harry coulby’s gift has been a great help to a great many young lives. In 1931, with our fledgling foundation on the verge of collapse, Coulby’s $3 million gift was a lifeline. The industrialist requested that the foundation use his funds to help young people in need. In this spirit, we helped create today’s MyCom – short for My Commitment, My Community. It’s a network of after-school and summer activities, jobs, and mentors for kids. MyCom is benefiting thousands of Greater Cleveland youth, like haley quintiliano. Haley aspires to be a lawyer and will get a chance to learn about the profession firsthand by visiting a law firm as a participant in MyCom’s “Future U” career exploration.
We value our citizens
“To make life better for Greater Cleveland’s citizens” is the eternal purpose of the Cleveland Foundation. At times in the past, and certainly today, needs have been great. We are here for the family that turns to the Free Clinic for health care, the ex-prisoner who wants to be a productive citizen, and the teen looking for a positive alternative to violence or drugs. Because the ongoing success of any community rests with its youth, we are dedicated to making sure that our children in particular have the education, life experiences, and mentors necessary to learn, build skills, and become responsible adults. For the past decade, we concentrated on providing comprehensive services to children from birth to age 5. Now our focus has expanded to include preteens and teens. Read more about our goals to help youth thrive at www.ClevelandFoundation.org/HumanServices
positive connections With the success of Invest in Children, our decade-old early childhood intervention program, we knew we needed to develop an initiative to pick up where it left off. MyCom – which stands for My Commitment, My Community – is a set of youth development programs for children in neighborhoods from Shaker to Central, and from Parma to West Park, who want safe and fun places to connect with each other, interesting and productive activities close to home, and chances to meet people who will inspire and prepare them for the future.
Launched in October 2008, MyCom is led by the foundation, managed day to day by Cuyahoga County, and supported by a large network of neighborhood groups and nonprofit agencies that offer myriad activities for our youth. In MyCom’s first year, more than 3,700 kids participated in some 130 summertime activities. In addition, another 3,600 teens benefited from summer jobs, learning skills and responsibility and connecting with adult mentors. Youth, parents, and volunteers can find out more through the MyCom website at www.MyCom.net and GetItFacts.org.
safer communities for kids Incidents of violence in neighborhoods greatly diminish the quality of life for Cleveland youth. The foundation has supported the Greater Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, a coalition of community organizations that addresses gang and street violence in the city and our first-ring suburbs.
Peacemakers trains small groups in conflict resolution, cultural diversity, and community engagement. In June, the alliance graduated its first group of outreach workers, who will mentor the most at-risk youth in our region and link them to services and supports in their area in an effort to curb violence. They also will assist police in dealing with crises, gang information, crowd control, and more.
going home to stay Every year, some 5,000 ex-offenders leave prison and return to Cuyahoga County. The barriers they face in gaining employment, a crucial step to becoming a productive member of society, are numerous. And the recidivism rate is high during the first year of release. The Cleveland Foundation, along with other community partners, is committed to generating job opportunities that extend to men and women with criminal records and to providing them with the preparation and support services to succeed.
We are working with Towards Employment, a nonprofit that specializes in job placement and training, offering a fresh start to those trying to make an honest living and turn around their lives. It helps new employees take care of issues that may impede their ability to start a new job, assisting with transportation or child care, for example. In addition, the foundation is supporting the Greater Cleveland Integrated Re-Entry Project, a collaboration led by the Center for Families and Children, to wrap a variety of services around individuals re-entering the community and their families.