FRED A AND BARBARA M ERB FAMILY FOUNDATION

Desired Outcome: Sustainable ("triple bottom line”) development and public policies that are socially equitable and sensitive to environmental and public health concerns in the city of Detroit and the metropolitan Detroit region.
The Foundation will consider support for projects that:
• Promote sustainable ("triple bottom line”) development – development that balances present and future economic, environmental and social outcomes;
• Encourage entrepreneurial and responsible business solutions to the region’s environmental issues;
• Build a healthy and equitable local food system based on sustainable solutions;
• Strengthen collaborative, community-based efforts that bring together environmental justice and public health concerns, aligning research, policy and practice, and developing local environmental citizenship, advocacy and leadership; and
• Promote cooperation and collaboration between consumers, the business community and government agencies to develop policies and practices addressing environmental toxins and pollutants.

Desired Outcome: A strong central city and vibrant neighborhoods in the city of Detroit that also contribute to the quality of life in metro Detroit.
The Foundation will provide:
• General operating support to a diverse but defined set of organizations that represent the cultural mainstays of the region, including those that have historical significance to the Erb family; and
• Additional support to these anchor institutions in exceptional cases for time-limited, large-scale transformational efforts. This may take the form of capital or endowment campaigns, major physical infrastructure needs, innovative and comprehensive marketing and outreach efforts, or significant investments that will strengthen their position as cultural anchors. The Foundation is particularly interested in using its support of these efforts to attract new and additional philanthropic resources for the organization, so grants in this area will typically be challenge grants.

Please note that the Foundation will not accept unsolicited applications in these areas.

Desired Outcome: Robust civic participation and more attractive, prosperous neighborhoods in Detroit and other economically challenged areas across metropolitan Detroit, contributing to a stronger region.
The Foundation will consider project support for activities that:
• Strengthen individual neighborhoods through cultural activities and public art;
• Expose and engage residents and audiences in opportunities for creative expression and participation in order to build community, with an emphasis on projects that:
o explore the intersection of arts and the environment, or
o build on the community’s artistic roots and history to support its cultural and economic renaissance; and
• Develop the support infrastructure to help create an economically sustainable arts community.

We support advanced jazz instruction for
musically talented but economically disadvantaged young people, an investment in
Detroit’s strong jazz tradition and a reflection
of Fred Erb’s love of jazz.

We support leading research on the prevention, management and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. We do not accept unsolicited proposals in this area.