Since 2017, the Hudson-Webber Foundation in Detroit has disbursed $36.5 million in grants as part of its strategic framework to improve the quality of life for city residents, a foundation report finds.

The report, Six Years in Review: Impact Report 2017-2022 (40 pages, PDF), highlights the challenges confronting Detroit's underserved communities and details the foundation's efforts in to support equitable neighborhood reinvestment and work with partners to address social and economic issues, such as housing stability and affordability, small business development and job access, the tax foreclosure crisis, and mass incarceration. The report also addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the foundation’s grantees and the communities they serve.

The report focuses on efforts and outcomes across the foundation’s grantmaking areas and details funding, which included 102 grants totaling $6.3 million for arts and culture programs focused on building organizational capacity and diversity; $9.3 million to 31 grantees for projects supporting public spaces and investing in affordable housing; $11.4 million to 35 grantees in support of community and economic development projects focused on inclusive job growth and equitable neighborhood investment; and $5.7 million to 31 grantees for projects addressing place-based community safety and violence prevention as well as justice system reform. In addition, the foundation directed $2 million to 22 grantees in support of policy advocacy and research projects to bolster the foundation’s mission.

“An important component of the review,” wrote foundation board chair Jennifer Hudson Parke and outgoing president Melanca Clark, “was also engaging grantee partners and other stakeholders in a dialogue about the impact of the foundation’s investments for the purpose of gathering insights on how we can further strengthen our work to support Detroiters in achieving shared prosperity.”

For a complete list of recipients, see the Hudson-Webber Foundation website.

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