Daily News Roundup: Ford Foundation to Return to Detroit With Satellite Office

Ford Foundation Opening Detroit Office to Oversee Housing Effort: The $12.5 billion grant maker is re-establishing a presence in the city where it was founded 81 years ago as it ramps up investments in affordable housing in the area, Crain’s Detroit Business reports. The foundation moved its headquarters to New York in 1953. Read a Chronicle article on Ford’s billion-dollar commitment to impact investing.

Google Co-Founder’s $100 Million Blimp to Have Aid Mission: The massive airship Sergey Brin is reportedly building at a NASA research center in California will deliver humanitarian supplies for worldwide aid projects as well as serving as a personal “air yacht” for the tech mogul, The Washington Post writes, citing prior reporting by The Guardian and Bloomberg.

Opinion: Big Green Groups Quiet on China’s Destructive Island-Building: Greenpeace, Conservation International, and the World Wildlife Fund, which maintain offices and programs in China, have avoided antagonizing Beijing over the construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea, which is wreaking havoc on marine biodiversity, Greg Rushford, a journalist who focuses on international economic and security issues, writes in a Wall Street Journal (subscription) column.

Opportunities to Do Good the Latest Perk for Tech Workers: Looking to woo millennials who prize corporate social responsibility, big technology firms are working with Loqules, a Southern California start-up that curates experiences for employees, to partner with charities and work on projects benefiting the homeless, ex-inmates, and other people in need, the Los Angeles Times writes.

Dust-Up Over Homelessness Charity’s Sobriety Rule Reflects Policy Debate: San Diego-area nonprofit Solutions for Change has become a conservative cause célèbre for turning down federal funds that would require it to drop a no-drinking policy for its homeless clients, a dispute Voice of San Diego says opens a window into a larger battle over government-backed “housing first” policies that discourage providers from setting up barriers to service.