching model from Saginaw County to include Bay and Midland Counties.
“Success coaches help people create a budget, financial literacy and credit repair, navigating community resources and the mental healthcare system,” said Katelyn Day, PartnerShift success coach and community engagement and partnership coordinator. “All of these things work together to create a plan that gets people out of this cycle of perpetual crisis and moves them to a place of long-term stability.”
“What’s unique about this program is not just the direct financial support, but it’s also having someone in your corner to help navigate the resources and to help teach you skills that maybe you didn’t get the chance to learn growing up,” she added. “It’s that helping hand and that bridging social capital that gets people to the next level.”
Creating Safe and Affordable Housing Opportunities in Midland
The Affordable Housing Alliance of Midland (AHA) has provided safe, affordable housing to those in need in Midland County since 1995. The Alliance rents 94 units across the county to households who make between 30-50 percent of Midland’s median income. While there is currently a wait list, there is no application fee and anyone interested is encouraged to apply.
Affordable housing work requires significant investment and planning. With support from an HSC CARE grant, AHA is developing a new funding model to better serve the Midland community.
“This grant was awarded at the perfect time. Looking into the future, we need a new financial strategy to continue providing rental units at under-market rates to low-income families in Midland County,” said AHA Executive Director Mara Stewart. “The government does not subsidize us – the only income we receive is the low rent we charge. This funding will help us build a strong foundation for a new plan by providing resources such as a website, social media marketing, fundraising event costs, or even bringing in subject matter experts to efficiently implement our goals. We are grateful to Hemlock Semiconductor and the Midland Area Community Foundation for their commitment to improving our community.”
Since receiving their CARE Grant, AHA has already created a website – a community resource that didn’t exist until December 2023 – and is in the process of implementing a donor database. This partnership with HSC will allow AHA to expand their marketing and fundraising efforts, build stronger relationships within the community, and continue working to provide safe and secure housing for more area residents.
Providing Rural Mental Healthcare in Midland
Founded in 1925, Family & Children Services of Mid-Michigan (FCS) has been dedicated to providing resources to the Midland community for nearly 100 years. By partnering with the Coleman Family Center, and with support from an HCS CARE grant, FCS is working to remove barriers such as affordability, transportation, and stigma to improve access to mental health treatment.
FCS’ ultimate goal is to expand their existing program to provide mental health counseling and support to all rural areas of Midland County and the Great Lakes Bay Region through further partner collaboration. Qualifying participants include those who have no health insurance or are underinsured.
CARE grant funds will cover program supplies, travel expenses and office costs, as well as enabling therapists to be away from the office to better serve people in their communities. Travel is a barrier for many clients and this grant makes counseling services available at a close, convenient and private location for clients.
“Family & Children’s Services is incredibly grateful to HSC for this opportunity. HSC understands the need for rural counseling and how it can impact their employees and the communities they serve. This funding allows FCS to serve more people in need,” said Joe Blewett, chief executive officer of FCS.
Learning New Skills at The Well of Saginaw
Creating opportunities to develop new life skills for men experiencing homelessness is the goal of an HSC CARE grant to The Well of Saginaw, the city’s newest shelter. Modeled after the successful Mustard Seed and Emmaus House shelters for women and children, The Well will use its HSC grant to build and equip a new tool shed on the shelter property.
The shed will be much more than just storage space; it will help empower residents of The Well to gain experience and employable skills in lawn care, landscaping, gardening, home maintenance and other outdoor activities. Those skills will be put to work keeping up the shelter property but also through service to the surrounding neighborhood and the broader community.
Creating a new men’s shelter came about after numerous conversations with men experiencing homelessness and their desire for a welcoming, family-like environment that helps reconnect them with their communities. Thanks to the partnership of Mustard Seed and Emmaus House, the project took off and the new men’s shelter opened last summer. Supporting The Well’s success also resonated with the Leadership Saginaw Class of 2022, whose members helped raise funds for the program.
“We are truly blessed and grateful for this grant,” said Amy Bartels Roe, Mustard Seed’s executive director. “We are so thankful to HSC and to the Leadership Saginaw Class of 2022 for listening and being attentive to the needs of our community.”
Differences Bring a Community Together
In 2021, the YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region launched InterACT for All, a program designed to address unconscious bias and build a bridge of understanding across the Great Lakes Bay Region. InterACT and YWCA believe that for the region to be more vital and offer a higher quality of life to all, diversity, equity and inclusion must be core principles for all employers and community organizations. To reach that goal, InterACT is working to engage more industries, as well as elected officials, healthcare and education teams.
The goal of InterACT is for participants to better understand their own circumstances, as well as to grow and better understand one another, while creating a non-judgmental environment so people can learn and appreciate what makes each of us unique. To date, InterACT has delivered training to over 300 individuals in the Great Lakes Bay Region.
“Most of us grow up in communities and families where everyone is the same,” said Executive Director Moira Branigan. “This just gives everyone a chance to stop and think: How did I get this information? We’re responsible for what’s in our heads, but everything is kind of dumped into us. If you don’t know any different, how are you going to act any different?”
With a track record of proven success, and with additional support from HSC, the YWCA will be able to further expand InterACT for All within the community and build on that success.