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Arcus infuses cash and energy into bridge building programs

By Sarah Mieras

The Michigan based Arcus Foundation is making waves in the funding community. With the recent announcement of its grants for this year, the Foundation has pumped more than $9.6 Million into human rights, civil rights and animal rights organizations across the nation. Roughly 5% of the pie, or $2,145,350, stayed in Michigan, with a whopping $853,370 being poured into community groups in founder Jon Stryker's hometown of Kalamazoo.
Fresh from a legal victory regarding the use of primary election information, the ACLU of Michigan will receive the largest in-state allotment from the Foundation. The 1 Million award said ACLU Director, Kary Moss, is part of a larger allotment from the Foundation that will cycle $3 million to her office over the next three years.
The grant will allow for the ACLU of Michigan to add approximately nine new staff members and open a West Michigan office, said Moss. The growth is planned to happen slowly, allowing for the organization to increase overall donations to make the new staff and office sustainable.
"The Arcus grant is an incredibly significant gift, and it requires that we increase our capacity in a big way."
The ACLU of Michigan's four program priorities said Moss will continue to be privacy, religious freedom, racial justice and LGBT rights. Without government funding, or fees from clients, the ACLU of Michigan relies on support from individuals and foundations to fuel its work. Last year alone lawyers throughout the state donated more than $3 million dollars worth of time to the organization.
"The need for civil rights work is always there. I don't know if people understand how important individual and foundation gifts are to us."
A relatively new Foundation, Arcus has been undergoing its own growth spurt, including an extensive re-evaluation of its priorities. Through hundreds of interviews the Foundation sought to discover the areas that it's funding could make the biggest impact. The strongest areas that surfaced, said Cindy Rizzo, director of grant making programs, were the avenues where race, religion and LGBT rights intersected.
"Religious values have over time become a barrier to realizing LGBT rights," explained Rizzo. "And the movement itself didn't reflect the diversity of the LGBT community."
The Foundation's new direction, said Rizzo, has allowed it to fund a number of exciting grassroots projects in Michigan that explore the intersections of race and LGBT rights.
Under its Racial Justice, Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Fund the Detroit based Sistah's Providing Intelligence, Creativity & Empowerment (S.P.I.C.E) was awarded a total of $30,000. The funds will assist with general operating expenses and help with the creation of a Healing Detroit Summit that will bring together the African American and LGBT organizations to strategically plan for the future
"I am really excited about the grants that we made. We funded a number of smaller organizations of color in the LGBT community in Detroit like Karibu House ($20,500) and the Black Pride Society ($10,000) and S.P.I.C.E ($30,000). These are small, committed organizations and for some of them this is their first grant," said Rizzo.
Arcus' efforts will no doubt be helped by the ripple effect of its $75,000 allotment to the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan's HOPE Fund for LGBT Racial Equity. A matching grant, the $75,000 brings a total of $150,000 to the table for a new three-year program through the HOPE Fund.
"We plan for $100,000 to be granted out over two years locally," said Community Foundation Senior Program Officer Katie Brisson, who noted that applications for the funds will be accepted in early summer with awards in the fall.
"The grants are just a piece of this. It's really about building relationships with these organizations and linking them to each other and training."
The program will serve as a short-term boost to more than 17 Southeast Michigan groups focused on community action in the LGBT and people of color communities.
"It's great to see this money coming into Detroit, and we are excited about being able to build relationships with these groups," said Brisson.
Already in action, the initiative sent 22 activists to the recent Creating Change Conference.
Reaching into communities of faith is another component of Arcus' newly reformed direction. Under its Religion and Values Program nine grants totaling $1,128,000 were allotted for work that would lead to inclusion of LGBT people in communities of faith.
The Grand Rapids based Gays In Faith Together, or GIFT, was the only Michigan based group to receive funding under the Values Program. A small organization, GIFT was awarded $15,000 to launch a strategic plan and to continue its life-enrichment and education efforts.
"This is much larger than any grant we have received before," said GIFT Chaplain Jim Lucas. "It's a tremendous boost for us."
GIFT, which hosts a youth group and adult group for LGBT Christians, also serves as the main point of education on LGBT issues for West Michigan faith community.
"I am getting inquiries from places I never imagined before," said Lucas. "Organizations that I would never think would want education on these issues. We really are the logical organization to turn to."
The Arcus funds, said Lucas, will help GIFT strategize about its future and focus its energy as it grows to further serve West Michigan.
"Money for faith based programs working in the LGBT community is rare, and it's really exciting for us."
Lucas noted he has been speaking as an "out" member of the clergy for 15 years and the changes he has witnessed are inspiring.
"We can't ignore these issues anymore, because we all know someone who is gay. I think this is a pivotal time in history to be doing this education."
For the Arcus Foundation "education" begins at the application process. To apply for funding, an organization must have in place a board approved equal opportunity statement that includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
"That's how you walk through the threshold here," said Rizzo.
In the Foundation's eight years in Kalamazoo, noted Rizzo, the City of Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University and the school district have all adopted equal opportunity statements.
"We feel that it is an important piece of protection for people who work in these organizations."

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