The Cleveland Foundation board of directors approved $15.6 million in grants for the final quarter of 2014, bringing its centennial-year grantmaking total to a record $95 million.
The foundation’s grantmaking this quarter focused predominantly on youth programs and education, including more than $1 million for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in support of the ongoing Cleveland Plan for Transforming Schools. Included in that amount is $350,000 for the Cleveland schools to fund the expansion of the district’s Office of Portfolio Planning, Growth and Management and redesign of the district’s five career centers to better prepare students for technical careers in the Cleveland community; $200,000 to Stepstone Academy to support the charter school’s model that blends academic curriculum with wraparound social services; and $500,000 to Teach for America to recruit, select and train incoming corps members and train existing ones and engage local alumni in Cleveland-based school reform efforts. Meanwhile, $335,000 has been granted to Esperanza, Inc. to extend core programming to Cleveland’s growing Hispanic population and bolster efforts to increase graduation rates, college entry rates, grade-point averages and Ohio Graduation Test Scores. Nearly $1 million in grants were approved for two lead agencies of MyCom, a local network of organizations created in 2008 through a partnership between the foundation and Cuyahoga County that focused on connecting youth with helpful people, services and neighborhood programs. The grant will enable MyCom to expand its network, allowing it to further its reach from 13 neighborhoods to 23 next year. Of the total award, $660,000 will go to MyCom’s Starting Point, a lead agency for out-of-school time and transitions programming, and $325,000 for MyCom’s Youth Opportunities Unlimited, a lead agency for youth employment opportunities. “Recent headlines in our region, and around our country, underscore how we all must play a role in protecting and promoting our community’s most precious asset — our young people,” said Cleveland Foundation president and CEO Ronn Richard in a press release. “Our children deserve the brightest futures possible, and these grants foster an environment where they not only can survive, but thrive as the next generation of Greater Clevelanders.” In other action taken by the board: The Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland has been awarded $650,000, including $400,000 to support Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance and $250,000 to assist the local Boys and Girls Clubs in expanding its arts programming. Three additional grants totaling $1.25 million — to BVU: The Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Fairhill Partners and the Benjamin Rose Institute — were approved to further expand the Encore Cleveland initiative, which seeks to tap into the skills of experienced Clevelanders to solve community challenges and fill unmet needs. A $750,000 Program-Related Investment loan was authorized to support the Partnership for Family Success, the nation’s first county-level “Pay for Success” project. Through a public-private partnership that involves Cuyahoga County and multiple funders and service agencies, this initiative will focus on delivering intensive 12- to 15- month treatment to 135 families over five years to reduce the length of stay in out-of-home foster care placement for children whose families are homeless.