Providing leadership and resources needed to connect complex community challenges with high-impact solutions in Macomb County.
Our Goals
Communities thrive when there is a coordinated, cross sector approach to problem solving. Now more than ever, we need business, government, education and nonprofits to break down silos, look beyond municipal boundary lines and work together toward shared goals.
Advancing Macomb will continue to provide the leadership and resources needed to ignite collaboration and solve community challenges. We will do this by being a voice for philanthropic giving, build capacity of the social impact sector, and be a champion for initiatives that bring sustainable solutions to our communities.
For the past few years, Advancing Macomb focused on empowering community groups in Mount Clemens, our county seat, to find innovative solutions to change the narrative of the city and improve quality of life. The challenges brought on by COVID-19 also amplified the need for support for the nonprofit sector and the rapid deployment of resources throughout the county.
While for some, a basketball court is simply a space to play a game, for others, it is 94 feet of possibility. However, without equipment, proper maintenance, and other barriers to entry, there is less opportunity for kids and the wider community to play. By leveraging a donation of basketballs from the Detroit Pistons with funding from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Legacy Funds of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, we can provide the safe equipment needed to encourage youth and their caregivers to get outside, in their own neighborhoods and make these gathering spaces a source of community pride.
With funding from KABOOM! and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, in addition to partnerships with The Art Center, City of Mount Clemens and Macomb Family YMCA, Advancing Macomb brought four interactive murals designed to invoke play in everyday places to downtown Mount Clemens.
This placemaking project has instilled a sense of pride and hope for residents and visitors alike.
Advancing Macomb was a conduit for funding and administrative support for a youth recreation initiative led by LK St. Clair Soccer, a Macomb County nonprofit organization that is dedicated to increasing access to sport through their love of soccer. With funding from the GM Community Impact grant and other sponsors, LK St. Clair began the development of community fields in Mount Clemens and held skills clinics for hundreds of Mount Clemens youth at no cost.
Advancing Macomb teamed up with New Generation Church in Mount Clemens to promote Census participation for historically undercounted populations in the city. With funding from the Community Foundation for Southeast MI in their support of the Southeast MI Counts Initiative, we increased the count in Mount Clemens by helping 220 households complete the Census through several drive-thru events.
To further champion the Aspen Institute Project Play initiative and funding from the Community Foundation for Southeast MI and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Advancing Macomb led a partnership alliance in Mount Clemens to launch a year-round program that increases access to youth recreation through free play and sports sampling. Our partnership alliance, including the city, YMCA of Metro Detroit, TCB Youth Mentoring, Mount Clemens Public Library and LK St. Clair Soccer, launched the program in February 2020. During the pandemic the alliance gave over 2,000 play packs with sports equipment to Mount Clemens youth. The cornerstone of the initiative also includes a pilot program called SportPort. This mobile lending library of sports equipment, is currently available for youth at no cost and programming will resume once health mandates are lifted.
Advancing Macomb recognizes the critical role nonprofit organizations play in solving community challenges and improving quality of life in our county and region. As a result, we are focusing on facilitating collaboration and building capacity in our nonprofit sector. In March 2020, we began the Macomb County Nonprofit Roundtable to give nonprofits a platform to collaborate and learn together. We are proud to continue to provide this professional development and networking opportunity at no cost to the organizations.
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