The Ford Foundation has announced its intent to reopen an office in Detroit after being absent from the city for 64 years. The foundation was created in 1936 by Edsel Ford, son of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, and left the city in 1953.
The office will be run by a newly hired program officer, who will be stationed in Detroit later in the year. Ford Foundation’s President, Darren Walker, has decided to place this employee in the city in a continuing effort to reestablish the foundation’s connection to its original home.
Detroit’s program officer will be in charge of seeing to the proper usage of the $15 million worth of grants that the foundation is giving to the city on a yearly basis.
The Ford Foundation’s primary goal with the installation of the new office in Detroit is so that the foundation can invest in affordable housing for the residents of the city. The foundation’s board has allocated a significant portion of its endowment towards combating American housing costs and provide affordable housing.
The foundation is heavily invested in the revitalization of Detroit, setting the revival of the city through affordable housing investments as their primary goal.
The Ford Foundation’s president is quoted as elaborating on the issue, "What drove it was the realization was that we're going to have to leverage every asset we have to advance revitalization in Detroit.”
Walker is clear on his and the foundation’s intent to bring the foundation full circle, investing into the city. It is the foundation’s hope that this investment, along with the physical presence of the officer in Detroit, will bring back the trust and connection that the city and foundation once shared.
With the investments that the Ford Foundation is making in Detroit, as well as other cities across America, the hope is to build relationships with the community. This is why the foundation is so focused on investing into affordable housing.
The community that helped to found the Ford Foundation will now receive support from that very same foundation, bringing the story of the Motor City full circle.