<«1 I ran* : 1 The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 1986 Annual Report The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 1986 Annual Report Our Founder 3 Our Philosophy 4 Annual Message 10 Youth In Crisis: Living On The Jagged Edge 43 Grants 75 Finance 89 Other Information 90 How To Apply For A Grant 91 Publications 92 Officers And Staff 93 Index Our Founder Charles Stewart Mott, who purposes, it became a major factor established this Foundation in in the life of Flint through 1926, was deeply concerned from organized schoolground his earliest years in Flint with the recreational activities, which welfare of his adopted community. developed into the nationwide community education program. Soon after he had become one of the city's leading industrialists, From this start, the Foundation's this General Motors pioneer found major concern has been the well- a practical and successful way to being of the community: the express his interest. He served two individual, the family, the years as mayor (1912-13) during a neighborhood, the systems of period when the swiftly growing government. This interest has city was beset with municipal continued to find expression in problems, with 40,000 people Flint and also has taken us far sharing facilities adequate for beyond our home city. 10,000. This report deals with the As a private citizen, he started a avenues that we explored in 1986 medical and dental clinic for while mindful of the founder's children and helped establish the motto: "Let us be known by our = / YMCA and the Boy Scouts in deeds, and not by our money." Cd^' ;yfr^ 7%rf?7 Flint. (fB7S-1?73) Nine years after the Foundation was incorporated for philanthropic, charitable and educational R Our Philosophy The Charles Stewart Mott needs, the Foundation supports a Our current activities are Foundation is a private non- variety of approaches organized focused in eight major national operating foundation supporting and interrelated under four basic areas: programs across the United States principles of grantmaking: and on a limited basis • At-risk youth, including adolescent pregnancy internationally. • Opportunity for the Individual • Community education The Mott Foundation has long • Partnership with the • Community foundations and been interested and involved in Community other philanthropic issues improving the quality of life • Effective Functioning of • Economic development and through community self- Community Systems neighborhood revitalization improvement—rrom within • Leadership as the Mobilizer • Employment and training neighborhoods to within city hall, • Environment and through education, social welfare, Within each principle, grants are conservation economic development and categorized by missions which • Historically black colleges environmental management. That provide the context for the • Social welfare concern is still evident today in the Foundation's programming. Each Foundation's grantmaking interests mission may contain one or several In addition, we fund a variety and priorities. program areas whose importance of activities in our home may ebb and flow annually. As community, Flint, Michigan. Today's communities are opportunity presents itself and as Beyond current program areas, complex and face a broad range of dollars become available, some the Foundation also supports problems. In response to changing program areas take on greater program activities which encourage significance. Regardless of funding limitations that may currently exist exploration in many other areas of funding. in a given program area, we remain interested in creative For information on how to proposals that are relevant to our apply for a grant, see page 90. overall interests and that might serve as a basis for our future efforts. Yesterday's Children, Today's Victims Help Me odds against their finding a way to For our own part, the Mott security and stability are many Foundation has been involved in M_y life is falling apart. times greater. the issues of at-risk youth from My dreams are shattered, our very beginning. In fact, among My hopes are faded away, These are our youth in crisis. the Foundation's first grants in I have lost the sights to look The stumbling blocks they face, 1926 was a program to provide ahead to the future. day in and day out, to a healthy care and opportunities for under- I need to knoio who I am but I and productive life did not develop privileged Flint-area boys. don't know where to start. overnight, but have been a long I want so much to cry, but I'm time in society's making. Over the years, our afraid that no one will hear me. Recognition of the problem has programming built upon founder I need the chance to reach out to not come about overnight, either. Charles Stewart Mott's historical someone, In fact, there have been many interest in promoting self-reliant but I'm afraid there will be no one initiatives aimed at addressing the individuals. Accordingly, we made there to catch me. needs of at-risk youth over the funds available for health care and years. recreational outlets, remedial education, the problems of While some have been successful Maria was 16 and suicidal when delinquency, truancy, and in and of themselves, more often she wrote these words. Her dropouts, the consequences of than not, the initiatives have not adolescent years are ugly memories too-early childbearing, and dealt with the complexity of the of incest and abuse, homelessness, increasingly, joblessness total picture. Thus, efforts have poverty drugs and anger—anger at among youth. a system she was "born into and ended up focusing on treating forced to find my own way out of." symptoms rather than causes, and In so doing, we have looked at assistance has often gone to those many approaches to deal with the Maria's background is becoming who have had the greatest issues of our at-risk youth. In all too familiar to a growing possibility of "making it". some cases, such as our 1981 segment of our nation's young annual report, which dealt with Now experts tell us that we people. These are young people the consequences of too-early really aren't making much progress who, for many reasons, live in childbearing, we have already in the fight to save our youth. poverty, drop out of school, often shared those experiences. bear children as teens, have And while there is growing chronic problems with substance recognition of the issue as a It has become traditional for us abuse, find no jobs or only low- national problem, the fact is that to focus on a special topic in our paying jobs, and, more often than children and youth in poverty have annual reports. In 1985, for not, end up on the wrong side of few friends to advocate effectively instance, the focus was on the law. for them. That is one reason that community foundations and how we, and some of our colleagues in they are becoming the growth area And if, like Maria, they belong philanthropy, believe at-risk youth of philanthropy. In 1984, we to a disadvantaged minority, the warrant a high priority in the foundation community. H offered our experiences in We believe this statement holds unemployment throughout life. nurturing strong, unified voices many messages for us as we look Having a job may be the only through community organizing. at the epidemic unemployment of chance at security some of these Economic development was the our nation's youth. young people will have. focus in 1983, and in 1982, we First and foremost, we must illustrated how community Third, we must realize that for recognize that having a place in education is at work across the too long we have related to our economic system is nation addressing all phases of adolescents as "consumers" in need particularly important for the peoples' lives, concerns and of our services, our assistance. young—even for those who lack livelihoods. This is not surprising, given basic education. traditional thinking. Given the growing national Statistics show that of the concern for the plight of our In fact, young people have nation's 35 million young people young people, we've chosen to potential power as producers, as between the ages of 16 and 24, focus this report on our work in individuals who, with some help, youth employment and training. In four million are looking for and can take charge of their lives and unable to find a job. particular, we are concentrating on contribute significantly to the Unemployment rates for black our national program, started in welfare of their communities. 1980, to test hands-on approaches youth are more than 2Vz times greater than for whites, and With these things in mind, the to helping at-risk youth become Hispanic youth fall between the Mott Foundation has geared its employable, and to strengthen two. Without a job, their options work in public policy toward public policy on behalf of are painfully limited and the advocating that public resources be unemployed youth. upshot has been all too apparent. focused on the truly needy; As we noted in our 1983 annual helping the field through Second, while creating more report: dissemination of research results jobs for youth is critical, this won't and replication of successful "In order for individuals to have solve the unemployment problem strategies; and strengthening an opportunity to be a partner for many unskilled school leadership in the field by in the American dream, there dropouts. Most entry-level jobs encouraging networking, technical must be a place for each in our require basic literacy and world-of- assistance and workshops. nation's economic system, a work skills, which many dropouts place where each can lack. In our demonstration programs, productively use his or her our goal has been to devise new talents.