Annual Report 2004 - Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

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coalition of congregations working to
promote fairness, justice and democracy in
Miami-Dade County.
A two-year, $200,000 grant to PACT
was made to help strengthen the project’s
capacity to cultivate local grassroots support
for education reform. Activities include
community leadership development and
training, and opportunities for organizers to
share challenges, successes and strategies.
PACT is also one of eight sites
participating in a Mott-funded study by
New York University’s Institute for
Education and Social Policy on issues of
education organizing and academic
improvement. The six-year study, launched
in 2002 and supported in 2004 by a twoyear,
$628,361 grant to the institute, is
exploring the contribution of community
organizing to education reform in lowperforming
districts and schools.
PACT and three other sites — Austin
(Texas) Interfaith Sponsoring Committee,
Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project
(Philadelphia) and Milwaukee Innercity
Congregations Allied for Hope — each
received two-year, $200,000 grants for
activities related to the study.
EXPANDING ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY
The important role of supportive public
policy in breaking down economic barriers
for poor families is evident in the nation’s
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) programs.
The federal EITC program reduces or
eliminates the federal income taxes owed by
many low- and moderate-income workers.
In cases where the credit exceeds the tax
owed, the program provides a wage
supplement in the form of a tax refund.
The success of the federal tax credit as
an anti-poverty program — and the
bipartisan support it enjoys — has led to the
creation of 18 state-level EITC programs for
state income tax credits around the country,
helping lift more households in those states
further out of poverty.
Supporting the development of additional
state EITC programs was the purpose of a
two-year, $305,000 grant to the Bethesda,
Maryland-based Hatcher Group for the State
EITC Initiative. The initiative provides
strategic communications and technical
assistance on related issues to regional
coalitions of public and private organizations,
helping them advance EITC policies in states
where the credit is not yet available.
Capitalizing on local partnerships to
help Michigan families and communities
build economic strength was the purpose of
a 38-month, $450,000 grant to the state’s
Department of Labor and Economic
Growth, which created 13 Regional Skills
Alliances. The alliances bring leaders from
the public and private sectors together to
nurture job growth and opportunity in
specific industries, and to encourage the
development of a skilled workforce to meet
those industries’ needs.
The grant also complements Mott’s
longstanding support for industry-specific
— or sectoral — job training, a field geared
toward the development and sustainability
of living-wage career opportunities for lowincome
workers.
Helping young, low-income, noncustodial
fathers create a stable, successful
future with their families has been the focus
56 CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION