About the Community Foundation
Wherever you go in Emmet County, you’ll find your Community Foundation at work: helping enrich the lives of our elders, supporting programs for children, reaching out to friends and neighbors in need, expanding parks and recreational activities, protecting our environment, enhancing health services and bringing more music, art, and cultural opportunities to our area.
Mission
To improve the quality of life for all people in Emmet County, by:
- Connecting donors with community needs
- Building a permanent source of charitable funds to serve our area
- Addressing a broad range of community issues through innovative grant making
- Championing philanthropy and active citizenship
Values
In striving to accomplish our mission, the staff, board, and volunteers of the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation will abide by the following core values and principles:
- Collaboration – We seek to be a thoughtful and respected partner, to tackle issues for the greater good in Emmet County.
- Resource – We have a proud history of connecting people, organizations, needs, know-how and funding.
- Inclusion – We know that meaningful representation and engaging the full spectrum of our community leads us to better solutions. Diversity of perspectives is an asset to any community seeking to improve the quality of life for all.
- Leadership – We are in a unique position to serve as a visionary catalyst for positive change. In doing so, we challenge ourselves and the status quo, and we hope to influence other leaders to innovate together.
Commitment to Community:
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging
To fulfill our mission of improving the quality of life for all people in Emmet County, we must be committed to recognizing, understanding, representing, and serving the unique individuals who make up our community. We understand that meaningful representation and engaging the full spectrum of our community leads us to better solutions. Diversity of perspectives is an asset to any community seeking to improve the quality of life for all.
By operating through inclusive policies and practices that support Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging, the Community Foundation supports and honors the inherent dignity of every member of our community, as well as our visitors.
We Recognize:
- Each of us has unique and varied human differences, including but not limited to age, race, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical ability, education, lived experience, and family situations.
- We do not all start from the same place. In addition to varied personal situations, past and present structural and systemic factors in our community and throughout the nation and world, do not benefit all groups of people equally. Equitable access to critical resources is necessary in order to thrive individually and collectively.
- Meaningful representation and engaging the full spectrum of our community leads us to better solutions. Differing perspectives are critical for any community seeking to improve the quality of life for all.
- Barriers and limitations, seen and unseen, can limit accessibility to information, products, services, facilities, and environments.
- Communities are built and collaborations are possible when individuals feel worthy, wanted, and welcome.
As we endeavor to foster an inclusive, equitable, and engaged Emmet County, we are committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture throughout our organization.
Implementation and Oversight:
We know that this work requires so much more than just this statement. Meaningful and impactful support for our community requires continued listening, evaluating, adapting, and growing. We begin with this shared commitment. Our ongoing work involves collaboration between staff, board members, and the community at large to make sure that the Community Foundation represents diverse voices and experiences, provides equitable resources, and is accessible to all in our community. The Community Foundation has formed a DEIAB Committee to oversee this work. Through regular meetings and policy reviews, the DEIAB committee ensures that the organization’s commitment to inclusion is informed, actionable, impactful, supportive, and representative of Emmet County.