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Community Choice Awards

The Jackson Community Foundation (JCF) is celebrating 75 years of people who have come together to invest in our community – both the people who have donated the money and the people who have come together to get things done.  In collaboration with Henry Ford Jackson Hospital’s Health Improvement Organization, the Consumers Energy Foundation Endowment Fund, the African American Community Endowment Fund, and JCF’s Community Needs Fund, we have $75,000 to invest in a COMMUNITY CHOICE Grant round! We are seeking those groups of people in Jackson who have come together to find solutions to our most persistent problems.  With the help of Our Community, we will be selecting up to 10 groups to receive a grant award of up to $7,500!!! *Details on selection process to come!

What?

We know that there are already many groups, teams, and coalitions of people or organizations in Jackson who have come together to find solutions to our most persistent problems, to improve our community assets, and to bring their creative ideas to life.  We want to showcase the power of the people who live in and/or actively and authentically collaborate with Jackson’s most economically challenged neighborhoods. The goal is to provide financial support to bring creative and innovative ideas to life led by the people themselves. We will gather these ideas and award 10 (ten) $7,500 grants.  We encourage groups, teams, and coalitions of people or organizations in Jackson County, especially those with lived experience and the hardest hit populations, to apply and participate in this grant process!

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Award Amount: $7,500 

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Deadline: Submit your form by November 20, 2023 by 5PM

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TO APPLY: APPLICATION - click here

Sample Application - click here 

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Sample Project Ideas (in no particular order!):

  • Initiatives that support access to the arts, culture, and history.

  • Initiatives that improve vacant land and beautification projects.

  • Initiatives that encourage civic participation in the political process. These grants cannot be for a specific candidate.

  • Initiatives where people swap, share, co-own, and co-create together (bartering, ride shares, time banks, etc.).

  • Initiatives that support and promote learning for children and adults to have access to opportunities, resources, and support they need at the right moment in their education, so they are prepared for success.

  • Initiatives that work towards everyone having a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.

  • Initiatives that work to build understanding of racial disparities and implement practices that create equitable opportunities.

  • Initiatives that work towards developing skills for people who have been historically marginalized.

 

The Process: 

All ideas will be reviewed by JCF Staff and Grant Committee members to identify those that meet the minimum criteria of

  1. The Group of people working together has been identified

  2. Group is working on something in Jackson County, MI

  3. Group incorporates people who live in and/or actively and authentically collaborates with Jackson’s most economically challenged neighborhoods

  4. The Group has a plan to improve a part of our community

 

Notification: We will be hosting a Community Sharing Party on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at the St. Paul's Episcopal Church, across from the YMCA, between 4 – 6 PM.  Besides complimentary pizza and beverages, groups will have the opportunity to set up a table to share their ideas with other community members to widen their efforts. Winners will be announced during the event! ALL Eligible Applicants attending the event (that did not receive a Community Choice Grant) will be entered into several $750 mini-grant drawings throughout the event! 

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