Cleveland Foundation announces $5.9 million in June grants

Written by Lydia Coutre in Crain's Cleveland Business on 07/10/2019

The Cleveland Foundation's board of directors announced $5.9 million in grants for the month of June, bringing its total investment in the community so far this year to $55 million.

The foundation, which supports residents in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties, invested $24 million in the second quarter of 2019, it announced on Wednesday, July 10.

"Our mission at the Cleveland Foundation is to enhance the lives of all residents in our community," India Pierce Lee, Cleveland Foundation senior vice president for program, said in a prepared statement. "Many of our grants this month highlight our commitment to social justice for populations that have been marginalized for far too long. We are proud to be able to support the important work of these organizations that help to ensure equitable protection and representation for all who call Cleveland home."

June grants include, according to the release:

• A $745,683 grant to Neighborhood Leadership Institute, which is continued funding for the fifth year of the True2U program, a youth development and career awareness mentoring program for all 2,500 Cleveland Metropolitan School District eighth-graders
• A two-year, $279,000 grant to Equality Ohio Education Fund to support expansion of the organization's mission to provide residents and community leaders with up-to-date information, resources and technical assistance on issues impacting LGBTQ community members, with a particular focus on increasing outreach into Lake and Geauga counties
• A $250,000 grant to Providence House to help fund the renovation of the Weizer Building to better allow the organization to serve children and families in the Buckeye neighborhood and the southeast side of Cleveland by housing its primary administrative headquarters and family resilience programming, as well as offering case-management services
• A $250,000 grant to Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity to support construction of 10 single-family units and assist in 10 to 15 exterior repairs for existing residents of Grandview Avenue in the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood
• A $250,000 grant to Legal Aid Society of Cleveland to support the launch of phase one of the Housing Justice Alliance, which will help ensure that all Cleveland tenants living in poverty and facing eviction will have legal representation in civil housing court
• A $1.1 million grant to Cleveland Metropolitan School District in continued support for six new high schools that opened within the past three years, as well as the academic design and startup of a new West Side High School campus in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood (West 45th Street and Detroit Avenue)

Click here to read the full article in Crain's Cleveland Business