Lenawee Humane Society receives $25,000 from the Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund

The Daily Telegram
·2 min read

ADRIAN — A grant from a fund created with pandemic-relief money has been awarded to the Lenawee Humane Society.

The Humane Society will receive $25,000 from the Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund, established by the Michigan Nonprofit Association and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

“This grant comes at the perfect time, during the most challenging year we’ve experienced in more than a decade,” Sasha Wilkerson, director of communications and marketing for the Humane Society, said in a news release. “With a nation-wide veterinarian shortage happening at the same time our community is struggling with the effects from the recent pandemic, our donations and adoptions have decreased by half their normal amount. This life-saving grant is already making a huge impact on our organization along with the pets and people we serve.”

Two kittens watch their sibling play in a playpen April 16, 2022, at the Lenawee Humane Society during the shelter's "kitten shower" event. The Humane Society has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund
Two kittens watch their sibling play in a playpen April 16, 2022, at the Lenawee Humane Society during the shelter's "kitten shower" event. The Humane Society has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund

The $35 million Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund was created from the American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded to the state of Michigan to support Michigan-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits with annual revenues of less than $1 million that have demonstrated necessary expenditures and losses incurred after March 3, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said. The fund was designed to give special attention to underserved and underrepresented populations including nonprofits in rural areas and those led by or serving Black, indigenous and people of color communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Michigan-based nonprofits applied to the Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund in the spring of 2023. Applications were reviewed by a panel of Michigan nonprofit leaders in the summer, and a total of 1,373 awardees were selected this fall.

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"The Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund is vital for helping to remove barriers to economic prosperity and providing residents with the resources they need following the pandemic,” Kim Trent, deputy director for prosperity at the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), said in the release. “We’re proud to support eligible nonprofits who have been resilient and innovative these last few years so that we can continue to lift Michiganders out of poverty and empower communities across the state.”

In addition to the Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund, LEO is administering an additional $15 million MI Nonprofit Impact Grant program to support larger nonprofits working to lift people out of poverty and beyond the ALICE (Asset Limited Income Constrained, Employed) threshold.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Lenawee Humane Society receives $25,000 grant