Detroit Youth Chose Us. The Austin Foundation Awarded Skillman Youth Council Grant

The Skillman Foundation Youth Council selected TAF through Fundamental Futures: Power to the Youth, a fund where young people decide where the dollars go.

DETROIT, September 2026 — The Austin Foundation has been selected as a grantee of the Skillman Foundation Youth Council's Fundamental Futures: Power to the Youth fund, an investment in youth-led grantmaking across the city.

Here's what makes this one hit different. The decision came from young people. Youth Council members reviewed proposals, deliberated, and chose where these dollars would go. They chose The Austin Foundation.

"This one came from young people, and that means everything," said Cydney Hill, President and CEO of The Austin Foundation. "They looked at the work and decided it was worth funding. Our job now is to prove them right."

The funding will support Becoming Young Adults, TAF's financial literacy and life skills program serving young people ages 12 to 24 across Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Becoming Young Adults gives participants the money habits, decision-making, and everyday know-how that adulthood asks of them, from budgeting and credit to navigating work and independence.

The award arrives as TAF continues to expand its programming, which also includes NextGen Digital Literacy and out-of-school time partnerships with Detroit schools and community organizations. The organization was founded in honor of William and Sandra Austin and has spent 4 years preparing Detroit young people for adulthood.

To learn more about Becoming Young Adults or to support this work, visit https://www.theaustinfoundation.org/about-us.