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One of our most valued benefactors came through- AGAIN - in a big way last week to help some Oakland County residents get the resources they need to navigate the challenges of life.
The Ballmer Group, founded and led by Steve and Connie Ballmer, has contributed a $4.6 million grant to help us ensure our residents, especially students, get the support they need during these very difficult times.
The three-year grant funds community health workers and mental health navigators in Southfield and Hazel Park to provide wrap-around support services to families and students to address issues of housing, food, healthcare, jobs and transportation.
This partnership is about meeting families where they are and removing barriers that can stand in the way of a child’s success.
We couldn’t do this vital work without their generous support.
I first encountered the Ballmers after visiting Akron, Ohio to learn about the work basketball great LeBron James was doing in the schools there. They were taking the least successful students and wrapping them with all the resources that are important to succeed. They were getting incredible results there and that was the kernel of the idea that we took to the Ballmer Group.
They became an early supporter of this concept in 2021 and contributed to the Communities in Schools program that operated in the Ferndale, Madison Heights, Oak Park and Pontiac schools and helped nearly 15,000 students and their families.
They also helped fund the “I Am Pontiac” summer job training program, which has placed more than 400 students in summer jobs to give them the first taste of what it feels like to get and keep a job.
Steve Ballmer has become a national treasure for his business acumen and philanthropy. But he has never forgotten his roots, growing up in Farmington Hills and graduating from Detroit Country Day. On this day, and every day, Oakland County is grateful to Steve and the Ballmer Group for always supporting our communities.
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