CONTACTS:

Steve Palackdharry

Communications Manager

Southwest Solutions

313.297.1374

Bill O’Brien

Director of Community Partnerships

Southwest Solutions

313.841.8900 x 2339

—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—

Skillman Foundation awards $100,000 To

Southwest Solutions’ Community Organizing Program

Grant Will Expand Efforts to Mobilize on Behalf of Children and Youth

DETROIT, August 3, 2009 — Southwest Solutions’ community partnerships program has been awarded a $100,000 grant by The Skillman Foundation to strengthen and expand community capacity for leadership, planning and advocacy for children through community organizing in southwest Detroit.

The grant will allow the program to build upon its successful organizing efforts by hiring additional organizers and developing new initiatives. Southwest Solutions’ community partnerships program was established last year with Skillman Foundation seed funding.

“Support from Skillman has enabled us to significantly increase civic participation and grassroots leadership in southwest Detroit,” said John Van Camp, president of Southwest Solutions. “Through relationship building and mobilizing all sectors of the community, we hope to promote a culture that prioritizes the healthy development of children and youth. The future and viability of our neighborhoods depend on effectively identifying and addressing the needs of children and youth.”

The Southwest Solutions' community organizing effort is a collaboration with the Harriet Tubman Center, which offers internships and professional training to aspiring organizers, and numerous other groups, organizations and individuals. Organizers work with many sectors in the community, including: youth and youth-serving agencies, parents of school children, school principals, neighborhood residents, organizations addressing the needs of the poor, faith-based groups, activists, artists, and others.

The organizing effort has already registered numerous successes and continues to gain significant momentum and media attention. Youth Voice, a grassroots organizing effort designed to give youth a greater voice in the city and public policy, has secured regular meetings with Mayor Dave Bing and his staff to work toward better schools, safer and cleaner neighborhoods, youth employment, recreational opportunities, a more responsive system of care for youth.

Working with principals and Local School Community Organizations (LSCO) at elementary schools in southwest Detroit, school-based organizing projects focus on issues of safety and crime, improving the school and learning environment, enhancing parental involvement, and securing additional resources and attention for the public schools. Organizers have galvanized LSCOs by facilitating parental meetings with appropriate officials to address issues that harm children's ability to learn.

“In the coming grant year, we plan to organize and build capacity in at least seven schools, three neighborhood organizations and four churches,” said Bill O’Brien, director of community partnerships at Southwest Solutions. “In addition, we will continue to develop Youth Voice and many other initiatives, cultivate grassroots leadership, engage policymakers, and forge a collaborative that is committed to assuring that the social service, economic and educational needs of southwest Detroit children and youth are met.”

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Southwest Solutions (http://www.swsol.org) is the holding company of Southwest Counseling Solutions and Southwest Housing Solutions. The family of corporations offers a wide range of services to create a stronger and healthier southwest Detroit community, including mental health and early childhood services, affordable housing, home ownership counseling, employment opportunities and innovative economic development projects.

Created in 1960, The Skillman Foundation (http://www.skillman.org) is a private philanthropy whose chief aim is to help develop good schools and good neighborhoods for children. Though grants are made throughout metropolitan Detroit, most grants are directed at six Detroit neighborhoods – Southwest Detroit (Vernor and Chadsey/Condon), Brightmoor, Osborn, Cody/Rouge and the Northend – and toward innovative and successful schools throughout the city of Detroit.

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