Providing funds for basic needs has always been a central focus for the AAACF. This commitment has grown substantially in recent years through all our efforts and our approach to it is data-driven and intersectional. Through our work and research with local governments, nonprofits and other community organizations, we know that issues related to housing, access to nutritious food, healthcare, criminal justice, and education overlap with financial, racial, gender, and age-related inequities that persist in Washtenaw County.

These are areas that require institutional and systemic change, but also where people like you – supporters, donors, volunteers, and advocates in our community – are making a significant impact. For example, because of your support, in 2022 the AAACF announced a commitment of $1 million to Renovare Development, a mission-based housing developer, which is building Dorsey Estates. This investment providing permanent affordable for-sale housing in Ypsilanti's Depot Town, where the need for such a development is high.

This project is named after Mattie Dorsey, who spent much of her life advocating for fair housing in historically Black neighborhoods and was the first Black woman elected to the Ypsilanti City Council. The Dorsey Estates development will provide 46 new, for-sale, single family houses, with 23 homes reserved for homebuyers who make 40-80% of the area median income. Those homes will also have deed restrictions to ensure they remain permanently affordable while creating generational wealth for the homeowners.

Through other AAACF programs and initiatives, like Aging Justice, Youth Council, EmpowerMENt, and the Community Grantmaking Program, we can focus our support on different populations in our community and support their specifics needs, as those needs evolve, in perpetuity. As a hub for Washtenaw County to bring people, resources and organizations together, it’s our honor to help facilitate change that gives us ALL the opportunity to thrive.