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LEO awards over $3M to Metro Detroit nonprofits to provide guaranteed income, legal aid and beyond
December 05, 2023
MI Impact Grant supports nonprofits to help more Michiganders make ends meet
DETROIT, SOUTHEAST Mich. – Today, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) announced over $3 million of the $15 million statewide MI Impact Grant program was awarded to Alternatives For Girls and Lakeshore Legal Aid. The grant, made available to Michigan’s large nonprofits who provide programming to lift people out of poverty, will allow the nonprofits to expand their services for Metro Detroit residents.
“No one should have to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table for their families,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “The MI Impact Grant provides several of Michigan’s largest nonprofits with funds to make a meaningful and direct impact in their communities. We remain committed to assisting individuals living in poverty and ensure Michigan families have access to the support they need.”
Alternatives For Girls and Lakeshore Legal Aid were among 10 large nonprofits receiving one-time grant funds of up to $2 million to create or expand programming that lifts Michiganders out of poverty. The grant program prioritized partnerships with larger nonprofits that share the state’s commitment to providing services that help lift Michigan residents out of poverty and above the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold.
“These funds will allow 10 large nonprofits to uplift the communities they serve and strengthen Michigan’s nonprofit ecosystem,” said LEO Director Susan Corbin. “We are proud to deliver on our mission to close equity gaps and remove barriers to economic prosperity.”
Alternatives For Girls provides 75 high-risk young women of color in Wayne County guaranteed income of $1,000 per month for 18 months, in addition to counseling on, workforce development, financial literacy education, job training and career counseling, healthcare, childcare and housing. The nonprofit will use the $1.57 million grant to expand their services to more young women across the county.
“We are honored to be a recipient of a Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity MI Impact Grant,” said Amanda Good, CEO of Alternatives For Girls. “With these funds, AFG will pilot and evaluate a Guaranteed Income project for young women in the city of Detroit who are participants in Alternatives For Girls’ Workforce Development program. This critical income will support young women, who have experienced homelessness, trauma, and other hardships, alleviating each one’s immediate financial stresses and empowering her to improve her economic well-being and her future.”
Lakeshore Legal Aid offers legal services for low-income families of color and will use their $1.57 million grant to expand their capacity to serve more clients in need in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne Counties. Their program incorporates social workers to assigned legal cases to help clients with benefits applications and connect them to food, transportation, health, housing and employment services.
Lakeshore Legal Aid's Chief Executive Officer Ashley Lowe expressed gratitude for the grant, recognizing its pivotal role in advancing Lakeshore's mission of providing meaningful and dignified access to the legal system.
"For more than 56 years, Lakeshore has helped Michigan families with their critical civil legal issues," said Lowe. "These funds will support collaborative initiatives between Lakeshore's community advocates and attorneys, helping Lakeshore solve client's legal problems at their source and prevent future issues from arising."
The MI Impact Grant program, aimed at addressing disparities that affect Michiganders’ abilities to afford necessities such as housing, child care, food, health care and transportation, plans to lift 100,000 families out of working poverty during the next five years.
The funding is supported through the American Rescue Plan Act, Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds with a goal to build a strong, resilient and equitable recovery by making investments that support long-term growth and opportunity. $50 million in funding will be provided to support nonprofits who have been negatively impacted due to the pandemic. The funding will be distributed through two separate programs, with a $35 million relief fund made available to smaller nonprofits earlier this year. Nonprofits were eligible to receive either the MI Nonprofit Relief Fund or the MI Impact Grant, not both.
The grant program also supports the recommendations of the Michigan Poverty Task Force, whose goal is to address the disparities that affect Michiganders’ abilities to afford necessities. To learn more about their work and view a full list of grant awardees, visit the Michigan Poverty Task Force’s nonprofit webpage.
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