Featured Grants

CLEVELAND OH — The George Gund Foundation re-affirmed its commitment to Cleveland’s residents and their neighborhoods with a $3.6 million three-year grant to Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI).

NPI, established more than 20 years ago as the principal intermediary between funders and Cleveland’s community development corporations, has played a key role in neighborhood residential and commercial revitalization. The organization also has been engaged in developing constructive responses to Cleveland’s foreclosure crisis and exploring new uses for the resulting increase in vacant land.

“Despite the current economic challenges, NPI has continued to fulfill its mission ‘to restore and maintain the health and vitality of Cleveland’s neighborhoods through private investment and support for community initiatives’,” said David Abbott, the Foundation’s executive director. “Our three-year commitment reflects the Foundation’s continued interest in strengthening Cleveland’s neighborhoods.”

Foundation Trustees also made a significant commitment to the children of Cleveland with a $2.6 million grant that will be used to support the Cleveland Municipal School District’s transformation plan and efforts to create new, innovative schools in Cleveland’s neighborhoods.

These grants were among 56 totaling $9,379,900 that Trustees made to education, human services, economic and community development, environment and arts organizations at the Foundation’s first meeting of 2010.

Other grants of interest included:

• $280,000 over three years to Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio for a new regional medical center
• Up to $250,000 to the Downtown Cleveland Alliance for its efforts to revitalize Downtown Cleveland
• $75,000 to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for the GreenCityBlueLake Institute
• $360,000 over two years to the Center for Community Solutions for its policy and fiscal analysis work and for groundWork, a statewide campaign to promote investment in the needs of children birth to six years of age
• $200,000 over 18 months to the Center for Families and Children for the Greater Cleveland Integrated Re-entry Project
• $90,000 to the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy for operating support

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 almost $548 million.

For further information contact:
Deena M. Epstein (216) 241.3114

The George Gund Foundation joined with other Northeast Ohio philanthropic organizations in renewing its support for the Fund for Our Economic Future, an unprecedented collaboration designed to encourage and create a shared economic transformation agenda for the region.

Foundation Trustees made an initial three-year $3 million grant to the Fund when it was launched in 2004 and approved an additional $3.1 million three-year grant at its June 2006 meeting.

More than 80 philanthropic organizations have contributed in excess of $35 million to the Fund which has made more than $20 million in grants to further its objectives. The Fund has focused on three key initiatives:

• Grantmaking to support competitiveness among established employers, high growth in new industry clusters and accelerated entrepreneurship and business formation.
• Measuring the economy through creation of projects that will track the regionís progress and public perceptions of the region and its economy.
• Engaging the public in Voices & Choices, an effort to involve citizens in shaping a shared action agenda.

The Fund’s website is futurefundneo.org.

Hundreds of Local Organizations Come Together to Centralize Efforts and Launch Awareness Campaign

(CLEVELAND) — Sept. 28, 2005 — Three of Cleveland’s largest foundations announced plans today to launch a collaborative effort to raise the level of literacy in Greater Cleveland. The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation and The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation together have committed $700,000 to establish the Greater Cleveland Literacy Collaborative. This new entity will work to ensure that all children and adults in Greater Cleveland reach their highest potential for employment, self-sufficiency and lifelong-learning.

The three foundations convened more than 300 individuals from 250 local organizations over the past 14 months to study issues related to literacy in the community and steps that could be taken to improve the current situation.

“Literacy is more than just reading,” Ann Mullin, senior program officer at The George Gund Foundation said. “It’s the set of skills needed to function effectively in society and to achieve one’s goals. Our research indicates that nearly half of Cuyahoga County residents lack necessary literacy skills. For these community members, navigating a bus route, understanding prescription drug instructions, calculating the cost of menu items or understanding work benefits are anything but routine.”

The group created a comprehensive literacy action plan and charged The Literacy Collaborative with implementation. The plan outlines five strategic areas of focus:

• Provide an information clearinghouse for the community.
• Establish evaluation and quality assurance standards.
• Ensure that training, curriculum development, and technical assistance are available to providers.
• Identify and secure public and private funding for literacy.
• Launch a public awareness campaign on literacy.

“Up until this point, literacy has not been a major community priority,” Bill Hiller, executive director of The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, said. “Our goal is to help businesses, non-profit organizations, public officials and the community understand the importance of literacy and to work in a coordinated way to improve these skills.”

While The Literacy Collaborative will be responsible for all of the focus areas, it will function primarily as a convener and coordinator, contracting with community organizations and partners to perform the work.

“The Literacy Collaborative will seek to build upon strengths that already exist in the community and step in only where there is a recognized gap,” John Mitterholzer, program officer at The Cleveland Foundation, said. “The organization will be a true collaborative of groups working towards one goal — improving literacy.”

A central part of The Literacy Collaborative’s work involves launching a large public awareness campaign in spring of 2006 to raise the profile of literacy in the community and inform the public about the many services available to improve individual skills.

By centralizing functions and combining efforts, The Literacy Collaborative will allow service providers to concentrate on what they do best. It will also provide program support and financial resources to these organizations. This independent entity will act on behalf of the community and reach beyond traditional service providers and connect more meaningfully with public, private, and non-profit organizations to achieve literacy goals. The Literacy Collaborative will provide oversight and overall strategic coordination currently not being fulfilled by individual providers.

The Greater Cleveland Literacy Collaborative
The Greater Cleveland Literacy Collaborative is a joint initiative of The Cleveland, George Gund and Martha Holden Jennings Foundations to centralize efforts to improve literacy levels among children, youth and adults in Greater Cleveland. The organization provides information and referrals, funding assistance, evaluation and accountability, training and development, and public awareness efforts for literacy.

CLEVELAND (Dec. 14, 2004) — The Cleveland Museum of Art Director Katharine Lee Reid today announced the receipt of a $5 million grant from the George Gund Foundation for the Museum’s $225 million renovation, repair and expansion project.

“This grant not only indicates a tremendous vote of confidence from the trustees of the Gund Foundation,” Reid said, “but it also marks another significant investment in this City. We are extremely grateful to the Foundation for its support and vision.”

Gund Foundation trustees approved the grant at their Dec. 9 quarterly meeting. According to Gund Foundation Executive Director David T. Abbott, “The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the nation’s finest comprehensive collections of art. We are privileged to have an institution of such high caliber in our own community. Through the years, the Museum has provided a cultural, artistic and educational bridge that engages the entire community. When completed,” Abbott added, “the new Museum will broaden its capacity to serve and uplift the Cleveland community, heightening its role as a model for other Museums in the U.S. and abroad.”

Reid also noted that although the Museum remains in the silent phase of its campaign, the grant announcement honors the Foundation’s tradition of announcing its gifts to the public. Only two major grants have been publicly announced: a $2 million grant from the Cleveland Foundation in Sept. and $5 million from the State of Ohio, which was announced in 2002. While the Museum has not yet publicly announced details of the campaign, Reid shared that, “we are encouraged and increasingly building momentum.”

The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of America’s leading comprehensive museums. Its permanent collection is world renowned for its quality and breadth, spanning 6,000 years. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship and art acquisitions. For more information on the museum, its holdings, programs, services and events, call 1–888-CMA-0033 or visit www.clevelandart.org

The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chairman of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance the 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 since its founding total more than $436 million.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners is collaborating with almost two dozen community, corporate and private foundations on a five-year, $70 million-plus Invest in Children (IIC) initiative that will focus on creating quality early childhood development programs and services.

The George Gund Foundation has made a $1 million commitment to this groundbreaking public-private partnership that has four components: Effective Parents and Families, Safe and Healthy Children, Children Prepared for School and A Community Committed to Children.

“What sets this apart from early childhood initiatives in other communities, is that IIC is designed to create a comprehensive early childhood system for Cuyahoga County, not just a collection of individual programs or services,” said Marcia Egbert, senior program officer at the Foundation. “The plan is to create a high quality system that will promote children’s physical and mental health from birth to six, provide every parent that wants it access to a good preschool program for their children, and build community support for investment in young children.”