u | spring 2016

update / kalamazoo community foundation / spring 2016

UInnovation & CollaborationcollaborationHelping local kids in crisis [page three]

innovationHigh-quality pre-k for Northside and Douglas neighborhood kids [page four]

grant highlights22 grants in final round of 2015 [page six]

leave a legacyRuth and Bob VanderRoest [page seven]

When I started writing this message it was a simple introduction of the stories in this

newsletter. My main point was to be sure you knew your Community Foundation

does more than just write checks. I wanted you to know we work hard every day

— through innovative collaborations with donors and nonprofits — to transform

Kalamazoo County into a place where every person can reach full potential.

Then, February 20 happened and the senseless, violent acts of one person rocked

our community — our region — to its core. Like so many, our reaction was How can

we help? So we joined with the Battle Creek Community Foundation and United

Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region to create the Help Now! Fund,

which is already providing direct financial support to the victims and their families

and will soon provide funding to regional anti-violence efforts. You can learn about

the Help Now! Fund at www.helpnowfund.org.

Our response to this tragedy reflects how your Community Foundation approaches

all community challenges: We strive to support efforts that help our community

now and those focused on creating long-term, transformative change. We have

been able to serve as a convener of many local agencies providing support services to victims, families and the

community. We’ve also been able to leverage state and federal resources in ways that expand our support for

healing our community. We do all of this through partnerships.

We have endowments that support immediate needs and efforts that identify and address their root causes.

They also ensure we have resources on hand for future challenges we can’t even imagine today.

We willingly serve as a resource to the greater Kalamazoo community during times of crisis. Thank you for

being part of this work and for loving where you live.

2 KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SPRING 2016

( 269.381.4416

8 www.kalfound.org

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Mail a check Kalamazoo Community Foundation 402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888

Arrange a planned gift There are many ways for you to plan now for a gift later. To learn more, get in touch with our Donor Relations team at 269.381.4416 or [email protected].

ReceiveWhat we fund We fund 501(c)(3) nonprofits for projects that fit within our community investment priorities and will benefit Kalamazoo County. We also provide Kalamazoo area students with scholarships for education beyond high school.

What we don’t fund We don’t fund for-profit business development projects, private land purchases or private home purchases.

Learn more at www.kalfound.org.

We’d love to know what you think of this publication. Share your feedback at www.kalfound.org/feedback.

Carrie Pickett-Erway President/CEO

“This is a powerful example of

collaboration toward a common goal,

with creative alignment among state,

community foundation and local nonprofit

agency resources,” says Carrie Pickett-

Erway, president/CEO, Kalamazoo

Community Foundation. “Our community

is fortunate to have Family & Children

Services providing this type of care.”

According to Rosemary Gardiner,

CEO of Family & Children Services,

“Families whose child or teen is

experiencing a mental health crisis will

now have a continuum of care from

immediate crisis response to short-term

residential support focused on stabilization

— close to home.”

Says Gardiner, “Our human services

and medical partners have needed this

resource for many years. They encouraged

Family & Children Services to step forward

and create a local solution. Children and

youths with more acute needs simply

do better in a smaller, home-like setting

that is child-centered and can provide

psychiatric evaluation, nursing care, and

an individualized program for stabilization.

We are honored to build this resource

with the community through their referrals

and create more options for children and

families when they are struggling.”

Crisis placements will be short term,

with referrals accepted 24 hours a day,

365 days a year. Children will have

individual, family and group counseling

using the evidence-based TARGET model,

a curriculum focused on trauma regulation

and positive behavioral supports.

“Each child will have a comfortable,

private room and structured groups

and activities throughout the day,” says

Gardiner. “During their stay, children will

be able to play in an on-site gym and

participate in music, art and adventure

programs in our newly-renovated youth

development buildling.”

SPRING 2016 KALFOUND.ORG 3

The Kalamazoo Community

Foundation recently secured

a $250,000 grant from the

Michigan Health Endowment

Fund to support Family &

Children Services’ start-up of

a program that will provide

children and teens in the

midst of a mental health

crisis with immediate support

and stabilization in a home-

like setting. It also supports

the agency’s Children’s

Trauma Treatment program

for children in foster care.

The primary goal of the

initiative is for fewer

long-term residential

placements for children

facing a mental health crisis.

Funding also will enable

Family & Children Services

to provide temporary,

overnight care — combined

with psychiatric evaluation,

nursing care and coordination

of community-based

treatment planning — to

an eight-county region in

two, six-bedroom facilities.

Collaboration helps kids in crisis

This is a powerful example of collaboration toward a common goal, with creative alignment among state, community foundation and local nonprofit agency resources.

Innovative program provides quality pre-k to Northside, Douglas familiesThe challenge: Break the cycle

of intergenerational poverty —

created largely by systemic racism

— in Kalamazoo’s Northside and

Douglas neighborhoods.

The goal: Influence the

development of children so they

are ready for kindergarten.

The method: Remove barriers,

like affordability and transportation,

to quality pre-kindergarten for

three-year-olds.

Joda Grimes and Angela Johnson are

breaking down barriers that get in the

way of parents helping their youngsters

prepare for kindergarten. They serve as

part-time parent educators and family

advocates in an innovative and dynamic

program that is now in its second year:

the Northside Preschools program.

Certified as parent educators from the

National Parents as Teachers Program,

Grimes and Johnson meet with parents

to teach them what they need to know

to help their young children succeed

in school.

The work being done by Johnson

and Grimes today emerged out of

a question posed back in 2014.

How do you design a multi-year

project to provide a free,

high-quality, pre-kindergarten

experience to three-year-olds

— and make sure it improves their

intellectual, social-emotional and

physical development?


The Northside Preschools program is one of the strongest collective efforts we’ve witnessed in our community.

One especially innovative component of the pre-k curriculum at New Genesis Learning Center is ABCDance, which teaches reading

skills through movement and dance. You can learn more about ABCDance

in our upcoming 2015 Annual Report.


Designing the experience

Northside and Douglas

neighborhood families originally

helped to answer this question

during a series of nine parent focus

groups organized by the Northside

Committee. Using feedback from

those meetings, the Northside

Preschools program was launched

in September 2014.

Participating families encouraged

committee members to locate these

preschools in their neighborhoods

so transportation would not be an

issue. Northside Preschools are now

located at the Jennings Development

Interplex, New Genesis Learning

Center at Christian Life Center and

Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Together,

they are serving 28 families that do

not qualify for free pre-kindergarten

through Head Start and are not able

to afford high-quality pre-K on

their own.

A 2015 grant of $279,000 from the

Community Foundation for this

program covers all tuition costs,

as well as classroom equipment

and supplies, the salaries and

expenses for Grimes and Johnson,

research and student assessments,

parent engagement services, and

recruitment and transportation

expenses. The preschools are also

benefiting from on-site teacher

mentoring and speech pathology

support provided by KC Ready 4s.

Providing stability

“In addition to early education,

Northside Preschools are getting

families the help they need,” says

Jim Greene, a former chair of the

Northside Committee who continues

working on this project. According

to Greene, from the beginning of

the school year through the end of

2015, Northside Preschools made 89

referrals to other agencies to provide

additional help to families. “There is

more than just learning that goes into

preparing a child for kindergarten,”

says Greene. “We have families in

the program who are homeless. You

can imagine the impact that has on

learning. This program gives stability

to these children.”

Says the Community Foundation’s

Sandy Barry-Loken, “The Northside

Preschools program is one of the

strongest collective efforts we’ve

witnessed in the community. Its

leaders know what stands in the

way of children accessing a quality

pre-K experience and they’re working

together to break down and remove

those barriers.”

Greene tells the story of a single

father whose child was struggling

when he started the program, but

began to blossom and became

truly engaged in the learning

process. “We hope the joy these

youngsters experience with their

first year of school will carry them

through each successive educational

milestone,” he says. “A quality pre-K

education is essential to success in

school and life.”

In reflecting on her experience with

Northside Preschools, Joda Grimes

says, “We’re building relationships

with families. We let them know they

have the support they need. What

we like are the connections,” she

notes. “No families feel left out.”

Says Angela Johnson, “We’re in

this together!”

Our Community Investment TeamOur Community Investment team works with nonprofits to help them maximize the

impact of the programs they offer to help people in Kalamazoo County reach full potential.

Elena [email protected]

Sandy [email protected]

Sholanna [email protected]

David [email protected]

Suprotik [email protected]


Investment performance is net of manager fees and derived from core Kalamazoo Community Foundation assets allocated into its two investment strategies. Historic performance for each is then derived from linkages to prior quarterly returns. Performance reflects prior changes in asset allocations while benchmarks assume current allocations. The Moderate Growth Benchmark is a staged index composite benchmark that has the current composition of the Barclays US Aggregate Bond index (15 percent); Citibank WGBI Non-USD (10 percent); DJ US Select REIT index (2.5 percent); MSCI EAFE Small Cap index (10 percent); MSCI Emerging Markets Value index (10 percent); Russell 1000 Value index (5 percent); Russell 2000 Value index (10 percent); Russell Micro Cap index (5 percent); S&P 500 index (30 percent); and the NCREIF Fund Index ODCE (2.5 percent). The Income and Growth Benchmark consists of the S&P 500 index (50 percent) and the Barclays US Aggregate Bond index (50 percent).

Kalamazoo Community Foundation Investment PerformanceFOURTH QUARTER 2015

Core Assets Qtr 4 YTD 3 Yrs 5 Yrs 7 Yrs

Moderate Growth Performance

Actual

Benchmark

3.5%

3.5%

-2.0%

-1.6%

8.0%

7.3%

7.3%

6.8%

11.5%

10.3%

Income and Growth Performance

Actual

Benchmark

3.3%

3.3%

1.3%

1.2%

8.6%

8.2%

8.4%

8.0%

9.9%

9.6%

10 Yrs

6.3%

5.5%

7.0%

6.2%

22 GRANTS AWARDED IN FINAL GRANTMAKING ROUND OF 2015

Grantmaking highlights

We awarded 22 grants totaling nearly $1.1 million to

Kalamazoo County nonprofits in our final grantmaking

round of 2015. We make community investments in quality

programs we believe will make Kalamazoo County a place

where every person can reach full potential.

Grants were provided to:

• Community Homeworks

• Community Promise Federal Credit Union

• Downtown Tomorrow Incorporated

• Ecumenical Senior Center

• Food Bank of South Central Michigan

• Hispanic American Council

• Housing Resources Inc.

• Kalamazoo Book Arts Center

• Kalamazoo Center for Youth & Community

• Kalamazoo Drop-In Child Care Center

• Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center

• Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation

• Mothers of Hope

• Open Doors Kalamazoo

• Parents 4 Public Schools

• Portage Community Center

• Prevention Works, Inc.

• Schoolcraft Community Schools

• SHARE (Society for History and Racial Equity)

• Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers

• YWCA of Kalamazoo

The VanderRoests died years ago

Lynn VanderRoest — who has special needs — loves to travel

and some of her favorite childhood memories are of going

to camp. When her mom, Ruth, passed away in 1997, Lynn’s

dad, Bob, could not think of a better way to honor her than to

create a legacy that would help kids like Lynn benefit from the

experiences that had brought the VanderRoest family so much

joy. Today, the Robert D. and Ruth A. VanderRoest Fund for

the Developmentally Disabled makes it possible for Kalamazoo

area children with special needs to experience the joy of

camping and travel, and create childhood memories that will

be treasured for a lifetime.

We can help you show your love for Kalamazoo and leave a legacy too. Call a member of our Donor Relations team or visit us online at www.kalfound.org to learn how.

TODAY THEY’RE HELPING KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS SEE THE WORLD

Our Team Zac Bauer 269.585.7236 / [email protected]

Coby Chalmers 269.585.7249 / [email protected]

Joanna Donnelly Dales 269.585.7260 / [email protected]

Ann Fergemann 269.585.7238 / [email protected]

Jeanne Grubb 269.585.7248 / [email protected]


Ruth and Bob VanderRoest

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. PostagepaidKalamazoo, MI Permit Number 66

402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888

269.381.4416 www.kalfound.org

Love Where You Live FundsThere are many things to love about Kalamazoo County. There are many reasons to love living here. But the truth is, our community still has needs. We believe, by working together, we can make Kalamazoo County a community where every person can reach full potential — a place where we all love to live.

Love where you live is a phrase we began using when promoting our 2012 Community Meeting and is one we quickly became known for. It resonated with us as an organization, and with our donors, grantees and the community. So much so that in 2014 we made it our official tagline and recently changed the name of our Spirit of Community Funds to our Love Where You Live Funds. Only the names of the funds are changing; their purposes and how to give to them remain the same.

Giving to our Love Where You Live Funds is a powerful, lasting way for anyone to show their love for our community and be a part of our work. These endowed funds support

immediate community needs and efforts that identify and address their root causes. They also ensure we have resources on hand for future needs we can’t even imagine today.

Gifts to our “general” Love Where You Live Fund address the community’s greatest needs. People who are interested in helping address specific areas of need can give to one of our focused Love Where You Live Funds:

• Love Where You Live Fund (greatest needs) • Economic and Community Development • Education and Learning • Environment • Health • Housing • Individuals and Families • Youth Development

You can learn more about the Love Where You Live Funds and how to give to them at www.kalfound.org/lovelivefunds.

u | spring 2016

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