Philanthropy Front and Center-Cleveland

London Fletcher's London's Bridge Foundation Offers Mentoring for Youth

(This post, re-published here with permission from blogger Tracey Webb, originally appeared in blackgivesback, a blog dedicated to philanthropy in the black community.)

In 2003, NFL-er London Fletcher [a Cleveland native who attended John Carroll University] of the Washington Redskins founded the London’s Bridge Foundation, an Ohio-based non profit organization to build standards of education, leadership, teamwork and recreation for today’s youth, with the ultimate goal of instilling the values of volunteerism and philanthropy. Through the foundation’s mentoring and charitable giving programs, they teach youth life skills and valuable learning lessons. One of those programs is London’s Brigade, a community project that provides access to mentors 24/7. The project uses its website, which features a blog and discussion board, to connect with students.

On September 22, 2009 during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference, Fletcher along with foundation staff and mentors took youth on a tour of the U.S. Capitol (in photo above) in Washington, D.C. They met Rep. Eleanor Norton and learned about various scholarship opportunities available to them. Norton, expressing appreciation to the foundation’s staff for bringing the youth to her office, shared that she rarely gets a chance to meet her youngest constituents. After spending the day on Capitol Hill, the youth were treated to a surprise dinner at B. Smith's restaurant in Union Station.

This month, the foundation’s theme is journalism and their upcoming mentoring trips will allow the youth to tour the Newseum, participate in a civil rights course that will allow them to stage their own mock social movement, visit BET and meet with executives in the entertainment industry, tour the Redskins stadium and have a chance to go on the field and write news paper articles about their experience.

The foundation states, “the central focus of the project is to provide students with an alternate game plan should their hopes and dreams of being professional athletes and entertainers not materialize. For many kids, especially minorities, these are the only perceived means of obtaining professional success. Thus, our primary goal is to introduce our students to alternative career options.” In addition to Washington, D.C., the foundation has provided mentoring activities in Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Charlotte, N.C. (In photo: Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton and London Fletcher.) For more information, visit the website.

Youth Development Initiative

I recently attended a briefing hosted by Ohio Grantmakers Forum about the Youth Development Initiative, a public/private partnership being championed by The Cleveland Foundation and program partners like Starting Point and Youth Opportunities Unlimited.  Building on the success of Invest in Children, a program with similar roots and service strategies for children, pre-natal through kindergarten, the Youth Development Initiative will pick up where Invest in Children leaves off, working across agencies and geography to provide coordinated services for school-age children and young adults. Lisa Bottoms, Program Director for Human Services and Child and Youth Development at The Cleveland Foundation and other presenters, Sam Piha, Billie Osborne-Fears, and Carol Rivchun, walked us through the initiative's theory of change, outlining the building blocks essential to ensuring successful outcomes for youth, beginning with strategies for building the community's capacity to embrace change on behalf of young people and ending with improved developmental outcomes for youth.

If you want to learn more about the Youth Development Initiative, remarks from Lisa Bottoms are featured in 3 podcasts at The Cleveland Foundation's web site. Use these links to listen:

Youth Development Initiative: Published 9/12/2007. Duration: 7:23

Youth Development Initiative , Part 2: Published 1031/2007. Duration: 8:38

Youth Development Initiative, Part 3: Published 2/18/2008. Duration: 9:40

--Cindy Bailie

Columbus Children's Hospital, Abercrombie & Fitch Face Flap over Naming Rights

The advocacy group, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (Boston), wants to keep the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus from putting the Abercrombie & Fitch name on a new emergency room. Abercrombie has pledged $10 million toward the construction of the emergency department at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus.

Not the first time Abercrombie & Fitch, based in New Albany, Ohio, has faced criticism about its marketing campaigns aimed at teenagers, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is urging the hospital to drop any plans to put the retailer's name on the project, pointing to research that has shown a link between sexualized images of teens in the media and mental health problems in girls. The advocacy group made its position public in a letter to the hospital on Tuesday, March 11, signed by about 70 pediatricians and academics from around the U.S.

Tom Lennox, a spokesman at Abercrombie & Fitch, said, “We are proud of our longstanding relationship with the hospital and pleased to help secure its bright future.”

The New York Times reported that a call from a reporter to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for a response to the letter from the coalition was returned by Jon M. Fitzgerald, the president of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “I like to focus on the philanthropy of it,” Mr. Fitzgerald said, adding, “I don’t feel comfortable addressing” any of the objections raised in the letter.

“Two years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch made a very significant philanthropic gift,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “In honor of that gift, we chose to offer recognition of their tremendous support of our organization.”

Mr. Fitzgerald took issue with a contention in the letter that the hospital agreed to “sell naming rights” to Abercrombie & Fitch in exchange for the $10 million.

“We don’t sell naming rights,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “We as a nonprofit accept gifts to support our mission. We’re looking for philanthropic support.”

What do you think?

Sources: When a Corporate Donation Raises Protests, Stuart Elliott, New York Times, March 12, 2008. Advocates Balk at Renaming Ohio Hospital, Matt Leingang, Associated Press, March 12, 1008.

2008's Most Important Causes - Cleveland+ Edition

Our big-sister blog, PhilanTopic, recently ran a post from Michael Seltzer called 2008's Most Important Causes. Michael is a respected name in NY nonprofit and global philanthropy circles, who incidentally, spent some time in the glorious Midwest working at one of those big Michigan foundations north of sunny Ohio. He's also the author of Securing Your Organization's Future, increasingly considered an executive bookshelf staple, and a satisfying read and handbook for any nonprofit that's in it for the long haul.

As Michael points out, the drum roll for 2008 has begun. So, let's applaud and celebrate the organizations that champion the most important Cleveland+ causes. Let's help to spread the word about their important work by creating a cumulative list of organization's that deserve our attention. 

Here's a start:

Center for Community Solutions - Diligently "helping the people who help people since 1913," Community Solutions functions as the region's "brain trust," providing useful research about the state of things that effect real people, and that publicly-purposed organizations have come to rely on for making sound policy and programmatic decisions.  And, their advocacy work is second to none.

East Side Organizing Project (ESOP) - Sprung from a grassroots base on Cleveland's southeast side (Union-Miles, Mt. Pleasant, Glenville, and Broadway) ESOP unites communities to take charge of making change. ESOP got out in front of the predatory lending issue long before others were paying attention, and it isn't afraid to take on any of the region's toughest issues.

Neighborhood Connections - What's not surprising is that Neighborhood Connections is the "small grants" program of The Cleveland Foundation, which is known for many innovations in the world of philanthropy. What is surprising is that groups requesting grants from Neighborhood Connections aren't required to have 501(c)(3) status, something that is often a barrier to funding success for many groups of organized and committed neighborhood changemakers.

Youth Philanthropy and Service (YPS) - You can bemoan the decline of civility among the youngest residents of Cleveland+ or you can promote organizations that connect them to a world of service, good work, and positive role models. A program of the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, YPS quietly works with schools and organizations to infuse philanthropic values into the next generation of leaders.

Please don't hesitate to add your organizations to this list.  And, more importantly, let's commit our time, talent, and treasure in 2008 to making Cleveland+ the best location in the nation.