About West Michigan Partnership for Children
Empowering communities to create better futures for children and families through innovation and collaboration.
Focus Areas
Child welfareFoster careFamily servicesKinship careTrauma-informed carePerformance measurement and evaluationTraining and workforce developmentAdvocacy
Funding Style
restricted program supportdirect service fundingpayment-for-expenses (operational/programmatic)project-level expense reimbursement
Topics
About West Michigan Partnership for Children
West Michigan Partnership for Children’s recent grantmaking is built around large, repeated payments for program service expenses to a small set of child-welfare providers in West Michigan. The foundation’s 2025 and 2023 awards to Samaritas and Bethany Christian Services show a pattern of multi-million-dollar support tied to service delivery rather than unrestricted philanthropy. Similar payments to Wellspring Lutheran Services and Da Blodgett St. Johns indicate a consistent role in underwriting the operating side of foster care, kinship care, and family services work. The foundation’s focus areas point to a child- and family-systems strategy: child welfare, foster care, family services, kinship care, trauma-informed care, performance measurement and evaluation, training and workforce development, and advocacy. That mix suggests support for both direct services and the infrastructure needed to deliver them. Across the grants listed, the funding appears concentrated in organizations serving families in Michigan, with recurring awards across multiple years and grant sizes measured in the millions.
What West Michigan Partnership for Children Funds
In child welfare and foster care, West Michigan Partnership for Children gave $4,505,285 to Samaritas in 2025 and $3,897,686 to Bethany Christian Services in 2025, both for payment for program service expenses. Those same organizations also appear in earlier years, showing sustained support for service delivery. The foundation also funded kinship and family-service infrastructure through $4,311,804 to Wellspring Lutheran Services in 2025, again as payment for program service expenses. Another major area is community-based support for children and families: Catholic Charities of West Michigan received $2,179,618 in 2025 and $1,081,125 in 2024 for the same expense type. The repeated use of this funding structure links the grants to implementation and operating costs rather than one-time project awards.
How West Michigan Partnership for Children Gives
Typical grants are large: the distribution shows a p25 of $2,684,745, a median of $3,684,454, and a p75 of $4,249,586. The recent grants list also shows repeat awards to the same organizations across 2023, 2024, and 2025, including Samaritas, Bethany Christian Services, Wellspring Lutheran Services, Da Blodgett St. Johns, and Catholic Charities of West Michigan. The foundation does not fund individuals and makes no program-related investments. Its philosophy centers on restricted program support, direct service funding, payment-for-expenses, and project-level expense reimbursement.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$18.6M
Total Assets
$15.9M
Total Revenue
$30.4M
Total Expenses
$29.3M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $2.7M and $4.2M, with a median of $3.7M.
25th Percentile
$2.7M
Median
$3.7M
75th Percentile
$4.2M
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
TIM BERGSMA
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