The Michigan Community Foundations Youth Project (MCFYP) Committee has launched a COVID-19 grant program to support Youth Advisory Councils (YACs) that may be in need of additional funding to support youth in their communities who have been affected by the pandemic.

The MCFYP Committee is comprised of 12 YAC members and three YAC Advisors from around the state. The committee sets the agenda for statewide YAC initiatives, leads the design of the annual Youth Grantmakers Summer Leadership Conference and supports other key youth engagements and projects for our 86 YACs at community foundations.

In April, the MCFYP Committee announced the cancelation of the Summer Leadership Conference out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of members. The committee used funds that were originally earmarked for the conference to provide $30,000 in grant funding for YACs.

"In light of the current circumstances, it is vital to recognize and address the needs of Michigan's youth,” Ryan Lindberg, a second-year member of the MCFYP Committee, YAC chair and youth trustee of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area said. “While it is disappointing to not be able to gather this summer for our annual conference, it is encouraging to see the conference funds being used to directly help young people during this time."

In addition to directing funding to youth in need, the MCFYP Committee is focused on continued engagement of YACers throughout the summer, connecting with them through virtual conversations and programming. The committee adapted its slate of conference breakout session content to become a series of virtual lessons centered on knowledge building.

The MCFYP Committee also recently gathered for a virtual conversation to discuss the wide-ranging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for people of color, those who live in low-income households, those experiencing homelessness and other marginalized populations. The virtual conversation will be shared with YAC advisors for ongoing reflection and conversations with their YACs.

Kyle Caldwell, president and CEO of CMF, recently talked with Inside Philanthropy about the history, role and growth of MCFYP and YACs in Michigan. Caldwell highlighted their crucial role as youth leaders and how quickly they shifted their focus and efforts amid the pandemic.

“We learned from them. We learned how to adapt. That’s the mode of problem solving that we all need to adopt,” Caldwell said.

Want more?

Learn more about the grant program.

Read the Inside Philanthropy article.

We encourage all members to share your organization’s COVID-19 response with us via this online form to help foster continued learning, connections and shared understanding about Michigan philanthropy’s response, relief, recovery and reform efforts connected to COVID-19. All information submitted from our members will be populated on our COVID-19 Resource Central site for you to quickly access the latest approaches, strategies and collaborations underway around the state to address issues related to the pandemic.