Ethel and James Flinn Foundation Awards 2025 Grants
The Detroit-based Ethel and James Flinn Foundation has announced its 2025 grants. This year, the Board of Trustees awarded 60 grants totaling $3.0 million to mental health organizations across southeast Michigan.
With the goal of increasing access to effective mental health treatment for as many individuals as possible, these grants will support efforts in the following categories: Evidence-Based Practices, Capacity Building Opportunities, and Awareness, Education and Outreach Mini-Grants programs.
“We are proud to support our grantees’ efforts to expand services and strengthen our mental health system,” says Andrea Cole, President and CEO of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation. “Our investment in their work is an investment in healthier individuals, stronger families and more resilient communities.”
Grantees are listed below.
Evidence-Based Practices – Adults
Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI) — $100,000
To develop clear and equitable paths into the mental health system for all.
Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI) — $100,000
To train physicians to treat alcohol use disorders by implementing screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT).
Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI) — $100,000
To identify Veterans at risk of suicide and connect them with services by implementing Zero Suicide Program.
Jewish Family Service (W Bloomfield, MI) — $62,500
To develop a Dialectal Behavioral Therapy model for case management and behavioral health clients.
Oakland Community Health Network (Troy, MI) — $100,000
To establish a behavioral health urgent care center to expand continuum of care in Oakland County.
Samaritas (Detroit, MI) — $75,000
To provide evidence-based Substance Use Disorder, Behavioral Health and Women’s Specialty treatments for 350 mothers and adults.
Zaman International (Inkster, MI) — $100,000
To provide culturally competent mental health program adapted to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee women.
Evidence-Based Practices – Children and Young People
Alternatives For Girls (Detroit, MI) — $75,000
To support trauma-informed behavioral health for Detroit youth and their young children experiencing homelessness.
Children’s Center of Wayne County (Detroit, MI) — $70,000
To implement summer support to ensure year-round care for children in school-based mental health services.
Judson Center (Farmington Hills, MI) — $75,000
To pilot “Our Early Years” Infant Mental Health Program in Oakland County.
Life Directions (Detroit, MI) — $50,000
To implement a program that mitigates effects of trauma among Detroit Hispanic and African American youth.
Oakland Community Health Network (Troy, MI) — $75,000
To divert at-risk youth and assist adjudicated youth through interactive journaling.
Ruth Ellis Center Inc. (Highland Park, MI) — $75,000
To provide peer support services for young people.
Spectrum Juvenile Justice Services (Highland Park, MI) — $50,000
To screen and treat co-occurring trauma, depression and substance use among justice-involved adolescent males.
Wellness Plan Medical Centers Foundation (Detroit, MI) — $50,000
To enhance children’s mental health with evidence-based practices.
Capacity Building Opportunities
American Indian Health and Family Services (Detroit, MI) — $75,000
To strengthen capacity to sustain and grow culturally grounded behavioral health services.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan (Detroit, MI) — $75,000
To provide behavioral health services and advocacy support for youth.
Center for Employment Opportunities, Inc. — $75,000
To provide immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services to people recently released from incarceration in Michigan.
Centers for Family Development, Inc. Doing Business As Black Family Development, Inc. (Detroit, MI) — $75,000
To expand access to mental health services for youth using an evidence-based Habilitation Empowerment Accountability Therapy curriculum.
Communities In Schools of Michigan (Lansing, MI) — $65,000
To develop substance-use disorder interventions and prevention programs impacting students and families.
Covenant House Michigan (Detroit, MI) — $50,000
To support team training, certification, and retention in evidenced-based approaches for working with youth experiencing homelessness.
FORCE Detroit (Detroit, MI) — $75,000
To embed a licensed therapist to deliver trauma-informed mental health care for violence-impacted youth.
Freedom House Detroit (Detroit, MI) — $100,000
To offer onsite, evidence-based group and individual therapy to survivors of extreme trauma.
Hands Across the Water, Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI) — $65,000
To implement an integrated intake, records, billing system, and evaluation system.
Hegira Health, Inc. (Livonia, MI) — $75,000
To offer same-day walk-in behavioral health treatment to eliminate appointment barriers and streamline processes.
LifeLab Kids (Ferndale, MI) — $50,000
To expand direct mental health counseling to children with diagnosed disorders.
Mariners Inn (Detroit, MI) — $50,000
To enhance EHR systems to expand access, improve care, and support better outcomes.
Oakland Family Services (Pontiac, MI) — $50,000
To enhance behavioral healthcare access and improve efficiency by integrating technology and training clinicians.
Organization of Exonorees (Center Line, MI) — $75,000
To provide mental health support to people who have been wrongfully convicted.
Regents of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) — $75,000
To develop system dynamics model for adolescent mental health services in Washtenaw County.
Rose Hill Foundation (Holly, MI) — $50,000
To expand the Peer Support Program for residential treatment clients.
MiSide Health (Detroit, MI) — $60,000
To co-locate integrated behavioral health hubs at four Brilliant Detroit sites.
Vista Maria (Dearborn Heights, MI) — $75,000
To provide Dialectical Behavior Therapy Training for 165+ direct-care staff in residential treatment settings.
Advocacy Support
Association for Children’s Mental Health (Lansing, MI) — $15,000
For general operating support. ACMH provides advocacy support for individual children and their families across Michigan by focusing on activities to enhance the system of services which address the needs of children with serious emotional disorders.
Autism Alliance of Michigan (Southfield, MI) — $25,000
For general operating support. AAoM is an advocacy organization focused on addressing treatment, access and support for individuals and families living with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Kevin’s Song (Madison Heights, MI) — $15,000
For general operating support. Kevin’s Song is an advocacy organization that brings families, providers, and policymakers together to learn and share evidence-based practices to prevent suicides.
Mental Health Association in Michigan (Lansing, MI) — $50,000
For general operating support. MHAM is the state’s oldest nonprofit organization concerned with mental illness and is the leading policy and research advocate.
Michigan’s Children (Lansing, MI) — $65,000
For general operating support. Michigan’s Children bolsters the public policy research advocacy capacity of mental health services providers, and youth and families who receive mental health services.
NAMI Metro (Northville, MI) — $15,000
For general operating support. Located in southeast Michigan, NAMI Metro’s constituent members cover the Foundation’s geographic focus of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County.
NAMI Michigan (Lansing, MI) — $50,000
For general operating support. NAMI Michigan and its statewide affiliates advocate at the state level for persons affected by mental illness and serve as a leading proponent on consumer and family involvement in care, treatment, and recovery. NAMI Michigan helps to strengthen local affiliates to provide support within their communities.
NAMI Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor, MI) — $15,000
For general operating support. Located in southeast Michigan, NAMI Washtenaw County constituent members cover the Foundation’s geographic focus of Washtenaw County.
Awareness, Education and Outreach Programs (Mini-Grants)
Citizens for Prison Reform (Lansing, MI) — $5,000
To support a rehabilitative model for addressing substance use disorders in Washtenaw County Jail.
D House of Angels (Pontiac, MI) — $5,000
To educate and support families recovering from domestic violence and related trauma.
Dutton Farm Inc (Rochester Hills, MI) — $5,000
To educate staff on best practices in behavioral health, person-centered planning, and employment support and to enhance community outreach.
Growth Works (Plymouth, MI) — $5,000
To empower at-risk youth with tools to prevent violence and build peace leadership.
Guest House, Inc. (Lake Orion, MI) — $5,000
To provide addiction and mental health resources accessible, free, and faith based.
Harlee and Harper Women’s Association (Eastpointe, MI) — $5,000
To promote healthier outcomes and reduce maternal mortality rates through mental health education and advocacy.
Michigan Breastfeeding Network (Lansing, MI) — $5,000
To support group co-facilitated education on breastfeeding and mental health to community members.
New Day Foundation for Families (Rochester Hills, MI) — $5,000
To provide a listening ear, books, resources, and therapist referrals to community.
Phree Space Inc (Wixom, MI) — $5,000
To support youth with wellness kits and mental health education.
Recovery Action Network of Michigan (Wayne, MI) — $5,000
To support peer-led outreach promoting mental health education, recovery support, and stigma reduction in Western Wayne County.
Teacher’s Pet: Dogs and Kids Learning Together (Shelby Township, MI) — $5,000
To promote mental wellness through a trauma-informed, animal-assisted education program that fosters emotional healing.
The Family Center of Grosse Pointe and Harper Woods (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI) — $5,000
To support a community and school-based book club featuring an expert panel of local therapists and physicians.
Washtenaw Area Council for Children (Ypsilanti, MI) — $5,000
To educate students about online safety and mental health in today’s digital world.
Wayne County Probate Court Behavioral Health Unit (Detroit, MI) — $5,000
To support families and caregivers of individuals experiencing their first psychotic episode in Wayne County.
Collaborative Partnerships
Detroit Public Safety Foundation (Detroit, MI) — $100,000
To support the Mental Health Co-Response Program, a public health-centered model to address behavioral health crises.
The Board of Governors, Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) — $200,000
To create a sustainable, data-informed youth justice system in Wayne County that prioritizes services over incarceration through strong partnerships between the County, Court, community organizations, youth and families.
Learn more about the work of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation at flinnfoundation.org.
