As Detroit Struggles, Foundations Shift Mission

“As a local funder, you don’t get to pick the best programs to work with or the problems you work on,” said Tonya Allen, vice president for programs at Skillman. “You have to deal with what you have in your own backyard.”

The decline of the auto industry, which has long been the bedrock of philanthropy here, is increasing the demand for help, even as assets at the local foundations have fallen.