Washtenaw County, the City of Ann Arbor and the Washtenaw Urban County have worked diligently to develop the New Human Services Partnership, replacing Coordinated Funding of Human Services. The renewed focus of the Partnership is to incorporate equity throughout the process and to focus on addressing poverty, racism, and trauma as root causes of institutional inequity. There are three distinct funding rounds planned for 2022:
- Safety net services –This funding round is currently open (5-year grants)
- One- year mini-grants – intended to try out new ideas and/or work with newer agencies. This funding round is scheduled to open in the summer (1-year grants)
- High impact grants - Programs, systems, or initiatives providing new additive to current programming with high impact over time. This funding round is scheduled for the fall/winter of 2022. (5-year grants).
The partners are looking for Community Reviewers for all three funding rounds, but in particular, the Safety Net Funding round that is currently open. Human services agencies across Washtenaw County will be applying for funding and we want your help as a Community Reviewer to consider the applications and assist with the funding recommendations. For the current Safety Net Funding round, organizations will be submitting proposals for programming related to emergency food support, housing and homelessness, health and basic medical needs, and childcare for households at or below the poverty line. Part of creating an equitable process, is to invite community to help review and recommend decisions. We invite you to apply to become a community reviewer.
The first round of the review process will occur between May 2nd and May 6th 2022, with training at the end of April. The anticipated time commitment is 25-30 hours. We are looking for people with a wide array of experiences, backgrounds and perspectives, so we encourage you to apply even if you do not have any previous grant review experience. We are looking to provide reviewers with a small stipend for their time as a reviewer. If you are interested in participating, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/pYiPvZvdcCkU8dkg8
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To learn more about the New Human Services Partnership and the funding rounds, visit https://www.washtenaw.org/3422/New-Human-Services-Partnership-Planning