Giving Opportunities

The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation's Community Impact Fund supports AAACF's competitive grant programs, and gives AAACF the greatest flexibility to address emerging community needs and priorities. Donors who want to leverage AAACF's knowledge of our community's needs often support AAACF's competitive grant programs with a gift of any amount to this fund.

Established in 1997 by the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Board of Trustees to support AAACF's programs and operations. A $50,000 anonymous unrestricted gift was used to establish this fund.

To increase graduation rates for Pell eligible, youth of color, or first generation students in Washtenaw County, this Scholarship Fund seeks to dismantle systemic barriers to college access and higher education.

The primary purpose of the Fund shall be to support efforts that uplift young Black males in Washtenaw County while promoting their educational success. The Fund will take a holistic approach and funding will support people, groups, networks, and movements leading such efforts. Specific grant programs or initiatives may have their own name within the EmpowerMENt Fund to assist with promoting the efforts. Funding initiatives include but are not limited to education (literacy, financial literacy, skills trade, nonprofit leadership), mentorship, mental health support, and empowerment through the arts.

The Senior Citizens Housing of Ann Arbor (SCHAA) is a nonprofit entity most well-known for owning and managing Lurie Terrace, an affordable housing high-rise apartment building for older adults. An all-volunteer board with long-time service by its members, including board chair Mary Jean Raab, demonstrated their care for seniors with regular visitation and assistance of the tenants. With the sale of Lurie Terrace to the City of Ann Arbor, SCHAA is dissolving as an independent nonprofit. Its board members remain committed to the SCHAA mission of helping local seniors by establishing this fund to continue that care in perpetuity.

This field of impact fund provides a permanent revenue stream to support the sustainability of local supportive housing services - a critical goal in making homelessness in Washtenaw County rare, brief, and nonrecurring. The SYG Fund honors Sister Yvonne Gellise, a founder and board member of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance and a tireless advocate for the homeless. In 2011, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital honored their 100th anniversary by pledging $1 million to establish the Fund which AAACF matched with an additional $1 million (the largest commitment in the foundation's history at that point).

Established in 1990 with a $1 million challenge grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, this advised field of impact fund support organizations, programs, and services that benefit youth in Washtenaw County. AAACF's Youth Council advises the grant distributions from this Fund.