Philanthropy Front and Center-Cleveland

Collaboration in Action! 20-Member Coalition Fights Obesity in Shreveport, LA

We've been collecting collaboration stories for the Foundation Center's Nonprofit Collaboration Database. This one just came in. Submit yours, here.

Healthy Green and Into the Outdoors Obesity Prevention Project (HGIO) was founded in October 2010 by six nonprofit organizations in response to high prevalence of obesity and other health problems among children and youth in Shreveport, LA. In July 2011, The Community Foundation of North Louisiana awarded a $75,000 grant to One Great River, a local youth organization, to build HGIO's capacity. As part of a Blue Cross Blue Shield statewide challenge grant, HGIO received a total of $1.4 million and has grown into a 20-member coalition of nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses, with the primary mission of preventing obesity and creating healthier communities.

Community leaders, new funding opportunities, and desire to advance shared goals and respond to unmet needs prompted the collaboration. Led by Paula Hickman, The Community Foundation's executive director, the coalition meets as a group monthly to update each other on what they are doing in the community. This is partnered with continuous communication via email and telephone. Projects are completed by the teams and data from every event is reported on a monthly basis.

In its first two years, coalition members already have seen improvements in their abilities to focus on their core competencies and coordinate their services and programs to minimize duplication.

Read more about this collaboration, which we recently added to our Nonprofit Collaboration Database, which has 670+ profiles and gets 2000+ visits every month. For submitting their story to our database, HGIO will receive a free Digital Grant Guide and a 20% discount on one of our full-day courses.

Are YOU ready to share your collaboration's story? 

 

Watch This! Picking Up Steam with STEM

In an effort to prepare the workforce for the next generation for a creative economy and jobs that will require talent adept at designing the technological innovations of tomorrow, corporate and foundation grantmakers are increasingly focusing their educational funding on STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math.

Watch the full program now >>

And today there is a growing movement to expand the definition to also include arts within these portfolios since there is a growing recognition that creativity and innovation are also important to nurture—hence STEAM. Come to this session to learn more about guidelines, trends, and new potential directions for STEM funding in our region.

Panelists include:

• Teri Douglas, Account Executive, Radio Disney
• Susan Harvey, Program Director, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation | Stephen Bechtel Fund
• Wendy Fukamaki, Community Relations Manager, Signature Programs, Pacific, Gas & Electric Company
• Anne Wintroub, Director of Citizenship and Sustainability, AT&T

Head over the GrantSpace to watch the full program. View other great videos, podcasts and online events at the GrantSpace multimedia archive.

 

Listen To This! Global Fund For Children

The Global Fund for Children is a public charity grantmaker headquartered in Washington, DC.  It is unique because it makes grants directly to international groups registered in their countries but not those that are affiliates of US-based organizations (they do make a very limited number of grants in the US). The Fund believes that locally created and locally managed organizations have a better chance of succeeding and surviving.  They also highly value the insight and knowledge that their grantee partners share with them and other organizations.

Head over to GrantSpace to listen to the full program now >>

In an audio-recorded session at the Washington, DC Office of the Foundation Center on June 5, 2012, Victoria Dunning, Vice President for Programs at the Fund, outlines the Fund’s view of what children need to succeed: learning, safe places, a healthy mind and body, and enterprise (life and workplace skills).

She also describes some compelling projects the Fund has supported -- from northern Pakistan to Senegal. Victoria goes on to explain the Global Fund’s grantmaking strategy as that of scouting out emergent or overlooked areas, supporting projects financially and strengthening them through capacity building so that they maximize their impact.

What does the Fund look for in terms of proposals?

• Locally created and locally led initiatives

• Innovation

• Direct service projects

• Effective programs

To learn more about the Global Fund for Children visit their web site, which uses multimedia to share the work of their grantee partners and to highlight critical issues facing children around the world. Listen Now >>

Bernadette Kerrigan Honored as an Angel in Adoption™

Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge has selected Bernadette Kerrigan as a 2011 Angels in Adoption™ awardee for her outstanding advocacy of adoption and foster care issues. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which orchestrates the Angels in Adoption™ program, honored Ms. Kerrigan, along with more than 190 Angels, at an awards ceremony and gala event in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Kerrigan, who was officially nominated by the Adoption Network of Greater Cleveland, is being honored for her life-long commitment to children in need which began with a career as a medical social worker at Rainbow, Babies and Children Hospital of Cleveland. Ms. Kerrigan joined United Way of Cleveland in 1989 where she led a community process to invest over $300 million into local health and human services agencies. She has been recognized nationally and locally for her work in launching outcomes measurements for United Way in Cuyahoga, Medina and Geauga counties. After 17 years at United Way, Kerrigan then accepted the Chief Operating Officer position at Center for Families and Children in 2006 and has been instrumental in the organization's growth plan and continuing to develop its role as a safe haven for families, children and adults dealing with poverty in the community. Kerrigan credits being a single, adoptive parent of her two children, ages 7 and 6, as her biggest accomplishment.

Congratulations, Bernadette!

The Flipside: How Is East End Neighborhood House Building a Better Northeast Ohio?

Get to know your nonprofit colleagues. We've been creating short, 1-2 minute video interviews that shine a light on the work and impact of Ohio's nonprofits, giving representatives of organizations and programs a chance to tell their own stories.

Watch Zulma Zabala, CEO at East End Neighborhood House, discuss her nonprofit's 104-year commitment to improving community and providing assistance programs for the elderly, children and families, as well as how foundation grants have enabled East End to conduct programming such as the Foster Grantparents program.

 

See more videos at our YouTube channel.

Are you interested in being interviewed for one of our videos? Send us an email or stop by the Foundation Center-Cleveland anytime to learn more about it!

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

(And, thanks Flip Video for the special deal for nonprofits!)

The Flipside: Molly of ugive.org Talks About Strengthening The Economy Through Service Learning

Get to know your nonprofit colleagues. We've been creating short, 1-2 minute video interviews that shine a light on the work and impact of Ohio's nonprofits, giving representatives of organizations and programs a chance to tell their own stories.

Watch Molly Dull, Youth Service Coordinator at ugive.org, as she talks about how service learning and collaboration can help improve Ohio's economy. ugive gets students out into their communities to let them try out their classroom knowledge and engage with business owners and nonprofits.

See more videos at our YouTube channel.

Are you interested in being interviewed for one of our videos? Send us an email or stop by the Foundation Center-Cleveland anytime to learn more about it!

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

(And, thanks Flip Video for the special deal for nonprofits!)

The Flipside: How is America SCORES Building a Better Northeast Ohio?

Get to know your nonprofit colleagues. We've been creating short, 1-2 minute video interviews that shine a light on the work and impact of Ohio's nonprofits, giving representatives of organizations and programs that have benefitted from the services of the Foundation Center a chance to tell their own stories.

Watch Debra Pence-Meyenberg, Executive Director, as she tells us how America SCORES Cleveland is empowering urban students to become agents of community change.

See more videos at our YouTube channel.

Are you interested in being interviewed for one of our videos? Send us an email or stop by the Foundation Center-Cleveland anytime to learn more about it!

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

(And, thanks Flip Video for the special deal for nonprofits!)

The Flipside: How is Reaching Heights Building a Better Community?

Get to know your nonprofit colleagues. We've been creating short, 1-2 minute video interviews that shine a light on the work and impact of Ohio's nonprofits, giving representatives of organizations and programs a chance to tell their own stories.

Watch Lisa Hunt tell us how Reaching Heights is strengthening educational opportunity for all public school children in Cleveland Heights/University Heights. 

See more videos at our YouTube channel.

Are you interested in being interviewed for one of our videos? Send us an email or stop by the Foundation Center-Cleveland anytime to learn more about it!

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

(And, thanks Flip Video for the special deal for nonprofits!)

The Cleveland Foundation Awards $15 Million in Quarterly Grants

The Cleveland Foundation announced (Dec., 17, 2009) $15 million in grants to support a wide range of important issues in Greater Cleveland, including economic development, youth development, education, and neighborhood renewal. Grants awarded include:

Economic development
Team NEO, the primary business attraction organization in the 16-county “Cleveland Plus” region, will receive $1 million to bolster its efforts to bring international companies to the area. Much of the work will focus on emerging industries in Northeast Ohio, including medical devices and advanced energy. Targeted countries include Germany, Spain, and other European Union nations; China; and Canada. 

Public education reform
A grant of $750,000 will be available to help the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) implement its transformation plan. Details will be announced in January 2010, but the plan is likely to address such issues as establishing new schools, promoting academic achievement and accountability, and putting the district on sound financial footing. A separate grant of $428,000 to CMSD is designed to strengthen the district’s Academic Office. It will be used for professional development of administrators and principals, design of new schools, and improved instruction and intervention for specific student groups such as English language learners, those with disabilities, and gifted students.

Neighborhood revitalization
Shorebank Enterprise Group Cleveland will receive $550,000 to support its work in Cleveland’s neighborhoods. Shorebank operates the Glenville Enterprise Center, which provides reasonably priced office, workshop, studio, and manufacturing space along with common, no-cost business services such as conference facilities, a mail room, loading docks, and seminars. Shorebank also offers business financing through its Enterprise Finance Funds and the ShoreBridge Capital Fund.

Youth development
Three grants were made to lead partners of MyCom, the youth development initiative that serves Cuyahoga County children from kindergarten through college: 

• $450,000 to Starting Point to continue its out-of-school-time activities
• $300,000 to Youth Opportunities Unlimited to offer summer job opportunities for youth
• $270,000 to the Cuyahoga County Family and Children First Council to oversee day-to-day operations and management of MyCom

Social services
The board authorized a $300,000 grant to Emerald Development and Economic Network for renovation of the Community Women’s Shelter in Cleveland. The shelter houses 1,000 homeless women and children each year, but its two buildings are in need of significant upgrading to better serve residents and staff. The planned renovations also will help reduce operating costs.

Health care
Grants of $150,000 and $100,000, respectively, were made to Neighborhood Family Practice and Care Alliance to implement electronic health records and improve patient care and organizational efficiency. During the economic downturn, the two health care centers have seen increased demand for their services from new patients, many of whom are recently unemployed.

News Round Up: Akron Community Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Cleveland Colectivo

Akron Community Foundation’s Millennium Fund for Children awarded 22 grants totaling $35,575 to arts, education, health and human services programs for Akron-area youth (Dec., 1, 2009).  Since the fund’s 1999 establishment, grants totaling more than $360,000 have supported youth programs throughout greater Akron. Read more>>

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Cleveland.com reported (Dec., 6, 2009) that "a collaboration between the University of Akron and Lorain County Community College will receive up to $320,000 from the Lumina Foundation for Education to expand and intensify a shared-services program which is already operating in the area. The grant comes on the heels of the UA/LCCC’s new Midpoint Campus Center, 50 Pearl Road, which officially celebrated its opening last month despite being in operation for most of the year. The Midpoint Campus Center is at the center of what has been deemed an educationally under-served geographical sector where eastern Lorain County and the cities of Strongsville and Brunswick intersect on Route 42. " Read more>>

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The Cleveland Colectivo announced (Dec., 6, 2009) its 2010 Call for Proposals [PDF]. The Colectivo is seeking projects from individuals, new businesses, and community organizations. Grant amounts will range between $500 and $5,000, based on the number of projects selected. Applicants are asked to keep responses to one page; include contact information; and indicate what category the project best fits into: arts, education, youth development, community development, social service, or environment.
Proposals will be accepted between January 1 and January 15, 2010. Learn more [PDF]>>