The Kresge Foundation announced today a seventh round of grantmaking commitments – totaling approximately $2.7 million – to support nonprofits confronting the COVID-19 crisis nationally and in cities across the United States. In 2020, Kresge granted an estimated $17 million in total grant support to equip more than 150 national and local nonprofit and government organizations with the resources required to meet the challenges of this unprecedented moment. Kresge also made in April a $2 million program-related investment loan to support Detroit nonprofit access to Paycheck Protection Program loans, bringing the institution’s total grant and social investments to about $19 million.

In October, Kresge announced that the Foundation had awarded nearly $840,000 in grant funding to support 25 local public health departments that are leading in the midst of challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and working to solve issues of racial injustice in communities across the country. Of that, $295,000 was in new grant support and $542,000 was in grant amendments.

In November of 2020, the following organizations were awarded a total of $415,000 in new grant support from Kresge:

• E3 Alliance, Austin, Texas – This $100,000 Education Program grant will enable the E3 Alliance (Education Equals Economics) to scale its college success programming and strengthen connections with college and school district partners.
• Foundation for Louisiana, New Orleans – This $30,000 Environment Program grant will fund the pilot phase of a mini-grant program designed to support the personal and professional development of nonprofit leaders of color in greater New Orleans and coastal Louisiana, whose work has been made more difficult due to COVID-19.
• La Piana Consulting, Moorpark, Calif. – This $50,000 grant from the Education Program will enable La Piana Consulting, a leading expert in nonprofit management and partnerships, to offer learning opportunities and consultations to non-university grantees regarding collaborations and restructuring. These offerings are timely given the operations disruptions many non-profits are experiencing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• MetaPro Inc., Buffalo Grove, IL – This $60,000 Education Program grant will enable MetaPro, the nation’s first virtual therapy app for college students, to pilot mental health resources and virtual counseling to New Orleans students.
• The Technical Development Corporation, Boston – This $75,000 joint grant from the Arts & Culture and Detroit Programs will support the Technical Development Corporation to conduct a field scan of the impacts of the pandemic on the arts and creativity field. Kresge funds will support the inclusion of a group of national Arts and Culture and Detroit Arts grantees in the analysis and will also focus on organizations working in Memphis and New Orleans as part of this field scan.
• University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA – This $100,000 Education Program grant will enable a University of Virginia research team to leverage lessons about adult college enrollment that were learned during the Great Recession to develop tools for states to better support enrollment and degree completion among unemployment insurance beneficiaries.

In keeping with an earlier commitment to offer current Kresge grantees greater flexibility and resources, the Foundation also provided supplemental financial support in new grant amendments – totaling $1.4 million –  to help organizations meet challenges wrought by the pandemic in November. These grant amendments include:

• Building Bridges Across the River, Washington. D.C. – This $125,000 grant amendment from the Arts & Culture Program provides Building Bridges Across the River with additional resources to support their participation in the Arts & Culture team’s Building and Supporting Equitable Development (BASED) cohort as well as their efforts to address community recovery in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 8 in the COVID era.
• The Carnegie Hall Corporation, New York, NY – This $60,000 grant amendment from the Arts & Culture Program provides Carnegie Hall additional resources to support their participation in the Culture of Justice cohort as well as their efforts to address criminal justice impact opposite COVID-19 in New York.
• The Center for Cultural Power, Oakland, Calif. – This $52,000 grant amendment from the Arts & Culture Program will provide additional resources to support civic practice artists opposite COVID-19 and to share key insights from their arts and community organizing efforts with participants in the Arts & Culture team’s BASED
• Chinatown Community Development Center Inc., San Francisco – This $125,000 Arts & Culture Program grant amendment offers Chinatown Community Development Center with additional resources to support their participation in the Arts & Culture team’s BASED cohort as well as their efforts to address community needs in Chinatown opposite the pandemic.
• Designing Justice & Designing Spaces, Oakland. Calif. – This $60,000 grant amendment from the Arts & Culture Program provides Designing Justice & Designing Spaces additional resources to support their participation in the Culture of Justice cohort as well as their efforts to address criminal justice impact opposite COVID-19 in Atlanta, Detroit and other U.S. cities
• Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Roxbury, Mass. – This $10,000 grant amendment from the Arts & Culture Program provides additional operating support to Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative as they address both a leadership transition and growing community need as a result of COVID-19.
• East LA Community Corporation, Los Angles – This $50,000 grant amendment from the Arts & Culture Program provides East LA Community Corporation with additional resources to support their participation in the Arts & Culture team’s BASED cohort as well as their efforts to address community needs in Boyle Heights opposite the pandemic.
• Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, Los Angeles – This $125,000 Arts & Culture Program grant amendment provides Esperanza Community Housing Corporation with additional resources to support their participation in the Arts & Culture team’s BASED cohort as well as their efforts to address COVID-19 impact in South Central Los Angeles.
• Memphis Filmworks, Inc., Memphis – This $75,000 American Cities Program grant amendment will support Memphis Filmworks, a Kresge Innovative Projects: Memphis grantee, who has been funded to create, “Our Neighbors Our Stories,” a documentary film series that captures the stories of residents from Memphis neighborhoods to serve as a community advocacy tool. These additional resources will support the documentary’s continued development following project disruptions caused by COVID-19 and increased social unrest throughout 2020.
• Michigan College Access Network, Lansing, Mich. – This cross-team $55,000 financial amendment from the Education and Detroit Programs will enable MCAN to fiscally sponsor a statewide effort to ensure Michiganders living with low incomes, Michiganders of color and Spanish-speaking Michiganders receive outreach about the Futures for Frontliners program. The program provides tuition-free pathways for frontline workers to earn a high school diploma or two-year degree and gain in-demand skills.
• Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, Washington, D.C. – Due to COVID19, this organization, known as Neighborworks, postponed and retooled all in-person programs and services to virtual offerings and piloted an evaluation platform with its members. With this $100,000 Arts & Culture Program grant amendment, Neighborworks will: (1) Subsidize Kresge grantees and others member’s registration to a new series of virtual training courses; 2) Present pilot evaluation findings at the ArtPlace Summit extend the pilot through the spring of 2021; and 3) Launch a new virtual learning/coaching service for Neighborworks members.
• Operation Restoration, Inc., New Orleans – This $60,000 Arts & Culture Program grant amendment provides Operation Restoration additional resources to support their participation in the Culture of Justice cohort as well as their efforts to address criminal justice impact opposite COVID-19 in New Orleans and across Louisiana.
• Performing Statistics, Richmond, VA – This $60,000 Arts & Culture Program grant amendment provides Performing Statistics additional resources to support their participation in the Culture of Justice cohort as well as their efforts to address criminal justice impact opposite COVID-19 in Richmond, Virginia, and nationwide.
• Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, New York, NY – This $40,000 financial amendment from the Education Program will support the Talent Hubs initiative, managed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in partnership with Lumina Foundation, to strengthen its city-based efforts to re-engage adults with some college credit but no degree.
• Shooting Without Bullets, Cleveland – This $60,000 Arts & Culture Program grant amendment provides Shooting Without Bullets additional resources to support their participation in the Culture of Justice cohort as well as their efforts to address criminal justice impact opposite COVID-19 in Cleveland.
• South Asian Americans Leading Together, Inc., Washington, D.C. – This $45,000 grant amendment from the Opportunity Fund will allow the organization to deepen its work tracking incidents of hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric resulting from COVID-19 discrimination as well as sharing these trends with national civil rights organizations to develop a coordinated response.
• Tulane University, New Orleans – This $55,000 financial amendment from the Education Program will enable Tulane University’s Cowen Institute to manage and analyze a nine-month pilot program to facilitate mental health resources for New Orleans college students.
• Verde, Portland – This $50,000 grant amendment provides Verde with additional resources to support their participation in the Arts & Culture team’s BASED cohort as well as their efforts to address community needs in Portland’s Cully neighborhood opposite the pandemic.
• Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia – This $125,000.00 grant amendment provides the Village of Arts and Humanities with additional resources to support their participation in the Arts & Culture team’s BASED cohort, as well as their efforts to address community needs in North Philadelphia opposite the pandemic.
• Wayne State University, Detroit – This Detroit Program $75,000 grant amendment provides necessary funding to extend and enhance the Americorps Urban Safety Program in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

For more about Kresge’s response to the COVID pandemic and resources for grantee partners, please visit our COVID-19 Response page.