George Gund

CLEVELAND, OH — The George Gund Foundation awarded grants at its September meeting to organizations working to improve public policy in Ohio related to child welfare, public education, adoption and health care access.

“Year after year we make grants to organizations working to ameliorate social conditions that too often don’t seem to change,” explained David Abbott, the Foundation’s executive director. “We see our investment in public policy advocacy as helping to change the policies that create these conditions in the first place. Our policy grants also have the potential to leverage public dollars far beyond any funds for direct service a foundation might be able to provide.”

The grants were among 92 totaling $5,287,415 made at the board’s third quarterly meeting of the year to organizations working in human services, education, environment, arts and economic and community development.
The Foundation continued its support for Voices for Children of Greater Cleveland, an organization dedicated to improvements in the well-being of children through coordinated state and local advocacy, with a $60,000 operating grant.

The Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, which focuses on creating a fair, equitable method for funding Ohio public schools, received a $50,000 grant.

Other policy-related grants included $75,000 to Families USA, a Washington D.C. based group working on research and advocacy related to health care issues, and $75,000 over two years to the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy at Capital University in Columbus.

Other grants of interest included:

• $60,000 to the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization for a capital campaign feasibility and implementation study for the Gordon Square Cultural Arts District.
• $50,000 to Beyond Pesticides for a pesticides exposure reduction program in Greater Cleveland schools.
• $37,500 to the Cuyahoga County Public Library for research on possible library consolidation in Cuyahoga County.
• $50,000 to the Center for Teacher Leadership at John Hopkins University for the Institute for Progressive Teacher Union Leadership.
• $66,080 to the Institute for America’s Future for an analysis of how existing manufacturing capacity in Northeast Ohio can be adapted to the growing renewable energy market.
• $75,000 to MDRC to research and develop models for quality early childhood development programs.
• $15,000 to the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation to provide environmental information to Cleveland television meteorologists.

The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chairman of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made quarterly in the areas of education, human services, economic and community development, environment and arts. Foundation commitments to date have totaled more than $427 million.

For Further Information Contact:
Deena M. Epstein (216)241.3114

CLEVELAND, OH — George Gund Foundation Trustees made a $1.6 million grant at their June meeting for construction of the Idea Center, a downtown facility that will serve as a shared home for ideastream, Cleveland’s public broadcasting organization, and Playhouse Square Foundation’s education programs.

The center, which will open in Cleveland’s theater district in early 2005, will include street-level broadcast and dance studios, a 300-seat theater that can be used for both television and theater and an interactive education center.

“The Idea Center represents a unique collaboration that not only will save more than $5 million over what it would have taken for the two organizations to build separate facilities, but also presents an incredible opportunity for synergy between the two organizations,” said David Abbott, Foundation executive director. “The street-level studios also will enliven Euclid Avenue and bring new activity to downtown.”

The Idea Center grant, which will be paid over three years, was among 109 grants totaling $6,019,930 approved at the second quarterly meeting of 2004. Trustees also approved a three-year $450,000 grant to the Center for Community Solutions for its public policy and advocacy work; two grants totaling $180,000 to Cleveland Public Art for operating support, completion of the Detroit-Shoreway pedestrian/bikeway and other projects; and $215,000 in grants to the Cleveland Municipal School District for academic standards implementation, communications efforts and the CEO Support and Development Fund.

Other grants of interest included:

• $40,000 over two years for publication of “Angle,” a magazine reporting on activities in Cleveland arts, cultural and literary communities.
• $100,000 to Towards Employment to continue programs of the now-defunct Cleveland Works.
• $90,500 over two years to the Cleveland Zoological Society to strengthen and expand its conservation programs.
• $60,000 over two years to the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization to develop the Cuyahoga/Lake Erie Environmental Restoration Technology Enterprise Center.
• $50,000 to the United Labor Agency to establish a community hiring hall for day laborers.
• $25,000 to the Center for Families and Children for its policy work and a conference on the impact of regionalism on health and human services issues and organizations.
• $48,300 to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to develop policies and procedures for its proposed archives and library.
• $29,460 to the Western Reserve Historical Society for the “Big and Green—Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century” exhibit.
• $45,000 to David N. Myers College for development of its capital campaign.

The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chairman of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made quarterly in the areas of education, human services, economic and community development, environment and arts. Foundation commitments to date have totaled more than $422 million.

For Further Information Contact:
Deena M. Epstein (216.241.3114)

Cleveland, OH — The George Gund Foundation continued its longstanding commitment to Cleveland’s neighborhoods with a three-year $3 million grant to Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI) and renewal of more than $500,000 in certificates of deposit at community-focused ShoreBank Cleveland.

NPI, which is the principal intermediary between funders and community development corporations in Cleveland, has played a key role in the development of new housing in the city that has resulted in a rise in residential property values and slowing of the city’s population decline.

ShoreBank and its related subsidiaries, which have provided financing for a number of housing projects and business start-ups in Cleveland, also operate two business incubators.

Trustees approved 104 grants to human service, environment, arts, education and community and economic development organizations totaling $6,752,792 at the Foundation’s first quarterly meeting of 2004.

Other grants of interest included:

• $54,000 to the Cleveland State University Foundation for the First Ring Leadership Academy that identifies, recruits and trains principals for 13 first-ring school districts.
• $44,750 to Case Western Reserve University to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for a new dormitory in the campus’s North Residential Village.
•  $143,820 to Adoption Network Cleveland for the Adopt Ohio’s Kids Initiative, a public-private partnership to find permanent homes for children in cases where parental rights have been terminated.
• $150,000 over two years to Case Western Reserve University for the Schubert Center for Child Development for its Child Policy Initiative.
• $75,000 to America SCORES for Cleveland SCORES, an after-school program for urban school students that combines literacy enrichment activities and soccer.
• $80,000 over two years to the Center for Community Change for the Coalition for Human Needs, a coalition of 100 national organizations working to influence public policy impacting poor people.
• $25,000 to Charenton Theater Co. to convert a truck into a traveling stage and to support free summer performances.
• $17,000 to African Soul for administrative support and the Midwest African American Dance Conference.
• $50,000 over two years to EcoCity Cleveland for the EcoVillage project in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.
• $70,000 over two years to The Nature Conservancy for conservation of migratory bird sites in Western Lake Erie.$35,000 to the Ecological Design Innovation Center for the Northeast Ohio Foodshed Network.

The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chairman of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made quarterly in the areas of education, human services, economic and community development, environment, arts and civic affairs. Foundation commitments to date have totaled more than $416 million.

For Further Information Contact: Deena M. Epstein
(216)241–3114