April Grant Highlights

← Back to Blog May 5, 2017 by At the Foundation, Education & Youth Development, Grantmaking, Health & Human Services, In the Community, Nonprofit, Strengthening Cleveland
Empower Cleveland Youth program students stand at podium during kickoff event
Photo © Cleveland Leadership Center

We’re thrilled to announce $5.5 million in April grants to organizations serving Lake, Geauga and Cuyahoga County residents! Many of our April grants support programs to empower Greater Clevelanders through advocacy and educational opportunities. Learn about a few of the organizations and efforts we supported last month:

Educational opportunities for local youth & adults

  • $95,000 to the Lake-Geauga Educational Assistance Foundation (LEAF) supporting scholarships and educational programming – including mentoring and career exploration experiences – for Lake and Geauga County students. Through its LEAVES program, LEAF provides a continuum of educational experiences and opportunities for youth, including STEM-based camps for middle school students, college access and financial aid advisory services, and post-secondary mentoring for scholarship recipients.
  • $30,000 to Project LEARN, Inc. supporting the organization’s work to provide high-quality, community-based education programs to adults in Greater Cleveland. Project LEARN serves nearly 700 individuals annually, providing basic literacy skills, GED preparation and job support services to at-risk individuals – including those facing poverty, the formerly incarcerated, and individuals currently incarcerated within the Cuyahoga County Jail.
  • $75,000 to Cleveland Neighborhood Progress supporting their efforts to grow racial equity and inclusion in Northeast Ohio. Our grant supports community access to the Racial Equity Institute (REI)’s training programs, which shed light on the devastating impacts of persistent racial inequality on our nation’s most marginalized populations.

Advocacy and empowerment for Greater Clevelanders

  • $85,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Ohio (BBBSNEO) to serve Lake and Geauga County foster youth living in group homes. This grant will help BBBSNEO provide regular on-site group mentoring sessions at the homes and will help BBBSNEO connect youth to community-based programs and services.
  • $75,000 to Child and Family Advocates of Cuyahoga County to support plans for a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in Cuyahoga County. CASA programs, operating in many cities across the country, provide trained and supervised community volunteers to advocate in juvenile court and the child welfare system for the best interests of children who have been abused or neglected.
  • $50,000 to the Cleveland Leadership Center supporting the expansion of the Empower Cleveland Youth (ECY) initiative, a 10-week summer program that delivers civic leadership development, mentoring and job shadowing opportunities to Cleveland high school students, who earn a wage for their participation in the program. Now in its second year, ECY will nearly double the number of youth served in the program and will offer programming beyond the 10 week session to provide a richer experience for youth and extend mentorship opportunities.

These are just a few of our grants last month. To follow our grantmaking throughout the year and get the latest news from the foundation, sign up for our monthly e-newsletter here.