Ford and Mott Foundations Create National Program to Improve Race and Ethnic Relations
CONTACTS:
William Hanson, C.S. Mott Foundation, tel: 810-766-1760, fax: 810-766-1744
Thea Lurie, Ford Foundation, tel: 212-573-4825, fax: 212-351-3643
March 31, 1999 -- Improving relations between recent immigrants and longtime residents of diverse backgrounds is the goal of a new program that links the Ford and Mott foundations with five community foundations and a private community-based foundation.
The three-year $5.1-million initiative, called the "Community Foundations/Intergroup Relations Program" (CF/IR), was announced today by its two major funders: the Ford Foundation of New York City and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation of Flint, Michigan.
This national initiative emphasizes the importance of community-based efforts that combine honest dialogue about racial and ethnic differences with action that focuses on shared neighborhood concerns. It also recognizes that community foundations should be well-positioned to promote and support such efforts to build effective and long-lasting multiracial coalitions.
The six organizations that were selected to participate are: Dade Community Foundation (Miami), Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Community Foundation of Greater New Jersey (Morristown), Minneapolis Foundation, San Diego Foundation, and the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, a private foundation serving the Washington, D.C., area.
Each organization will receive grants ranging from $60,000 to $510,000. During a yearlong planning phase, the organizations will form advisory committees comprised of diverse groups of community, neighborhood, and philanthropic leaders to help determine the kinds of projects each will support during the subsequent two-year re-granting phase.
The Ford and Mott foundations are contributing $3 million toward the total
$5.1 million cost of the program and the local foundations are required to
raise the remaining $2.1 million, which will be dedicated to regranting.
All six grantees are located in metropolitan areas experiencing rapid
demographic changes, largely due to the arrival of immigrants and refugees.
The community foundations were selected from a pool that had previously participated either in Ford's Community Foundations Diversity Initiative, which sought to strengthen community foundations'internal and external responsiveness to diversity, or in Mott's Community Foundation/Neighborhood Small Grants Program, which focused on increasing community foundations' support of low-income, neighborhood-based efforts.
Taryn Higashi, Ford program officer for refugee and migrant rights and
policy, said Ford and Mott recognize that recent immigration has brought
tremendously diverse cultures to the United States, and both foundations view
this diversity as a potential source of strength. Ford and Mott each supported recent research projects on the community impact of new immigration, and the findings inspired the CF/IR program announced today, Higashi said.
"The question we are grappling with now is how can community and national
foundations promote opportunities for new immigrants to interact with
longtime residents in ways that build meaningful shared interests and
achieve common goals?" Higashi said.
The program strives to strengthen neighborhoods by allowing recent
immigrants and longtime residents to jointly identify and address common
concerns such as housing, education, health, crime and other areas of
interest. The program also seeks to position community foundations as vehicles for local change. The participating community foundations hope to learn more about the racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in their own communities so they can better serve them. They also aspire to increase residents' awareness of their local foundations and how they can work together to strengthen their communities beyond the three years of national funding.
The program will have a one-year planning phase. During the second and third years of the grant period, community foundations will award grants to local projects aimed at improving relationships between recent immigrants and longtime residents. "We built in a one-year planning period so that each community can set its own agenda," said Lori Villarosa, Mott Foundation program officer for race relations.
The Ford Foundation, established in 1936, is a private, nonprofit
institution that serves as a resource for innovative people and institutions
worldwide. Its goal is to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and
injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human
achievement.
The Mott Foundation, founded in 1926 by a General Motors pioneer, is a
private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just,
equitable and sustainable society. The Foundation has had a program in race relations since 1994 and has been an enthusiastic supporter of the community foundation movement in America since 1979.
Grants for the six foundations are as follows:
Dade Community Foundation, Miami, Fla.
Grant: $60,000 over 1 year for planning
Contact: Charisse L. Grant, director of programs, phone: 305-371-2711
Miami-Dade County, Florida, has long been a racially and ethnically diverse community where newcomers and longtime residents have contributed to the community's cultural history. At the same time, cultural and racial differences resulting from dramatic changes in demographics have divided the community on many issues. Established in 1967, the community foundation has supported projects that explicitly address intergroup relations. This grant will allow the community foundation to help transform the way diverse groups look at each other and work toward resolving issues of common concern.
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Grant: $450,000 over 2 years for implementation (Planning covered earlier)
Contact: Carmen James Lane, program officer, phone: 202-483-8294
Washington, D.C., and neighboring areas in Maryland and Virginia are home to one of the largest urban communities of legal immigrants per capita in the United States. This great mixture of immigrants and refugees has brought a vibrant blend of cultural diversity. However, there have also been scattered incidents of racial tension and resistance to change. The Meyer Foundation has an established track record of working with community-based organizations interested in and committed to intergroup relations in the region.
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.
Grant: $60,000 over 1 year for planning ($450,000 expected for implementation in Spring 1999)
Contact: Winsome Hawkins, senior program officer, phone: 404-688-5525
Race relations in Atlanta historically have focused on issues between whites and African Americans, but growing immigrant and refugee populations have made community relationships increasingly complex. Although this diversity has brought many benefits, there has also been a great deal of anti-immigrant backlash and tension. The foundation was created in 1951. It serves a 19-county metropolitan area that includes a core of eight urban and suburban counties and 11 largely rural counties.
Community Foundation of Greater New Jersey, Morristown, N.J.
Grant: $510,000 over 3 years for planning and implementation
Contact: Ira Resnick, senior program officer, phone: 973-267-5533, ext. 11
New Jersey ranks fifth among the states in the number of newly arriving immigrants. Roughly 40,000 immigrants a year are admitted into the state. International immigration is largely responsible for New Jersey's current population growth; 13.5 percent of the state's population is foreign-born. For example, Elizabeth has a population that is 37 percent foreign-born, and Jersey City has a population that is 29 percent foreign-born, third highest among the nation's largest cities. Along with the rich diversity of culture these newcomers bring, there are significant risks for tension and rivalry over limited economic opportunities. The foundation, established in 1979, focuses its grantmaking on education, social welfare, health, arts, and the environment.
Minneapolis Foundation, Minneapolis, Minn.
Grant: $510,000 over 3 years for planning and implementation
Contact: Diane Lev, program officer, phone: 612-672-3831
Since the 1980s Minnesota has become increasingly ethnically and racially diverse. More than 50,000 refugees and immigrants have settled in the state. The vast majority of these newcomers live in the urban neighborhoods of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Recent studies show that members of racial minorities and residents of inner-city Minneapolis and St. Paul have lagged behind the rest of the state in housing, education, health and income. The Minneapolis Foundation is one of the nation's biggest and oldest community foundations and manages more than 400 separate permanent funds that support charitable activities throughout the state.
San Diego Foundation, San Diego, Calif.
Grant: $510,000 over 3 years for planning and implementation
Contact: Laura Blank, communications associate, phone: 619-235-2300
The 1990 Census showed that 17 percent of San Diego's population was foreign-born. Since then the immigrant and refugee population has continued to grow, with a diversity of Latino, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern families settling in the region. Although some welcome this diversity, there has also been a good deal of tension in the community brought on by the changing demographics. The San Diego Foundation, the center for charitable giving, is a broad-purpose, permanent endowment built by hundreds of citizens and organizations committed to improving the quality of life in the city's communities. The San Diego Foundation has granted more than $100 million since its inception in 1975, to support nonprofit organizations and their programs throughout the region and will celebrate 25 years of service to the community in 2000.
Two other organizations also were awarded grants as part of the program. They are:
the Association for the Study and Development of Community, $390,000 over 3 years, for networking, technical assistance, and evaluation; and the National Immigration Forum: $60,000 over 3 years, for technical assistance related to intergroup relations, media and advocacy (adding to work already supported by Mott and Ford with other grants).
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The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.