Mott Foundation Awards $785,000 in Grants Among Genesee County Organizations

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has announced the awarding of $785,000 in grants among several Genesee County organizations. The grants will help meet basic needs of area residents struggling with food, shelter and clothing. Those receiving grants include:

• Carriage Town Ministries: $65,000 to provide nutritious meals this winter to homeless individuals and families;
• Catholic Charities of Shiawassee and Genesee Counties: $285,000 to support the St. Christopher medical transportation program; to enable the North End Soup Kitchen to continue offering two hot daily meals; and to help fund a winter "warming" center near downtown Flint;
• The Food Bank of Eastern Michigan: two grants totaling $125,000 to offer high-protein food items such as meat and peanut butter to area food pantries and to help with the distribution of over one million diapers;
• The Old Newsboys of Flint: $50,000 to provide children from low-income families with hats, gloves, socks and other warm clothing;
• Resource Genesee: $60,000 to supply critical support services to area homeless and near-homeless individuals and families;
• The Salvation Army of Genesee County: $100,000 to assist county residents with rent and utility payments that will enable them to remain in their homes; and
• The YWCA of Greater Flint: $100,000 to support programs that assist and shelter women and children who are victims of domestic violence,and young women who were formerly in foster care and are homeless and without family support.

William S. White, president and CEO of the Mott Foundation, says "as Genesee County, like other communities across the country, works to create a new economic blueprint, many residents continue to struggle with painful choices about their most basic needs. These grants may not necessarily create a systematic solution to such challenges in the Flint area, but they can help lift some of the immediate hardships that many people face and provide them with some much needed stability."