The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, alongside Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, and the Kresge Foundation, announced yesterday the creation of a new partnership, the Southeast Michigan Immigrant and Refugee Funder Collaborative (“The Collaborative”).
The impetus for the Collaborative is based on the findings of a new report that outlines the current state and several pressing challenges facing organizations that support immigrants and refugees. The Collaborative will help the philanthropic community work together to support southeast Michigan’s various immigrant and refugee communities.
There are more than 600,000 foreign-born individuals in Michigan, 70 percent of whom who live in southeast Michigan. From Fiscal Year 2012 through Fiscal Year 2018, Michigan was the fourth largest state in the country for refugee acceptances since 2012, behind Texas, California and New York. The number of refugees entering Michigan has declined by 85.7 percent since fiscal year 2016.
The four key critical issues facing the segment of foreign-born individuals in southeast Michigan that need assistance include: (1) lack of access to services; (2) poor public perception; (3) insufficient funding; and (4) a lack of strategic funding for organizations supporting immigrants and refugees.
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