Impact100 TC Awards Three $110K Grants To Local Nonprofits

Impact100 Traverse City distributed $110,000 transformational grants to three local nonprofits Tuesday.

The 2021 recipients of Impact100 grants include:

> Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology, with co-applicant Commongrounds Cooperative: The grant will go towards the Commongrounds + Crosshatch Performance Venue, a 150-seat performance venue to be housed within the community-owned Commongrounds building under construction at Boardman Avenue/Eighth Street near downtown Traverse City. The two organizations are partnering to meet the "outspoken community arts need of missing middle art spaces," according to the applicants.

> Grass River Natural Area: The grant will go toward replacing an aging section of existing boardwalk with a six-foot-wide barrier-free pathway, free span bridges across the coldwater creeks, ADA-accessible observation platforms, and an enlarged dock with a universally accessible kayak launch on the Grass River.

> Cognition Science and Discovery Center: The grant will go toward growing the Congnition Science and Discovery Center in Beulah, transforming a portion of its expanded facility into a "cutting-edge Earth and Space Lab with portable planetarium," according to the group.

The 330 members of Impact100 Traverse City each contributed a $1,000 annual gift as part of their 2021 membership. The funds went into a combined grant pool to provide three equal grants of $110,000, with area nonprofits invited to apply for funding for transformational projects. Impact100 members voted from among five finalists Tuesday to select the three nonprofits to receive this year's grants. Impact100 Traverse City has now awarded over $1.45 million to local initiaitives in the five-county region over the past five years.