The George Gund Foundation

03/19/2004 in Grantmaking

Recent Grants – March 2004

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