Cleveland Foundation Awards $13.4 Million in First-Quarter Grants
Cleveland Foundation Awards $13.4 Million in First-Quarter Grants
The Cleveland Foundation has announced first-quarter grants totaling $13.4 million to nonprofits in the Greater Cleveland area working in community engagement, economic transformation, public education reform, arts and culture, and other areas.
As part of its economic transformation initiative, the foundation awarded $800,000 to BioEnterprise for its ongoing work with fledgling healthcare and bioscience companies and to continue developing the Cleveland Health-Tech Corridor; and $350,000 to the Westside Industrial Retention and Expansion Network to help manufacturers in the Greater Cleveland region expand into new markets, grow jobs, and invest in the wind power industry. Through its public education reform initiative, the foundation awarded $200,000 to Cleveland Metropolitan School District's Office of New and Innovative Schools to help it start, sustain, and successfully expand new schools.
As part of its Creative Fusion International Artist in Residence program, the foundation awarded nearly $110,000 to support the seven-month residency of Chilean architect and design artist Christian Schmitt. Additional arts-related grants included $860,000 to the Playhouse Square Foundation and $750,000 to the Power of Three Allen Theatre Project. In addition, the foundation awarded $250,000 to Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland for an expansion and renovation that will add 20,000 square feet to the facility, and $275,000 to the Literacy Cooperative of Greater Cleveland to continue implementing programs designed to improve early childhood and school-age literacy, to provide training for adult literacy providers, and to design and implement a program that helps youth and adults chart their career paths.
The foundation also awarded $3.1 million to its Neighborhood Connections initiative so that it can continue making grants to grassroots neighborhood groups and for the initiative's work to bring together residents and neighborhoods across Cleveland to address civic issues. "As a flagship program of the foundation, Neighborhood Connections is recognized nationally as one of the most innovative grassroots grantmaking programs in the United States," said Cleveland Foundation executive vice president Robert Eckardt. "With this latest grant, Neighborhood Connections will leverage the work currently being done by community leaders in Cleveland by providing them technical assistance, training, and opportunities to collaborate."
For a complete list of first-quarter grants, visit the Cleveland Foundation Web site.
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