There are billions of dollars of emergency funding headed to our state to support communities affected by the pandemic. 

Our state alone will receive close to $11 billion in emergency funding through state and local fiscal recovery funds to support communities and populations hardest hit by COVID-19. 

In order to help navigate the incoming funding, CMF members are forging new partnerships with local units of government.

“The unprecedented influx of resources to Michigan counties also brings challenges. Collaborations and partnerships will be a critical and integral part of leveraging these funds to best serve our county residents,” Zosia Eppensteiner, CEO of the Community Foundation of Marquette County said.

Several CMF members recently engaged in conversation with members of the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC) during regional summits in Grand Rapids, Escanaba, Frankenmuth and Gaylord.

MAC is the only statewide organization dedicated to the representation of all county commissioners in Michigan. The organization works to advance education, communication and cooperation among county government officials in the state.

Community foundation leaders led conversations during the summits on potential opportunities to work together and shared their experiences navigating the CARES Act and COVID Emergency Rental Assistance (CERA) funding.

Eppensteiner shared how community foundations are flexible in their partnerships.

“We serve as a convener; we help identify needs and lift up underrepresented populations voices most impacted by the pandemic. Foundations’ long-term approach to community capital can also provide sustainable support to government initiatives and by serving as a co-investor, foundations can help grow long-term impact,” Eppensteiner said. 

David “DJ” Jones, executive director of PHSACF and CMF Advisory Cabinet Chair, and Chip Hansen, president and CEO of Charlevoix Community Foundation, represented Michigan philanthropy in one of the MAC summits. 

“We’re working every single day to see what we can do to make life better in our counties and for everyone who lives there,” Hansen said in the presentation. “We know that counties are a potential terrific partner for both of our community foundations.”

Hansen shared that community foundations have the potential to be a key support for their counties as they begin to navigate COVID-19 recovery funding. 

“Your community foundation leaders and board members are good assets to you and are willing partners in these discussions,” Hansen said.  

Jones shared several examples of collaboration with local government, including a story on clean energy support in the city of Petoskey.

“Over the last couple of years, we have been partnering with the city of Petoskey to get solar panels on their buildings and to do an energy audit of all their facilities and now they’re exploring adding solar panels to other buildings in Petoskey. We’re partnering with them on some really innovative energy issues,” Jones said. 

Eppensteiner told CMF the summit was an opportunity to begin a dialogue about how foundations and nonprofits are a critical resource to local government in service to their communities.

“I would like to be able to continue the conversation with MAC and Marquette County administrators and commissioners. They are facing an overwhelming task and the impact of their decisions will have long-term effect on our residents,” Eppensteiner said. 

During a summit debrief with CMF, Jones shared how urgent these partnerships are in preparing for federal funding. 

“Don’t delay, get out there and build relationships. For these dollars, we cannot wait,” Jones said. 

Diana Sieger, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and Kyle Caldwell, CMF president and CEO shared more about the role philanthropy can play in partnering at the local level in a recent episode of MAC’s Podcast 83 with Steve Currie, executive director of MAC. 

“Over the course of the last 20 years in Kent country, we have worked to provide prevention funding, to create the Kent Schools Services Network and KConnect,” Sieger shared. “We know that we can’t do what we need to do without strong, trusting relationships and we’ve certainly built that in Kent County.”

Sieger serves as co-chair along with Melanca Clark, president and CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation and CMF trustee of the Statewide Equity Fund (SEF) Strategic Support Working Group.

Last month Sieger and Clark shared a joint message with our CMF community of philanthropy about the launch of the SEF and how CMF members can engage.

The SEF serves as a collaborative vehicle for Michigan philanthropy to catalyze opportunities that advance impactful strategies to address systemic challenges laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic.  It empowers CMF members to strategically pool resources toward systems change efforts with an equity-centered approach, utilizing a co-investment model focused on the policy domains of public health, education and economic prosperity.

Currently, these efforts are being explored through a Statewide Equity Fund (SEF) Strategic Support Pilot to inform the longer-term strategic efforts the SEF can advance. 

This collaborative effort is bringing together CMF members in up to five regions to develop local approaches to help shape federal funding toward equity-centered approaches within the economic prosperity domain of the policy framework.

We invite you to contact the CMF team to learn how you can engage with your regional peers in this exciting work.

Want more?

Read more about the Statewide Equity Fund Strategic Support Pilot.

Learn more about the Michigan Association of Counties.

Watch David “DJ” Jones and Chip Hansen’s full presentation. 

Watch MAC’s Podcast 83.