Our Grantees
We are humbled by the incredible contributions of our grantees, and honored to partner with them in lifting our communities.
It is our privilege to support the important work being done by our grantee partners. They are the ones on the front lines every day, changing lives and improving our communities. We are grateful for their contributions of time and talent.
In the spirit of our founder, Mr. Art Van Elslander, we have a keen interest in working with organizations which are entrepreneurial-minded and seek to be self-sustaining, rather than those which rely entirely on donor support, and grass roots non-profits whose founders have shown personal investment and commitment to realize a vision.
Learn more below about the impactful work being done by our partners.
Our Grantee Partners
Angels’ Place
A $100,000 grant provided funding for an initiative to help families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities find long-term residential and care solutions.
Asbury Community Development Corporation
A $25,000 grant supported its Feed Flint initiative, providing food pantry items, produce, home deliveries and takeout meals.
Ascension Providence and Ascension St. John Foundations
Total gifts during Mr. Van Elslander’s lifetime and since his passing exceed $27,000,000, in support of its many programs, to help ensure high quality health care for today’s community members and for generations to come.
Benjamin’s Hope
Grants totaling over $1,500,000 have provided for the growth and long-term viability of this 40-acre farmstead residential community for adults with developmental differences, and for its community outreach programs.
Beyond Basics
A $1.5 million grant provided two years of 1:1 intensive literacy tutoring to high school students at Detroit’s Denby High School, Mr. Van Elslander’s alma mater, bringing students to grade level reading proficiency.
Camp Casey
Grants totaling $50,000 supported “Horsey House Calls to Kids with Cancer,” which brought horses to the homes of four Southeast Michigan children with life-threatening illness.
The Children’s Foundation
A $100,000 gift supported the Adolescent Addiction Recovery Center, providing comprehensive, therapy-focused substance use treatment.
Covenant House Michigan – Detroit
Grants totaling $50,000 support the operation of its Caritas Emergency Shelter for unhoused youth.
Deaf Community Advocacy Network
A $36,000 grant to support its Michigan Support Service Provider Program to increase the independence of deaf-blind individuals by providing them greater access to their community.
Downtown Boxing Gym (DBG)
A $100,000 grant supported DBG’s STEAM Lab and other Detroit youth development programming initiatives.
Detroit Institute for Children
A $50,000 grant supported its LEAP programs (Learning, Enrichment, and Achievement) Summer Program and After School Tutoring in Detroit and Muskegon.
Detroit Public Safety Foundation
Grants totaling $57,000 provided meals in coolers for 700 families served by east Detroit police precincts.
Don’t Forget Morgan
A $200,000 grant to fund University of Michigan BPAN gene therapy research.
Dutton Farm
$75,000 in grants helped to increase capacity in Dutton Farm’s Community Involvement Program, helping individuals with developmental disabilities access their community in meaningful and dignified ways.
Fisher House
A $50,000 grant to provide direct services veteran family support at the VA Ann Arbor Fisher House.
Furniture Bank of Southeast Michigan
A $5,000 grant supported trucking costs related to furniture donation deliveries.
Gleaner’s Community Food Bank
Grants of $320,000 helped Gleaner’s distribute fresh milk and produce through its community and school mobile pantry units.
Hand2Hand
Grants totaling $55,000 supported Hand2Hand’s Weekend Food Growth Program, providing weekend food to school children in west Michigan.
Henry Ford Health System
A $2,000,000 grant established the Philip C. Hessburg, MD – Art Van Elslander Endowed Chair for Ophthalmic Research, a permanent endowment fund to support eyesight initiatives by the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology.
Hero’s Circle Kids Kicking Cancer
A $25,000 grant for its Psychosocial programming at Ascension St. John’s Hospital/Van Elslander Cancer Center, teaching children in active cancer treatment that they have the power to self-mitigate pain, calm their own stress, and that they have purpose and responsibility in their community.
Holley Family Village
A $100,000 grant supported its operating endowment, to ensure the long-term viability of support for the deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing communities.
Hope Hospitality & Warming Center
A grant of $71,500 allowed for expanded services to include evenings and weekends for Hope Shelter, providing emergency shelter in Pontiac.
Jefferson East, Inc.
Grants of $350,000 provided repair and replacement of furnaces and water heaters and other resources to Detroit’s 4,000 East Jefferson homes impacted by 2021 flooding.
Kids on the Go
Grants exceeding $100,000 have supported KOTG’s summer multidisciplinary camp for children with cognitive and developmental disabilities.
Leader Dogs for the Blind
A grant of $45,000 supported the Leader Dog Flex Delivery program, with funds restricted to benefit Michigan residents.
Living and Learning Enrichment Center
A grant of $75,000 supported initiatives for strategic growth and development to enhance the lives of people with disabilities, through therapeutic, social, work-based and community engagement.
The Manna Project
A $50,000 grant supported The Manna Project’s Food 4 Kids Weekend Backpack program, for children in northwest Michigan.
Mariner’s Inn
A $50,000 grant supported the Addiction Peer Recovery Program at Mariner’s Inn.
MCREST
A $20,000 grant provided support for MCREST’s first transitional transitional housing for women & children, located in Mt. Clemens, Michigan.
Mid-Michigan
A $25,000 grant sponsored a labor, delivery, recovery and post-partum suite in the Women’s Health Unit in Alpena, at Michigan’s most remote hospital.
Motor City Mitten Mission
A $250,000 grant provided emergency operating support for Detroit’s only street outreach program and MCMM’s emergency shelter in Warren.
The New Day Foundation for Families
A $250,000 grant provided direct expense support to families in active cancer treatment, easing their financial stress. Positioning our support as a challenge grant ensured an ultimate benefit of $500,000 for these families.
Otsego Community Foundation
A $100,000 grant provided direct support to victims of the May 2022 tornado devastation in Gaylord, Michigan.
The Pink Fund
A $25,000 grant provided direct bill pay assistance for breast cancer patients within the state of Michigan.
The Pope Francis Center
A $100,000 grant offered general operating support and vital services to individuals without housing, such as meals, showers, laundry and access to doctors, dentists, attorneys and housing providers.
Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order (Solanus Casey Center)
Through multiple gifts exceeding $20,000,000, this five-year transformational project included neighborhood revitalization, renovation of the historic St. Bonaventure Chapel and its steeple, expansion and renovation of the existing Solanus Casey Center and outdoor garden/reflection area. A personal commitment of Mr. Van Elslander’s, it was his wish to promote the Center as a place of hope and healing for all, regardless of religious beliefs.
Racquet Up Detroit
Gifts totaling $3,000,000 support RUD’s mission of long-term, demanding and inspiring mentoring, providing education, health and character development, with a goal to achieve 100% high school graduation and 100% college or career enrollment among its students.
The Rainbow Connection
Grants totaling $20,000 fulfilled once-in-a-lifetime wishes for two children in Wayne County, Michigan battling life-threatening illness.
Rose Hill Center
A $25,000 gift provided operational support for this mental health treatment and rehabilitation center, located in Holly, Michigan.
Sanctum House
Grants totaling $525,000 provide support for this safe haven and long-term recovery program for women victims of human trafficking.
SAY Detroit
Grants of $1,100,000 included general operating support and final funding required to begin construction on the educational annex at the SAY Play Center at Lipke Park, providing classrooms, learning labs and an auditorium.
Seedlings Braille Books for Kids
A $6,500 grant provided 150 blind children in Michigan ages 0-5 with Hooray for Braille kids, including children’s books and flashcards with both print and braille, and a primer on braille for parents.
Shades of Pink
A grant of $100,000 helped reduce financial stress for those in Southeast Michigan undergoing breast cancer treatment, by providing funding for daily living expenses.
Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center
A $40,000 grant supported TBCAC’s evidence-based trauma therapy for victims of child abuse.
Variety Club for Children, Inc.
A $150,000 grant provided state-of-the-art myoelectric prosthetic limbs and essential therapy to children with upper limb loss.
Washtenaw Families Against Narcotics
A $30,000 grant to provide addiction and recovery programs.
Women’s Resource Center, Traverse City
Grants totaling $50,000 provided general operating support and a new security fence to ensure the safety of its clients.
“Buildings are just bricks and mortar – the heartbeat of any organization is its people.”
