Racial equity and justice are preconditions for greater opportunity in neighborhoods. That’s why in 2020, at the intersection of the Black Lives Matter movement and the COVID-19 pandemic, Kresge’s Detroit Program invested $8 million in new grant commitments in organizations working at the frontlines of racial equity and justice.
General operating support for the Detroit Justice Center was a key component, as the Center scales legal services, engages with a national network of place-based racial justice orgs, and forges community support for the transformation of the criminal punishment system and investment in proactive forms of safety and well-being.
“Now is the time,” says Wendy Lewis Jackson, managing director of Kresge’s Detroit Program, “to redouble our commitment to provide the next generation a more equitable city.”