The Armory Arts Village is a bold, innovative community redevelopment project that uses arts, culture, creativity and innovation as a catalyst for reinventing the community of Jackson and the surrounding region.

The effort is spearheaded by The Enterprise Group and is located on the historic site of the original 19th century Jackson State Prison. The 19-acre site includes several notable prison buildings, a stunning 25 foot high turreted stone wall around the perimeter of the property and a vacant industrial complex to the south. Through a combination of adaptive reuse of the classic prison buildings and the creation of compatible new construction on the site, this unique place is being transformed into a one-of-a-kind creativity-focused mixed-use neighborhood.

Governor Jennifer Granholm launched Project Great Start in her 2005 State of the State address. The governor described this new initiative as a movement that challenges us all to recognize that education begins at birth, not when a child enters school.

The purpose of Great Start is to assure a coordinated system of community resources and supports to assist all Jackson County families to provide a great start for their children from birth to age five.

Whether you are a parent, a professional, or anyone involved in the life of a child, we invite you to participate in Project Great Start.

The Jackson Legacy Program is a plan formulated by the Jackson Community Foundation to provide scholarships for qualifying Jackson County high school graduates.The Jackson Legacy Program looks to ensure that Jackson has effective pre and post-secondary educational opportunities to create productive citizens committed to the area's future.

Jackson has many young people who aspire to attend college but need support to achieve their dream. In lieu of a drastic increase in federal government loans over the past decade, the Jackson Legacy Program will provide $3,000 scholarships for Jackson County high school graduates commencing their post secondary education at Jackson County institutions of higher learning for the first two years of their schooling. Visit the College Access Center for more information.

The mission of the Nonprofit Network is to strengthen nonprofit governance and management in Jackson County. The Nonprofit Network began as a direct result of the Jackson Community Foundation’s responsiveness to the expressed needs and desires of Jackson’s nonprofits.

Since Nonprofit Network opened its doors in 1999, it has acted as a community collaborator and point of coordination for gathering and disseminating information pertinent to nonprofits. The Nonprofit Network further assists the nonprofit community through providing specialized management and governance development services including workshops, organizational assessments, consulting, and board member recruitment, matching and training.

The primary goal of the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (MPRI) is to promote public safety by increasing the success rates of prisoners transitioning from prison to the community. The vision of the MPRI is that every prisoner released from prison will have the tools needed to succeed in the community.

Successful re-entry has great benfits to the community, including improved public safety, a tremendous cost savings by reducing the chances for recidivism, and the long-term reintegration of the former prisoner.

Project Access is a program that began providing health care services to eligible Jackson County residents at low to no cost in March 2007. After only 18 months of program implementation, $2,000,000 of health services have been provided at no cost to patients enrolled in the program.

Enrolled patients have access to primary care physicians, specialty care through a referral process, services provided by Allegiance Health, and prescription medications at low or now cost through the Community Medication Assistance Program.

Visit Project Access information page.