Rotary Charities of Traverse City has announced the recipients of its spring 2024 grant awards cycle. The six grants add up to $376,489 in total investment to local nonprofits and collaboratives, including four grants paid for out of Rotary’s Assets for Thriving Communities program, one through its Systems Change Accelerator program, and one from its Emerging Needs grant program.

Grantees are outlined below:

>$50,000 to the Disability Network of Northern Michigan (DNNM), to support an expansion of that organization’s Surviving to Thriving Technology Empowerment program. The program seeks to “bridge the digital divide for underserved communities and individuals with disabilities” by “providing tailored digital skills training, enhancing accessibility, and fostering inclusivity.”

>$50,000 to Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse Region, “to support the construction of four homes using precast concrete walls, significantly reducing build time and enhancing home quality and energy efficiency.” The funding specifically goes toward Phase 2 of the New Waves Development, a 14-home affordable housing project in Leelanau County.

>$50,000 to the Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA), to help pay for the construction of a new facility on the nonprofit’s Suttons Bay campus. That facility will ultimately include “a multi-use learning space, state-of-the-art laboratory, and housing for interns and volunteers” and will “enhance ISEA’s ability to inspire curiosity and stewardship of the Great Lakes through hands-on education, serving students, teachers, and community members.”

>$26,489 to the NMC Foundation and the Dennos Museum Center, to upgrade “outdated track lighting fixtures to energy-efficient LED units” at the museum. Per Rotary, the upgrade “is part of the museum's preparation for its first-time accreditation with the American Alliance of Museums,” which will help to improve “collections care and visitor experience.”

>$150,000 to Goodwill Northern Michigan and the Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness, “to support their Initiative to End Chronic Homelessness by 2028.”

>$50,000 to Goodwill Northern Michigan to help the organization hire a housing-based care manager. This employee will assist clients who are “transitioning from homelessness into housing at East Bay Flats and other locations,” including by providing connections to employment, mental health services, substance use counseling, and other “critical support.” Per Rotary, the grant “fills a vital gap until funding awarded from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority becomes available in 2025.”