2006 Promising Projects

The Harbor Springs Area Historical Society (HSAHS) received a grant to transform a 120 year-old landmark that once served as the Harbor Springs City Hall, into a local history gallery that will provide space to display a priceless collection of historical artifacts and attract regional visitors to downtown Harbor Springs.

From modest quarters in Josephine Ford Park on Bay Street in Petoskey, HSAHS has worked to preserve and present the history of the Harbor Spring Area since 1990. Their new home will feature 5,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space for artifacts and other materials related to the area's history, 1,700 square feet of archival storage for documents and artifacts designed to meet Smithsonian standards, and a discovery gallery targeted to families and school children.

Project leaders collaborated with the broader community to ensure exhibitions are reflective of indigenous populations, including Odawa Indians and other families who have lived in the area for many generations. They also designed a facility that is respectful of the new museum's underlying structure and compatible with the surrounding buildings. Collaboration and context sensitive design are key elements that help make this community capital project ideal for Frey Foundation funding.

Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF), a 30 year-old non-profit housing development corporation, received support to acquire and renovate a vacant, deteriorated core-city property for re-use as the agency's headquarters.

The property, once known as the D.A. Blodgett Home for Children, was constructed in 1908 in a Classical Revival style. But additions to the front of the property in the 1950's and again in the 1970's hid many of the home's unique features and beauty. The external restoration will include rehabbing the original facade, and the restoration of the formal public gardens. Inside the structure, an interactive learning environment will be added along with a large auditorium and multiple conference rooms, a safe and constructive child-care center, and state-of-the-art sustainable materials and technology to model LEED guidelines. Transformed, the building will provide expanded education and training facilities for clients, and offer confidential consultation space for the more than 1,100 families served by ICCF annually.

In addition to strengthening an older neighborhood, this project is expected to leverage several million dollars in private sector investment on the property adjacent to the renovated facility, making it a prime candidate for Frey Foundation funding.

In partnership with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan (CRC) received a grant to conduct an objective analysis of the long-term prospects for the Michigan economy and the state budget. Using a nationally recognized economic forecasting model, CRC provided critical analysis to specific policy and program issues and alternatives with respect to Medicaid, higher education, corrections, and transportation, among others. In addition, CRC undertook an analysis of the current tax structure and the impacts of alternative tax changes.

The research resulted in a set of findings and recommendations that suggests a need for structural changes rather than one-time fixes to the state's budget. This has been a central message in the briefings and presentations provided to budget officials, fiscal agencies, members of the legislature and the public. Study findings have been posted on the CRC website and is available free of charge to interested groups and to the public. Balanced, objective information that informs public policy is a basic tenet of Frey Foundation Civic Progress grantmaking.

The Grand Valley Metro Council (GVMC) received funding support to distribute its Form-Based Code Study (Study) throughout the GVMC planning area, which includes Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm and Ottawa counties. The report provides local governments a template for zoning ordinances that emphasize the urban design of places. This new approach to zoning supports traditional town and city forms such as main streets, village greens, and neighborhood centers. The Study parallels the Smart Code that is spreading in its use as a template across the United States.

In addition to being posted on the GVMC's web site, more than 700 copies of the study were printed for presentation to each planning commission, each staff planner and to many developers in the GVMC service area. Promoting the use of a well-crafted Form-Based Code can help shape a high quality built environment that is a key element in Frey Foundation efforts to encourage civic progress.

Persistent social ills have taken a toll on west Michigan classrooms, siphoning scare resources from classroom instruction and challenging educators to master not only their core subject area, but also the intricacies of the community child welfare system, including child abuse and neglect, mental health and family instability. In response, the Frey Foundation joined other local funders to help launch the Kent Student Services Network (Network), a pilot program based on evidence-based national models that features a coordinated, focused approach to meeting individual needs of at-risk students.

The Network strategically co-locates community health and human services within schools to help provide a more supportive school climate for children and their families. Planned outcomes include better attendance, less mobility and improved student achievement. This highly collaborative effort has the potential to heavily influence the allocation of public resources long term. Encouraging public investment in prevention is a key strategy in Frey Foundation efforts to better prepare children for success in school and in life.

The Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation, in partnership with the Northwest Community Health Agency, was awarded a grant to conduct a clinical demonstration of the effects of Xylitol when used by toddlers (24-48 months) and their caregivers in reducing levels of tooth decay. Xylitol, also called wood sugar or birch sugar, is a natural sweetener found in many fruits and vegetables that tastes and looks like sugar but without the negative side effects. Studies suggest that when Xylitol is introduced to young children in the form of a hygienic, disposable wipes or a tooth gel, dental health outcomes can be greatly improved.

Tooth decay remains one of the most common diseases of childhood; 5 times as common as asthma and 7 times as common as hay fever. Children and adolescents living in poverty suffer twice as much tooth decay as their more affluent peers, and their disease is more likely to go untreated. This statistic bears itself for some Northern Michigan counties, including Charlevoix and Emmet, where dental treatment under general anesthesia is twice the national average for pediatric patients under the age of 4. In these cases, hospital costs can range from $5,000 to $7,000 per patient.

This project holds promise for improving outcomes for young children, while respecting of the role of their parents and that of the broader community and is illustrative of a model project for the Frey Foundation.

Capital and programmatic funding was provided to the Grand Rapids Ballet for two projects. The first -- a touring dance (sprung) floor -- will allow the Ballet to perform in more venues. In addition to providing an opportunity to perform in venues previously contractually off limits (such as the Meijer Gardens and Meadowbrook outdoor amphitheatres), the floor will also be used for longer run productions such as The Nutcracker at DeVos Hall as well as at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center and any other venue to which the Ballet travels. This new flooring provides not only a safer environment for dancers but also has the potential to impact artistic quality as dancers are more confident in their leaps and landings. Ballet staff also indicates the purchase will expand the repertoire opportunities and choreography options.

In addition, the Ballet is planning a run out to Boyne City in Emmet County in 2007 (during which they will take advantage of the new flooring). This would be the second year for a tour to Boyne City and for which they've again secured funding from the Chamber of Commerce. In addition to a production at a venue seating 600 patrons, the Ballet would host a lecture/demonstration for area schools (400 students) and a master class for up to 30 participants. The Ballet is confident that as momentum builds for their performances, additional members of the community will invest in repeat trips.

Increasing artistic quality and providing opportunities for new audiences are priorities that align well with the Foundation's arts grantmaking foci.

With a goal of bringing excellent music education to all children, especially those of disadvantaged populations in the Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS), the north american choral company (nacc) received funding to replicate a Chicago-based model to provide arts education through music to the students of GRPS and the city's core neighborhoods. In addition to their main/downtown choirs they will launch both an in-school program for elementary and middle school students in GRPS and neighborhood-based after-school choirs in the City of Grand Rapids.

Providing access to the arts for all citizens, especially for children and those who are disadvantaged, is a priority for the Foundation's arts grantmaking. It is the Foundation's intent that the community recognize that engaging children in the arts assures academic success and is necessary for their long-term success. One indicator of this is demonstrated by an increasingly important role for the arts in the curricula of the K-12 schools.

Building on the West Michigan Strategic Alliance and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan's publication of a regional vision map, the Land Conservancy will undertake a comprehensive project to:
- evaluate conservation potential on privately-held natural lands;
- increase the amount of land under permanent protection;
- build models for fundraising collaboration with other green infrastructure partners; and
- sustain the momentum for green infrastructure work in West Michigan.
These activities are part of a larger, regional effort to move the green infrastructure work forward, and includes the West Michigan Strategic Alliance, Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, Grand Valley Metro Council and the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission as well as numerous non-profit environmental organizations.

The work outlined here brings the previous planning and mapping efforts of the Green Infrastructure Committee to the local government level. Encouraging communities to proactively protect their natural resources is a key component to long term success in protecting the environment. This project is an exemplar of the type of grantmaking the Frey Foundation is pursuing.

A coalition of more than 50 organizations and local government representatives have been working to connect communities of West Michigan to each other and to link the region's natural areas, parks, historic landmarks, cultural venues, and civic destinations while preserving natural areas and enhancing the quality of life in the region. They have developed a plan to fill in the gaps and connect a regional system of trails and greenways in West Michigan. Their initial focus is on a 9-county area including Kent, Ottawa & Muskegon Counties. The plan calls for the development of 14 sections of trailway in the West Michigan region, which have previously been acquired, for a total of 140 miles of new trail development.

Indirect outcomes include expanded active lifestyle opportunities, green land preservation and reclamation, increased connectivity of parks and open space, the availability of alternative non-motorized transportation and even increased tourism potential.

A regional system of hubs and links, via trials and greenways, is a key component of green infrastructure. Support for a coordinated effort to establish these links aligns well with the Foundation's environmental grantmaking strategy.

Char-Em United Way received a challenge grant to broaden their donor base and engage major local employers. The challenge grant, coupled with the efforts a committed volunteer corps, is expected to lead to heightened community awareness of the Char-Em United Way and ultimately increase the resources available to serve the area's most vulnerable families.

Grand Valley State University's Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership received a challenge grant to establish the nation's first endowed chair focused on family philanthropy. This chair is expected to lead to a pioneering focus and program of study on family foundations and how they are led and managed to help society.

A distinguished scholar-practitioner will be selected as the new Frey Foundation chair and will take the lead on this innovative program, which will research family foundation formation and grantmaking practices, and teach effective operating techniques to family foundation trustees.