Human Services
Program Overview
The human services sector is responding to a set of circumstances that requires new ways of thinking and new ways of working. Human services organizations are facing significant obstacles that make it difficult to deliver services efficiently. These obstacles include diminished public and financial support, organizational capabilities, and the changing demographics of their clients and the constant evolution of technology. Human services organizations need to adapt to the current environment to transform into effective and resilient organizations that promote social and economic mobility.
To make this shift, the human services sector will need to change the traditional methods of providing safety net services to delivering impact through person-centered services focused on outcomes. By supporting a person’s social and economic well-being, human services organizations have great effect on a person’s mobility. If the human services sector can undergo a positive transformation, many people living in America’s cities have improved odds of climbing the ladder of opportunity.
Our focus is developing the human services field to do more than even the odds for people who are experiencing low income. Our work aims to reset the odds so that people have an improved set of opportunities to live healthy, economically stable and self-determined lives. When human services organizations think creatively and work in a bold manner, they have the power to significantly impact equality of opportunity.
We invest through these focus areas:
ADVANCING INNOVATIVE, MULTI-SECTORAL POLICY SOLUTIONS IN HUMAN SERVICES
We look for opportunities to support efforts to change the way the human services sector operates through testing, disseminating and advocating for policy-driven approaches to improving social and economic mobility.
FOSTERING THE NEXT GENERATION OF HUMAN SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS
We support organizations that operate human services programs strategically and with a mind for the future. These programs are person-centered and performance-based.
BUILDING PLACE-BASED OPPORTUNITY ECOSYSTEMS
We focus efforts in select cities to create sustainable, integrated and person-centered networks of supports and services anchored by human services organizations.
How We Work
Grant opportunities are listed on the Human Services Program focus area pages, linked above, and on the Current Funding Opportunities page.
As we evaluate proposals, we look for efforts that:
- Offer new approaches that can provide lessons for the field.
- Have a clear strategic vision and are able to articulate what works and why.
- Have shared and adaptive leadership.
- Are housed within a purpose-driven organization or network.
- Are intensely person-centered in their approach.
- Are committed to outcomes and use of data.
- Are positioned to inform and influence communities of practice and build the public will for supportive policies.
We do not fund:
- Organizations interested in capacity building.
- Capital requests.
Funding Process
We use a full array of funding and investment tools to foster change, including project grants, operating support, planning grants and program-related investments. Program-related investments may take the form of direct loans, guarantees that provide credit support to borrowers or linked deposits. (Learn more about our social investing.)
Most of our grants span one-to-three years. We also use resources to convene partners to learn and lead. And, in certain situations, when project proposals offer opportunities to advance the goals of multiple teams, those teams will jointly fund the proposal.
We announce Kresge’s grant opportunities on our website and through our weekly newsletter. You may be notified of these opportunities by subscribing to our weekly newsletter or by following @kresgefdn and @kresgehumansvcs on Twitter.
