Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Launches $10 Million Play Initiative
The Buffalo-based Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has announced a $10 million initiative to provide children and youth across western New York State and southeastern Michigan with more opportunities for free play through the creation of public play spaces.
Read the full article at Philanthropy News Digest »Ralph Wilson Foundation to fund skate parks, playgrounds and play spaces in WNY
If you build it they will come.
The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation announced Thursday the creation of a program that will build interactive public play spaces for kids as well as skate parks in western New York and southeast Michigan.
The “Built to Play’’ initiative will be funded by $5 million awards to each region through RCWJRF, a grantmaking organization established by the late founder of the Buffalo Bills.
Read the full article at Democrat & Chronicle »Editorial: Ralph Wilson Comes Through
Explore & More museum’s Valentine’s Day gift is a box of multimillion dollar chocolates the entire community will enjoy, thanks to the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
The museum will appropriately be named: Explore & More – The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Children’s Museum.
The foundation’s promise to award $6 million to the project if the museum also raises $6 million offers peace of mind to those in charge of this enchanting effort.
Read the full article at Buffalo News »Wilson Foundation gives Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association a $1 million grant
A $1 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has launched the Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association’s fundraising efforts for its new rowing center one giant length closer to the finish line.
The grant is the largest gift the BSRA has received for the Patrick Paladino Memorial Boathouse, based on the original donation of land from the Paladino family, and will be used for the construction and management of the center located at 405 Ohio St. on the Buffalo River.
Read the full article at The Buffalo News »Foundation, TechTown to Collaborate on Innovation Center
The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation is looking to fill a gaping hole in metro Detroit’s support system for nonprofits — and it’s turning to some experts in entrepreneurial cross-pollination to help.
The foundation is putting more than $5 million in grants over the next few years behind what could be a first-of-its-kind nonprofit support and innovation center. To run it, the foundation has tapped the TechTown business incubator in Detroit to transfer the supportive approach and collaborative, innovative environment it’s created for entrepreneurs to the region’s nonprofits.
That funding is just the tip of the $1 billion foundation’s planned commitment to nonprofit support and innovation.
While there are many consultants and organizations offering various capacity-building and operating supports for nonprofits, there’s no coordinated system of them in the region, the foundation found after a yearlong study. Just as importantly, there’s no local, dedicated space for nonprofits to innovate together.
Read the full article at Crain's Detroit Business »Elderly care provider receives $151,000 grant
A leading elderly memory care provider in Rochester has received a $151,000 grant toward staff training.
Rochester Presbyterian Home, an assisted living facility with three locations in Perinton, Chili and the 19th Ward, received the grant through the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, a community development nonprofit founded by the late businessman, famed for founding the Buffalo Bills.
The care facility received the grant as a response to their innovative approaches to dealing with residents suffering from memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Utilizing The Eden Alternative, a technique used to ease the burden of loneliness and helplessness, residents are allowed pets, given an array of stimulating activities and are attended to closely by staff. The grant funding will go toward training and certifying staff as memory care specialists.
Read the full article at Rochester Business Journal »Detroit health partnership targets premature birth, infant mortality
Detroit health officials hope increased access to child care services and information during pregnancy will reduce premature births and decrease infant mortality, Mayor Mike Duggan said Wednesday.
Make Your Date Detroit, a partnership with the city and Wayne State University (WSU), has served more than 5,800 women since launching in 2014. The effort is adding another partner, SisterFriends Detroit, to increase its reach with prenatal care, awareness of cervical length screening and treatment, pregnancy education classes and more.
“Make Your Date is having a significant impact in Detroit,” Duggan said. ” …we must ensure that even more women gain access to the highest quality care and a strong support system to guide them through their pregnancy. That’s why we’re connecting Make Your Date with SisterFriends Detroit.”
SisterFriends provides volunteer mentors for women during pregnancy and the year after birth. It received $2 million from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, $100,000 from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and $70,000 from the Kresge Foundation for volunteer training, community outreach and professional development, according to a news release.
Read the full article at MLive »$2M Wilson Foundation grant will connect neighborhoods “everywhere” and to “everything”
Greenways will soon take Detroiters from 8 Mile to the Riverfront and everywhere in between. That’s the “gist” of the anticipated impact of a $2 million Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation grant announced by Mayor Mike Duggan today. Neighborhood residents, who remain largely disconnected by roadways that split neighborhoods and partial pathways that lead “nowhere,” will soon be fully connected by the Inner Circle Greenway (ICG), a 26-mile recreational path that will provide non-motorized access to city parks, commercial corridors, job sites, the riverfront and downtown.
The $2 million will be used to develop comprehensive design and construction documents for the Conrail property and all remaining unconstructed segments of the ICG, as well as an overarching ICG Framwork that incorporates the half-mile corridor to either side of the greenway itself.
Read the full article at The Hub Detroit »$345K grant to fund West Riverfront Park design contest
The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy has received a $345,000 grant to fund a design competition to help transform the park that sits on property that was once home to the Detroit Free Press printing plant, officials said. The nonprofit dedicated to developing the city’s riverfront district and facilitate community access to the waterfront, the Conservancy said it received the grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to help revamp Detroit’s West Riverfront Park.
Read the full article at The Detroit News »Op-Ed: For healthy kids and futures, we need more play
Southeast Michigan is a diverse region. It covers broad swatches of farmland, suburbs, and urban neighborhoods. Half of our state population resides in metro Detroit, which contains both affluent and low-income families of many ethnicities. In our communities and neighborhoods, it is the next generation – young people of all ages, cultures and creeds – who will steward the enterprising tenacious spirit that is redefining us.
It is within this context that the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation and our partners at the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan unveil “State of Play,” a report that analyzes the rate of participation in youth sports in the seven counties of this region – Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, and St. Clair counties.
The study is anchored in the notion that everyone in the community will benefit if our children are provided access to quality sport experience, as such experiences lead to greater cognitive function, position mental health, better educational outcomes, and greater likelihood of lifelong healthy habits.
Read the full article at Detroit Free Press »