CONTENT SUBMITTED
The Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund coalition announced today its latest round of grants to support the nonprofit community, which continues to face unprecedented challenges during the ongoing pandemic. In total, $908,000 was awarded to 20 organizations and groups serving Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties. Since the Fund’s creation in mid-March, partners have granted more than $4.7 million to 85 nonprofit groups and organizations. The latest round of grant recipients includes:
Food & Shelter
- • Asian Services in Action, Inc. ($20,000): To provide emergency food assistance, basic needs and small business support for immigrant and refugee populations across the organization’s Northeast Ohio service area.
- • Bellaire Puritas Development Corporation ($32,000): For the Community Essential Needs Collective, a collaborative effort between Bellaire-Puritas Development Corporation, The Bountiful Basement at Blessed Trinity Church, Neighborhood Family Practice, and St. Paul AME Church Pantry to distribute emergency food resources, public health information and cleaning supplies and emergency assistance to families in the West Park neighborhood.
- • Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. ($65,000): To prepare and distribute hot meals and care packages containing PPE, hygiene products and cleaning supplies to homebound residents in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Shaker Square, Buckeye-Woodhill, Central and Kinsman neighborhoods.
- • Family Pride of Northeast Ohio ($30,000): To support the immediate needs of individuals and families throughout Geauga and Lake counties who are clients of this behavioral health organization including access to food, technology, and emergency shelter and housing support, as well as resources for families to keep kids physically and emotionally healthy.
- • Front Steps Housing and Services ($75,000): For food, supplies and staffing to serve the growing needs of its clients, who are formerly homeless individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.
- • Greater Collinwood Development Corporation ($16,000): To safely scale up its provision of free food packages to residents in need.
- • Harvard Community Services Center ($40,000): To serve homebound adults and families across the Lee-Harvard, Miles and Seville neighborhoods through the mobile delivery of care packages containing food and basic hygiene items.
- • Lakewood Community Services Center ($34,000): For staffing needed to continue its zero-contact food delivery and distribution system for individuals and families in Lakewood who are facing food insecurity.
- • MidTown Cleveland ($30,000): For bulk meal purchases from AsiaTown restaurants, providing a direct infusion of business to locally owned restaurants while serving the needs of food insecure residents.
- • The Phillis Wheatley Association ($65,000): For staffing, food and other basic supplies to continue to provide meals and critical services to older and disabled adults in the core city of Cleveland.
PPE
- • Salaam Clinic of Cleveland ($25,000): To purchase personal protective and infection control equipment and additional technology resources that will allow the clinic to resume operations providing health care services to the uninsured and underinsured population of Northeast Ohio.
- • Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association ($85,000): To support the #Masks4Community project, which will distribute 33,000 kits in Cleveland and East Cleveland neighborhoods. The kits will include: a washable mask, safety outdoors coloring sheet, 2020 Census, Election/Voting and COVID-19 safety information. The kits will be distributed to essential community locations, including grocery stores, pharmacies, discount stores and food bank sites.
Vulnerable Populations
- • Forbes House ($80,000): To help Lake County’s only domestic violence shelter increase capacity to support the growing number of low-income and at-risk families dealing with trauma by providing emergency shelter, mental health counseling and access to technology.
- • HELP Foundation ($100,000): To continue providing uninterrupted services, including expanded meal delivery, virtual programming, emergency sanitation and PPE supplies, to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities at more than 20 residential locations.
- • Kidney Foundation of Ohio ($25,000): To provide medications, transportation support, emergency assistance and patient service programs to those living with kidney disease in Greater Cleveland and throughout Cuyahoga County.
- • Long Term Care Ombudsman ($13,000): To upgrade existing technology to allow certified staff and volunteers across a five-county footprint to advocate for excellence in long-term care services while nursing homes and other care facilities are closed to outside visitors.
- • Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buckeye Chapter ($18,000): To provide food, medical supplies and other basic needs to honorably discharged veterans with spinal cord injuries or disease, including Multiple Sclerosis and ALS.
- • Cleveland Rape Crisis Center ($90,000): To support case management and hotline staff and coordinate new service delivery methods for survivors of rape and sexual abuse.
- • Ravenwood Mental Health Center ($15,000): To provide emergency food delivery, toiletries and hygiene products at this community mental health and addiction treatment center serving Geauga County.
- • United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cleveland ($50,000): To cover increased staffing expenses due to COVID-19, including 24/7 care at group homes, virtual employment services, tele-education, telehealth and nursing services for individuals with disabilities.
Overall contributions to the Rapid Response Fund now total more than $8.5 million from 73 different corporate, civic and philanthropic partners, including individuals and families across the region. New funding partners (since May 1) include The Dan and Ellen Zelman Family Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland; The Neary Family; and UnitedHealthcare. Funding partners urge other foundations, corporate entities, individuals and organizations to contribute to the fund via ClevelandFoundation.org/Response, where you can also view a list of partners to date. Donations of any amount are welcomed, and all contributions are tax deductible.
The partners still plan to continue to make grants through June, with the potential to extend grant opportunities as needed and as additional funding resources become available through new partners joining the effort. Frontline nonprofits that have pressing needs related to the COVID-19 crisis response should email covid19response@clevefdn.org to receive more information about the streamlined funding process. The funding collaborative will continue to identify potential grantee partners, solicit guidance on proposed projects from community advisors and recommend final awards. Organizations that have already submitted funding requests will remain in consideration for future grant distributions until further notice.
Based upon the charitable structure of the Rapid Response Fund, grants are limited to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, groups fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, or other charitable organizations able to receive a tax-deductible contribution, such as schools, faith-based organizations and other public entities. The partners are not able to fund individuals or businesses directly, labor unions, or other 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5) and 501(c)(6) organizations.
For more information or to donate, visit ClevelandFoundation.org/Response.
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