Impact

Recent projects supported by the Russell Family Foundation include:

2022

  • Alternatives for Girls: $25,000 to support a college- and career-readiness program which supports Detroit middle and high school students and their families.
  • Apex Academy Inc: $50,000 to support a program that provides academic, athletic, and personal support for student-athletes in Lansing public high schools.
  • Boys Hope Girls Hope Detroit: $50,000 to support over two years of programming that addresses needs for students at home and in the classroom.
  • Children’s Center of Wayne County, Inc.: $28,000 to support literacy programming and training for basic needs and family safety.
  • Free Bikes 4 Kidz – Detroit: $25,000 to help collect, repair, and distribute bicycles to children in need in Detroit and nearby communities.
  • Haven, Inc.: $15,000 to support services to children impacted by intimate partner violence and sexual assault.
  • Kids on the Go: $36,607 in support for the Teens to Work program which prepares teens with special needs for employment and teaches the life skills required for living independently.
  • Michigan State University – Grants: $25,000 in support for adding modern technology to the Community Music School Detroit classrooms for youth music programming.
  • Oakland Family Services: $25,000 in support for high-quality academic instruction to preschoolers enabling them to enter kindergarten ready to learn.
  • SER Metro-Detroit Jobs for Progress Inc.: $50,000 in support for the construction of the Youth Reengagement Center in southwest Detroit.

2021

  • Apex Academy: $50,000 to support the personal, professional, and academic development of student-athletes and $20,000 to support general operating expenses for youth sports programming
  • Detroit Food Academy: $27,500 to support improving organizational infrastructure, skills, and capacity
  • Detroit Horse Power: $27,500 to support an urban equestrian center with expanded educational programming
  • Forgotten Harvest, Inc.: $27,500 to support improving access for children to healthy food
  • Girls Group: $27,500 to support a high school readiness program that addresses academic, social, and emotional transitions
  • Racquet Up Detroit: $27,500 to support a student recruitment drive as part of its expansion into a new facility
  • Therapeutic Riding, Inc.: $27,500 for support to expand para-equestrian programming throughout southeast Michigan
  • University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy: $27,500 support for the renovation of a recreation and park to benefit community members and students

2020

  • Alternatives for Girls: $50,000 to support a college readiness program for young women in Detroit
  • Forgotten Harvest: $20,000 in support for food assistance to families in need as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and $25,000 to put into service an additional refrigerated box truck
  • Greater Lansing Food Bank: $25,000 for food assistance to families in need as a result of the COVID-19 crisis
  • Oakland Family Services: $25,000 for support of the home visiting program Parents As Teachers to serve families in Pontiac
  • Racquet Up Detroit: $25,000 for final architectural work and finishing the expansion and facility project

2019

  • Ele’s Place: grant of $25,000 to support the Home for Healing Hearts capital campaign, including specific support for a teen bench in the memory garden
  • Haven Inc.: grant of $25,000 to support domestic violence prevention education in two Oakland County schools
  • Therapeutic Riding Inc.: grant of $10,000 for support of the establishment of the para dressage program
  • Apex Academy, Inc.: grant of $22,000 to implement technology solutions to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the mentoring programming
  • Detroit Food and Entreprenuership Academy: grant of $25,000 to support building infrastructure and capacity
  • Girls Group: grant of $25,000 to support expansion of college and career readiness programming
  • Midnight Golf Program: grant of $25,000 for the College Access and Support program.
  • Racquet Up Detroit: grant of $25,000 to support pre-development costs of the Building for the Future capital campaign
  • Sunny Crest Youth Ranch: grant of $10,000 for program supplies to expand vocational training for youth in residential care

2018

  • Alternatives for Girls, $25,000: Support to expand its “asset building” program and add a new peer mentoring approach
  • InsideOut Literary Arts Project, $15,000: Support for full in-school residency program in one school
  • Oakland Family Services, $23,000: Support to expand an early childhood and parent support program through home visitation
  • Penrickton Center for Blind Children, $15,000: Support for ceiling track equipment for an expanded dance and movement therapy room
  • Detroit Food Academy, $25,000: Support for leadership training and data recording and analysis systems
  • Downtown Boxing Gym, $25,000: Support for a partnership with the Detroit Achievement Academy
  • Girls Group, $25,000: Support to expand the College and Career Preparation programs to all participants, including the development of new curriculum and programming for students as young as middle school age
  • Midnight Golf Program, $25,000: Support for the College Access and Support program to support students from their high school year through college years
  • Racquet Up Detroit, $25,000: Support to build its capacity for program expansion
  • Girls on the Run of Southeastern Michigan, $10,000: Support for one Star Power site at Holmes Elementary School in Ypsilanti