The Impact of the
Michigan Justice Fund

News & Stories

Read News Articles and Stories about The Michigan Justice Fund

News & Stories

Free Your Mind Exhibit

An exhibition highlighting art and incarceration in Michigan.

Free Your Mind Exhibit

In December 2022, 18 Grants were made from the Michigan Justice Fund

Read the Full Press Release Here

  • Berrien-Cass-Van Buren Workforce Development Board, Inc — $100,000 to develop the Shifting Gears program, designed to create a pathway to employment for formerly incarcerated people through the creation of a foundational manufacturing credential in Southwest Michigan 
  • Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids, Inc. — $45,300 for adding skills training plus coordinated wraparound services to existing reentry programs 
  • Michigan Job Training Partnership Association (Michigan Works!) — $100,000 for Michigan Works! Workforce Re-Entry Services Innovation Planning  
  • Neighborhood Defender Services — $100,000 for development of a reentry program offering comprehensive social services and workforce training to formerly incarcerated Michiganders 
  • Oakland County Workforce Development — $100,000 for Oakland Upward, a program designed to increase workforce development services to justice-impacted residents 
  • Safe & Just Michigan — $100,000 for a Re-Entry and Workforce Development Planning collaboration focused on removing barriers to entry to licensed professions for formerly incarcerated people 
  • Self Help Addiction Rehabilitation (SHAR) — $100,000 for the creation of pathways to employment and professional development for returning citizens pursuing careers in recovery coaching 
  • A Brighter Way — $400,000 to develop organizational infrastructure for mentorship programming for returning citizens, and to support the development of programming for the organization to serve an entry point for professional careers for formerly incarcerated individuals 
  • Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) — $300,000 to address persistent employment gaps, enhance the mobility of justice-impacted people, and strengthen peer-led reentry efforts by expanding advanced training and leadership development programs 
  • Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation — $300,000 to prevent recidivism and support re-entry programming in primarily Latinx communities located in Southwest Detroit and Downriver 
  • Here to Help — $50,000 to support formerly incarcerated individuals’ access to transportation for improved access to employment and other resourcing essential for economic mobility 
  • MADE Institute — $300,000 to provide returning citizens in the Greater Flint area with construction skills training, certification and job search assistance while also removing barriers to participation including housing, basic needs, transportation, and health and wellness
  • Women’s Resource Center — $200,000 to expand a program, primarily located in Muskegon and Ottawa counties, that provides formerly incarcerated women with education and employment services and support 
  • Coalition for Re-Envisioning Our Safety (CROS)  $50,000 for training responders and staff with a comprehensive unarmed crisis response plan for community-determined public safety Washtenaw County 
  • Detroit Heals Detroit  $150,000 over two years for continuing the Healing Justice for Detroit Youth program 
  • LINC-UP  $100,000 over two years for educating the public about achieving civic priorities and developing alternatives to the current budgetary priorities in Grand Rapids 
  • Nation Outside  $230,000 over two years for a political and legislative process program for directly impacted communities 
  • Voting Access for All Coalition (VAAC)  $75,000 over two years to provide voter education to people impacted by the criminal legal system 

In May 2021, 12 Grants were made from the Michigan Justice Fund

Read the Full Press Release Here

  • ACLU Fund of Michigan – $316,320 for the Prosecutor Transparency Project, a research partnership with the Washtenaw, Oakland, and Ingham County prosecutors’ offices to examine prosecutorial decision-making impact on racial Minorities
  • Aspen Institute – $175,000 for the Aspen Criminal Justice Reform Initiative to launch the planning process for the Grand Rapids Justice and Governance Partnership, which is designed to advance multi-sector, jurisdictional approaches to reduce the reliance on the justice system
  • Center for Employment Opportunities – $200,000 to launch a Participant Advisory Council, a group of program alumni and participants designed to inform and lead justice reform efforts throughout Michigan
  • Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw – $200,000 to address racial disparities across Washtenaw County’s juvenile and adult criminal legal systems
  • LINC UP – $80,000 for public education efforts and development of alternatives to current budgetary priorities in Grand Rapids
  • Michigan League for Public Policy – $400,000 to coordinate collaborative criminal legal reform efforts focused on racial equity and representation of justice-impacted people through the Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration
  • Michigan Prison Doula Initiative – $50,000 to grow childbirth preparation and doula support programs for incarcerated pregnant people
  • Neighborhood Defender Service – $200,000 for eviction/housing defense legal services for criminal defense clients in Wayne County
  • St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center – $200,000 for a collaborative program with M.A.D.E. Institute to provide returning citizens in transitional housing in Genesee County with job readiness training and work opportunities
  • Wayne State University – $200,000 for a pilot program designed to increase the success and economic mobility of formerly incarcerated individuals through strengthening access to higher education
  • Women’s Resource Center – $200,000 to expand New Beginnings, a program that provides women who are returning to the community after incarceration with education and employment services and support, to Muskegon and Ottawa counties
  • Youth Justice Fund – $50,000 for a trauma-informed, peer-support program that provides wraparound services for returning citizens who were incarcerated as youth

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Ashley Carter