United Way of Southwest Michigan: Southwest Michigan Cares Fund

About

As the community works through the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, local funders and businesses have come together to create the Southwest Michigan Cares Fund. This fund will aid non-profit partners that are working to support the emergent basic human needs of our residents during this time and the resulting ongoing financial impact on our non-profit organizations.

Berrien Community Foundation, Hanson Family Foundation, Lakeland Health Spectrum, United Way of Southwest Michigan, and Whirlpool Corporation have each pledged $50,000 to address community needs associated with the outbreak. Other major funders at this time include the AEP Foundation, the Frederick S. Upton Foundation, Meijer, Consumers Energy Foundation, and individual donors.

The initial focus area of the Southwest Michigan Cares Fund is immediate response for non-profits providing emergent basic human needs. The fund will then consider grants addressing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

About the Host

United Way of Southwest Michigan is part of a national network of more than 1,300 locally governed organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and people’s lives. Building on more than a century of service as the nation’s preeminent community-based fundraiser, United Way engages the community to identify the underlying causes of the most significant local issues, develops strategies and pulls together financial and human resources to address them, and measures the results.