Blog
Impact Investing: A New Way to Invest in Our Community
At the end of 2019, the GHACF formed the Impact Investment Committee to explore a different option for investments. These investments will complement the foundation’s current investment policy, programs, and grant-making activities and establish a process for the expanded investment and development of resources in the community.
Community Leaders Extend Appreciation as Foundation Celebrates 50th Anniversary
For 50 years, relationships have been an integral part of the success of the GHACF and very much remain so today. We are grateful for the relationships that we have with community leaders because we are often more impactful when we work together.
Grant Helps Families Facing Housing Crisis
We are pleased to announce four first-round Community Impact grant awards, totaling $342,100, in support of Northwest Ottawa County and our surrounding communities. This includes $188,475 over three years to Good Samaritan Ministries (GSM) to open a satellite office in Northwest Ottawa County to better serve families facing housing crisis in our community.
A Conversation with Our First Four Grant Recipients
The GHACF has had the distinct honor and privilege of partnering with community over the past 50 years to positively impact lives. In celebration of our anniversary, we are taking look back at what we as a community have accomplished and we are imagining what we can do together over the next 50 years. Recently, I had a moment to reflect on the foundation’s first four grant recipients and how they have evolved since 1971.
Celebrating 50 Years of Making an Impact in our Community
Fifty years ago, a group of a dozen community leaders gathered together because they wanted to do something more for our community. Something bigger. They each gave $100 to start what would become the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation. Little did they know the impact they would have a half-century later.
Foundation Grants Additional $223,927 for COVID-19 Relief
“Winter always brings a higher level of need in our community, and the pandemic has only amplified that. Many of our partners are striving to simply maintain operations, while others have been required to greatly expand their capacity, all while complying with critical health and safety standards that have unfortunately limited their opportunities to generate revenue and fundraise.” – Holly Cole, Vice President of Grants and Program
YAC Continues to Support Area Youth
With the first half of our Youth Advisory Council (YAC) year underway, the committee has adapted to a virtual meeting format while still working towards empowering and supporting youth in Northwest Ottawa County. We’ve used this time to pause and pivot our work, leaning into the data that shows what our youth need.
Grant Helps Support Innovative Food Industry
The Board of the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation (GHACF) is pleased to announce eight third-round Community Impact grant awards, totaling $204,720, in support of Northwest Ottawa County and our surrounding communities. This includes a $75,000 grant to Muskegon Area First for the West Michigan Food Processing Association’s (WMFPA) FutureFood21 program: “Healthy Food & Sustainability through Increased Education.”
You Can Make an Impact in Our Community
Throughout our 49-year history, our Greatest Needs Fund has existed to provide support or the future needs that we can’t always anticipate. No year has demonstrated this more than 2020. While we have all been challenged by the upheaval that our world has faced since March, the response from our community has been—and continues to be—inspiring.
Giving Tuesday is Almost Here
Next Tuesday, December 1st, is Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement intended to unleash the power of people and organizations to positively transform their communities and the world. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and the shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many traditionally focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
Recent Grants Support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are important values of the foundation and one of our Community Impact grant priority areas. When events of racial injustice spurred national conversation earlier this year, we joined forces with local partners to support the LEDA pledge and opened a summer grant round specifically for DEI work in our community. In an effort to begin to address the systemic racism within our community, we invited key for-impact organizations to partner with us in their work to foster community conversation and address systemic racism.
North Bank Helps Protect History
The North Bank Communities Fund awarded a grant to Spring Lake Township to replace the roof on the historic DeWitt School. “The North Bank Community Fund does exactly what they say with their funds. They have been long time supporters of the DeWitt School—first with the bell tower renovation and now with the new roof.” –John Nash, SLT Supervisor
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