Cleveland Foundation announces $8 million in September grants

Board approval brings 2018 total to more than $65 million for Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga nonprofits

Release Date: 9.26.2018 

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Foundation board of directors approved on Tuesday (Sept. 25) $8 million in grants for the month of September. With a continued focus on residents in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties, the foundation has now invested $20.2 million for the third quarter of 2018 and $65.3 million to date for the year.

“As it is for thousands of school children and their families, education tends to be top of mind for the foundation at this time of year,” said India Pierce Lee, Cleveland Foundation senior vice president, program. “We’re pleased to support PRE4CLE, College Now, CMSD and Stonebrook Montessori as they continue to impact the lives of our youth. However, in staying true to our mission, our grants this month also encompass the full scope of our longstanding commitment to Greater Cleveland. From arts and social services, to health and aging, these organizations are doing extremely important work in the community.”

Highlights of grants approved by the foundation Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting include:

Arts & Culture

  • Cleveland Public Theatre, Inc. ($100,000) – Assist with staffing and professional services, including teaching artists and playwrights, to help drive patron retention, provide a diversity of perspectives and program accessible, free community events
  • Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra ($95,000) – Support for year two of the Community Access Initiative designed to grow and diversify audiences, as well as an increased presence in the City of Cleveland

Youth & Social Services

  • Milestones Autism Resources ($195,000) – Allow the organization to better focus its efforts in minority neighborhoods as the number of individuals diagnosed with autism continues to grow at a rapid pace, in addition to increasing the capacity of the help desk
  • The May Dugan Center ($70,000) – Expand the scope of the center’s trauma-informed professional treatment services, especially in the areas of mental health, substance use, and excessive alcohol use

Education

  • Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio ($250,000) – Supporting the expansion of high-quality pre-school education (PRE4CLE)
  • College Now Greater Cleveland Inc. ($150,000) – Continued support of the Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland (which includes nearly 70 organizations), with the goal of increasing high school graduation, post-secondary enrollment and postsecondary completion
  • Cleveland Metropolitan School District ($122,000) – Expanding the use of the Naviance Succeed career and college planning system in grades 7-12, with the goal of having all high schools achieve at least 70 percent usage rates
  • Montessori Development Partnerships ($150,000) – Year four start-up and expansion costs at Stonebrook Montessori School, including staffing for its early childhood program

Health

  • Eliza Bryant Village ($200,000) – Support to enhance safety via a number of improvements to the campus, upgrade medical equipment, and add a Clinical Optimization Consultant to educate staff about compliance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid rules to maximize its reimbursement requests
  • Center for Community Solutions ($200,000) – Continued support for the AIDS Funding Collaborative to maintain its valuable role as a convener of funders, decision-makers, community service providers and advocates that thoughtfully and effectively address HIV/AIDS in this community

Encore

  • Westside Industrial Retention & Expansion Network (WIRE-Net) ($155,485) – Recruit and train eight experienced industry tradespeople and technicians in order to grow the Encore Cleveland Technical Corps Program at Max Hayes High School and to launch a new site at Euclid High School