Additional grants assist food insecurity, children with autism, mental health, opportunities for urban kids and financial literacy
(DETROIT, Mich. – May 13, 2025) The Priority Health Total Health Foundation announces its latest round of grants totaling nearly $800,000 to 11 nonprofits working in and around Southeast Michigan to address pressing issues such as women and children without housing, keeping children with autism safe, providing nutrition to young adults living on the streets, improving outcomes of maternal and infant health and other important initiatives.
“Our continued desire is to partner with grassroots organizations who understand the needs of those living in and around Detroit and have a passion and mission to meet those needs,” said Shannon Wilson, executive director of the Priority Health Total Health Foundation. “We are privileged to serve these organizations and join their good work to come alongside the underserved in Southeast Michigan.”
More about grant recipients:
Brightmoor Connection is creating a 23-bed women’s transitional housing center for women and children who need refuge following a housing crisis. The program specifically targets women who work but still struggle to provide basic necessities such as housing and utility costs. It fills a critical gap in the Brightmoor area where beds and supportive services are scarce for this demographic.
Autism Alliance of Michigan will use its grant to provide wearable GPS devices to low-income families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who are prone to wandering, as well as provide safety training to first responders on recognizing and appropriately interacting with individuals with ASD.
Caleb’s Kids provides mental health initiatives aimed at community members ages 5-99 promoting mental health wellness, literacy, resilience skills and positive coping strategies. Youth, parents and families will explore mental health, mental illness and suicide prevention provided by licensed behavioral health professionals and a validated curriculum.
Covenant House of Michigan offers a nutrition and meal service program for individuals, age 18-24, who are experiencing homelessness. The nutrient-dense meals serve up to 65 residents of Covenant’s emergency shelter and transitional living programs three times daily on weekdays and twice daily on weekends.
Detroit HorsePower uses horseback riding to impact Detroit urban kids and provide opportunities to grow in confidence and participate in after school programs and summer camps. The goal is to empower young people to graduate from high school with the option to pursue college or a career and to achieve long-term success in life.
Figure Skating in Detroit uses ice skating instruction and competition in conjunction with after school programs and mentoring to help young urban girls develop confidence and communication and leadership skills. Additionally, health and wellness education ensure participants maintain a balanced lifestyle by focusing on nutrition, mental health and overall well-being.
Money Matters for Youth is a Detroit based financial literacy program whose mission is to teach children the basics of economics and financial responsibility. They offer a five-day annual camp for youth “investors” and include literacy, goal setting and the importance of positive relationships in addition to financial instruction.
Detroit Urban Research Center will use their grant for a project focusing on evidence-based policy change strategy to improve maternal and infant health in community-based organizations working in Detroit. Five teams will pursue policy implementation projects at the local or state level.
Functional Fluidics will tackle a research study to evaluate blood samples from early pregnancy in women with sickle cell disease to evaluate the potential of predictive biomarkers for pregnancy complications. In collaboration with Wayne State University and the SOS Maternity Network, the study aims to expand understanding of the interplay between sickle cell disease and pregnancy with a focus on identifying new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Oakland University kicks off its Healthy Campus Initiative which includes enhancements to health literacy programming, expansion of early-alert wellness checks in classrooms, growth of the Wellness Buddy program for residential students and increased support for students facing food insecurity.
Sanctum House is a safe home for survivors of human trafficking to heal and rebuild. Their grant will be used to provide wraparound services for physical and mental health including medical and dental care of residents, nutritional and health empowerment skills training, mental health therapy regarding trauma and establishing healthy relationships.
Since 2020, the Priority Health Total Health Foundation has remained committed to the most underserved residents of Southeast Michigan by awarding nearly $18 million in grants to nonprofits working to address factors outside of healthcare and doctor’s visits that impact overall health and well-being. This includes housing, food insufficiency, education, literacy and maternal/infant health.