Non-profits retrench

This weekend the New York Times ran an article on Detroit's struggling non-profit sector. Charities across the region are on the brink of fiscal collapse just as they're needed most, and Detroit's major foundations -- like Kresge, Skillman, and Hudson-Webber-- don't have the funds to save them all. As a consequence, non-profits are being forced to cooperate, combine, or close. Even the symphony and the opera may be forced to share an orchestra to cut costs.

City bureaucracy cedes some control

The Free Press's John Gallagher talks about the growing importance of public-private partnerships in the city. Non-profits and public/private partnerships are managing major assets like the Riverwalk, Campus Martius, and Eastern Market, and other important projects, like the Clean Downtown Initiative, arose from the private or non-profit sectors.

Redevelopment presentations

Many of the most interesting presentations given at the Michigan Suburbs Alliance's March 7 Regional Redevelopment Summit are now available online. The summit was geared toward preparing area leaders in government, development, real estate, and the non-profit community for the Brownfields2008 Conference, which will bring developers from across the country to Detroit from May 5-7 for a historic opportunity to make deals to redevelop vacant or abandoned property in Detroit.

Hat tip: Transportation Riders United.

Focus: HOPE at 40

The News notes the 40th anniversary of Focus: HOPE, a great non-profit on the West Side with the perfect misson statement: "To use intelligent and practical action to fight racism, poverty and injustice."

Unfortunately, the organization is struggling to sustain itself. Its budget has fallen 75% since 2000, in tandem with the auto industry's decline. But co-founder Eleanor Josaitis is leading a new $100 million fundraising drive as Focus: HOPE seeks new partners and new initiatives to continue connecting residents to high-paying jobs.

City Council corrects itself

According to the Free Press, a rule that would have denied CDBG funds to 105 Detroit non-profits won't go into effect this year. The council unanimously delayed the implementation of the new rule, which requires non-profits to have a majority of Detroit residents on their boards to receive federal funds, after realizing that major non-profits like Focus: HOPE and Greening of Detroit would be denied funding.

The case is another illustration of the region's dysfunction. The rule should have been phased in and framed as a measure to ensure the community's voice in the allocation of federal funds. Instead it was approved without forethought or discussion and then defended in a needlessly divisive manner. Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins said complaints about the rule were paternalistic and reflected a "slave-master mentality." What nonsense! Race resentment is real--Obama did a great job of confronting that reality this week--but it needn't play a part in every minor policy debate in Metro Detroit.

105 Detroit non-profits lose federal funding

The Free Press reports that 105 Detroit non-profits will be denied Community Development Block Grants because of a new residency requirement passed by the Detroit City Council in July. To be eligible for federal funding, at least half of an organization's board members must now be residents of the city. That means dozens of non-profits are currently ineligible. Focus: HOPE, for example, will lose $205,000 in CDBG funds; Greening of Detroit will lose $125,000.

This is a disaster. The City Council had good intentions -- city residents should control city funding -- but the rule is too demanding and gave no time for non-profits to react. Charities can't overturn their boards overnight. Hopefully the Council will find a way to amend the rule or delay its onset. In the meantime, smaller, community-based non-profits may rejoice -- with most major non-profits ineligible, the pool of CDBG funds leftover for everyone else just grew immensely.

Upcoming events: food deserts, sustainability

The Skillman Foundation will host "Eliminating Food Deserts in Detroit: A Community Discussion" at UM's Detroit Center (3663 Woodward Ave.) on Monday, March 10, from 5 to 8:30 pm. Speaker Mari Gallagher will discuss her report, "Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in Detroit," and other panelists will discuss community efforts to increase access to healthy food in the city.

The Model D Speaker Series will present "Building a Green City: Sustainable Urbanism in Detroit" on Wednesday, March 19, at 5 pm at the Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle (1 River Bank Road). Speakers "will discuss the principles of sustainable urbanism, and examine how areas like Detroit's Midtown are actively utilizing the ideas."

Grace Lee Boggs on MLK

The Bogg Center will be hosting two discussions this month on "Exploring Martin Luther King’s Challenge to Us in Detroit" at the Club Technology Building at 8200 -30 E. Forest.

Saturday, February 16

10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Movie Screening: Citizen King
12:00 - 2:00 pm
Discussion: Martin’s Words, Our Conversation

Friday, February 29

7:00 - 9:00 pm
Grace Lee Boggs: Catching up to Martin in the “D”
Discussion: From Conversation to Action

A few weeks ago, Grace Lee Boggs discussed Martin Luther King's legacy on Democracy Now. She is truly inspirational. For a notion of her remarkable life, read the brief biography on the Boggs Center website.

Business minded philanthropy

The Free Press reports that United Way is changing its funding formula, demanding measurable results from the non-profits it sponsors. For example, providing services to the poor will not be enough; organizations must show they've made an impact by reducing poverty rates in an area.

This trend is a national one. Two weeks ago the New Yorker noted, for example, how business principles have transformed medical philanthropy in "Buying the Cure".

Donate $10 to a good cause

Arts & Scraps, a cool non-profit on the city's east side, hopes 1,200 people will donate $10 each so it can purchase a new cargo van. According to the website, "Arts & Scraps is a non-profit organization that recycles industrial scraps into affordable learning and creative materials and provides educational programming. We serve 275,000 children and, recycle 28 tons annually."

Hat tip: Model D

Update: I fixed the link to Arts & Scraps.

Incineration vs. Recycling

Currently, the city of Detroit incinerates all of its trash at a plant at Russell Street and Ferry Avenue. The city's lease on the facility is set to expire in the summer of 2009. That means Detroit has the opportunity to implement a new trash policy. The Metrotimes discusses the opportunity for healthier, greener trash disposal.

Meanwhile, the Free Press notes the progress already being made to increase recycling.

The struggle for mass tranit

Rapid mass transit may finally be coming to Detroit. For the first time in decades, that statement is more truth than myth, in part thanks to the efforts ofTransportation Riders United, a Detroit-based nonprofit working to make a regional, rapid mass transit system a reality.

Metromode reports on the slow but steady progress being made on the transit front.

$100 million "New Economy Initiative"

Last week Crain's Detroit wrote about a $100 million initiative to "fund efforts to change Southeast Michigan into an innovation-based economy." The New Economy Initiative looks to fund efforts in three areas:

1. Talent development and retraining
2. Innovative and entrepreneurial activities.
3. Transforming the region’s culture to an educational, entrepreneurial community.

Metromode interviewed one of its leaders, Rip Ranson, the president of the Kresge Foundation. According to Ranson, "This is the single biggest pooled investment that a consortium of foundations has ever made in urban America." The initiative is regional, but he insists it is especially important for the city of the Detroit.

I wish it every success.

Tuesday's news ... on Thursday

Published every Tuesday, Model D is the best source of news on development in Detroit. These are some highlights from this week's:

• TechTown, Wayne State's technology incubator, has received a $1.5 Kresge grant to expand operations.

• Recycle Here!, the city's new recycling initiative, is off to a good start and hopes to add curbside service in selected neighborhoods. Model D has previously reported on the push to bring recycling to the city.

Also from Tuesday:

• The Free Press reports that University of Detroit Mercy is encouraging its employees to live near its campuses by offering $10,000 toward the down payment on homes in adjacent neighborhoods. Wayne State has a similar initiative to encourage employees to live near campus and contribute to the neighborhoods.

• In light of the announcement of the new Cadillac Centre, the News takes a closer look at the status of other projects Downtown.

Monday news roundup

• The Free Press reports on Open City, a new networking group for entrepreneurs looking to start and grow small businesses in the city.

• According to Crain's Detroit, The Skillman Foundation is attracting millions in matching dollars for its effort "to foster healthy, safe and supportive environments for children and their families" in six Detroit neighborhoods.

• Also in Crain's, a dry article on the Downtown housing market with an important point: "People can’t sell their suburban homes, so they don’t have proceeds to use for buying a Detroit condo; and the lending market makes it hard to take on more debt." The national housing / credit crisis may prevent further housing construction Downtown.

• Finally, a Detroit News piece on a new task force to bring grocery stores to the city. The task force is needed: with the closing of Farmer Jack's two Detroit locations, the city is without a single national grocer within its limits.