As Detroit Struggles, Foundations Shift Mission

“The collaboration doesn’t benefit us financially,” said Judith D. Jackson, the chief executive of YouthVille. “But it does benefit our kids, and it brought us a lot of publicity, too.”

Under the same pressure from foundations to work together to obtain money, the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation has joined with Southwest Detroit Weed and Seed, a crime prevention program that involves the Detroit Police Department and local businesses and residents. By participating in the program, the Hispanic development organization got federal money to train police officers and school staff members in gang awareness and to run gang-prevention sessions in middle schools.