June Grant Highlights

← Back to Blog July 5, 2017 by At the Foundation, Education & Youth Development, Grantmaking, Health & Human Services, In the Community, Nonprofit, Strengthening Cleveland
Two students at a Breakthrough School work on a project together
Photo © Breakthrough Schools

We’re thrilled to announce $11.4 million in June grants to organizations serving Lake, Geauga and Cuyahoga County residents! This brings the foundation’s grantmaking total to $21.2 million for the second quarter of 2017 and to $41.8 million for the first half of the year.

Many of our June grants support three of the foundation’s priority areas of impact: education, youth development and health & human services.

Education

  • Formed in 2010 with four schools serving 1,165 students, Breakthrough Schools will serve 3,400 students across 11 schools in the upcoming 2017-18 school year. The foundation granted $500,000 to Friends of Breakthrough Schools to support two new schools opening in fall 2017 and the grade expansion of Breakthrough’s new schools that opened in 2015 and 2016. The grant also includes funding for support services that Breakthrough provides to all its schools.

Youth Development

  • Entering the final year of a three-year ramp-up, the True2U mentoring program will serve all eighth graders in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) beginning in 2017-18. Administered by Neighborhood Leadership Institute (NLI), True2U is an innovative mentoring and career awareness program that prepares eighth grade students for the transition from middle school to high school. The foundation approved a grant of $700,000 to NLI to assist with staffing, training, curriculum and student materials, special events and the recruitment of 550-600 additional mentors to ensure all 2,453 eighth graders across 68 CMSD schools have access to the program.

Health & Human Services

  • The second largest resettlement office in Ohio, Cleveland Catholic Charities’ Migration and Refugee Service (MRS) was awarded a three-year renewable grant from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement to open the Ohio Center for Survivors of Torture in 2016. Originally anticipating serving 75 individuals, the center served 123 survivors in the first year of operations and is on pace to serve more than 170 this year. To assist MRS in bridging the 18-month gap until federal funds can be renewed, the foundation granted Cleveland Catholic Charities $225,000 for staffing, transportation and translation services to expand and strengthen resources for survivors of torture.
  • Originally established as a collaboration between Amish families and medical professionals, DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children has evolved into an internationally recognized, pioneering research facility and family-oriented specialized care clinic. In addition to serving more than 800 patient families from 22 Ohio counties, 30 states and several foreign countries, DDC is also a licensed genetics laboratory. The foundation granted DDC $135,000 to retain a new physician-scientist who will provide patient care and lead complex research projects and clinical trials.
  • Since 1991, Emerald Development and Economic Network (EDEN) has been providing, operating, and advocating for safe and affordable housing and support services for some of the most vulnerable families and individuals in Cuyahoga County. The foundation granted EDEN $225,000 to continue advancing its innovative approaches to addressing the community’s housing needs.

These are just a few of our June grants. Follow our grantmaking each month – and get the latest news from the Cleveland Foundation – by signing up for our monthly e-newsletter here.