The Rehmann Foundation, a CMF member, is supporting CMF member the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation’s (GTRCF) collaborative cross-sector Community Development Coalition of Northwest Michigan.

Rehmann Foundation announced a grant to GTRCF which will support operations of the coalition.

In 2019, GTRCF worked alongside more than two dozen government, nonprofit, business and philanthropic leaders to develop the coalition.

GTRCF convenes the coalition which has grown to include 38 organizations, including several CMF members, from the business, nonprofit and governmental sectors and has added its collective voice to support major housing, childcare, mental health and infrastructure legislation.

As CMF reported, Dave Mengebier, president and CEO of GTRCF, CMF Government Relations and Public Policy Committee Co-Chair and CMF trustee, shared that one of the major goals in convening the coalition was to meaningfully leverage the power of working together across sectors in order to accelerate action and effect positive, transformational change. 

The coalition has a regional strategy for collective impact by 2030 that includes:

• Identification of shared key community development goals and objectives.
• Agreed upon targets for 2030, along with measurable indicators of progress.
• Creation of a Community Scorecard of shared metrics that align engagement efforts while transparently communicating progress toward goals.

The coalition advocated with the state legislature for an initial appropriation for the first and one of the largest rural transit-oriented development projects in the Midwest, supported by GTRCF. As CMF reported, the transit hub will work to address critical workforce housing needs in Traverse City.

“This project not only hits the coalition’s goals related to transportation and housing, but it also demonstrates the role that the coalition is playing which is to collectively put our weight behind initiatives, programs and projects that address our shared economic, environmental and societal goals,” Mengebier said.

Want more?

Learn more about the Community Development Coalition for Northwest Michigan.

Read more about the housing development and transit hub.