In the past year, the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation (GHACF) has awarded more than $1 million to help people impacted by COVID-19.

The money has come from the foundation’s Community Relief & Recovery Fund (CRRF), created as a second-phase response to the current and long-term impact that COVID-19 will have on individuals, families, and for-impact partners within Northern Ottawa County. 

The first-phase response — a collaborative effort from mid-March through May 2020 — awarded more than $990,000 from the Emergency Human Needs Fund to area nonprofit organizations.
 
“We created the Community Relief and Recovery Fund to first give relief to our community as we dealt with the effects of COVID-19, and then to help our community recover,” says Hadley Streng, president of the GHACF. “While we hoped that the transition to recovery would come quickly, we went into this knowing that we would be here for our partners as long as they need us. Thanks to our generous donors, we’ve been able to do just that.”
 
The CRRF, which was created in June 2020 in response to the growing need in Northern Ottawa County due to the pandemic. It enables the foundation, fundholders, and donors to pool resources to collectively support the ongoing relief and recovery of for-impact organizations that have been adversely affected by COVID-19 and that continue to play a critical role in caring for individuals and families.
 
“We continue to work closely with our for-impact partners, and while we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, we’re not through this yet. Grants from the Community Relief and Recovery Fund enable us to support our partner organizations as they continue to tirelessly care for our community,” says Holly Cole, GHACF vice president of grants and program.

Latest round of grants

In the latest round of grants, the foundation awarded $216,231 from the CRRF to 11 area for-impact organizations serving individuals, families, and communities most impacted by COVID-19. The following grants will allow the organizations to continue supporting our communities:
 

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lakeshore — $5,000 to provide five youth from northern Ottawa County an opportunity to be matched with a “Big.” Bigs serve to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships to encourage youth to meet their full potential.
• Gracious Grounds — $10,000 to support the Wraparound Services Program, a program created in response to the limitations and demands of COVID-19. The Wraparound Services Program connects residents and their families to local resources to support physical, emotional, and mental health.
• Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes — $5,000 to go toward virtual engagement of corporate and community volunteers and the development of digital learning opportunities.
• Mosaic Counseling — $45,000 to meet the increased demand for mental health services caused by COVID-19. Funding will support the onboarding of new therapists, provide uninsured or underinsured clients access to care, maintain the School Outreach Program over the summer months via teletherapy, and provide suicide prevention training to the greater northern Ottawa County community.
• Resilience: Advocates for Ending Violence — $30,000 to go toward the increased cost of operating the emergency shelter and expenses associated with housing families in alternative locations as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in intimate-partner violence in Northwest Ottawa County.
• Tri-Cities College Access Network(TCAN) Preschool Roundtable — $10,000 for PPE within area preschools.
• The city of Grand Haven — $15,000 to go toward Neighborhood Housing Services’ Homeowner Repair grant program for low- to moderate-income households in Northwest Ottawa County. The demands of the pandemic have caused the price of construction to rise, ultimately limiting the number of projects that can be successfully completed. Awarded funds will be allocated to support critical project overruns, such as safe and secure roofing.   
• The Little Red House — $5,000 to go toward safety and security expenses critical to the organization’s successful reopening.
• The Salvation Army of Grand Haven — $50,000 to support Pathway of Hope, a program launched in 2011 rooted in case management and focused on individual needs and mastery of life skills for stability and self-sufficiency.
• Tri-Cities Family YMCA — $25,000 to go toward the safe and successful launch of summer programming, including the licensed and accredited Summer Day Camp and child care program. Awarded funds will also support the continued delivery of critical community services, such as food and nutrition distribution.
• Tri-Cities Habitat for Humanity — $16,231 for emergency home repairs, such as roofing, home entry steps, and bathroom handrails, as well as the creation and installation of wheelchair ramps in an effort to support an individual or family’s ability to “age in place.”

 
The GHACF is continuing to accept donations to the Community Relief & Recovery Fund. These financial gifts can be made on the GHACF’s Donation Page, or by mailing a check (please include CRRF in the memo line) to the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation at One South Harbor Drive, Grand Haven, MI 49417.

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