CLEVELAND (November 8, 2016) – Neighborhood Connections, the small-grants and grassroots community-building program affiliated with the Cleveland Foundation, has approved $200,269 in grants to support 72 projects throughout Cleveland and East Cleveland. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the county’s public funder for arts and culture, will co-fund 26 of the resident-led arts and culture projects through a partnership with Neighborhood Connections.

Highlights of the grants include:

• Change Makers* was awarded $4,000 for Invigorate Art Gallery @6500. This outdoor gallery will feature work of professional and novice artists in Hough. Volunteers will also be trained on how to curate, organize, and market the show.
• Love and Care Ministries was awarded $4,000 for Gifted Hands. Neighborhood youth in Lee Harvard will learn sign language and engage in educational and fun activities, such as field trips and playing sports.
• Drumwoman Productions* was awarded $3,745 for Girls and Grandmas Drumming Together. This program brings together young and older women in Union-Miles to learn drumming and build relationships.
• North Collinwood Thundercats Youth Organization was awarded $3,400 for All Star Cheerleading. Girls in North Collinwood will learn cheer routines, stunts and choreography while building trust through teamwork.

*Co-funded by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture

“These grants demonstrate that residents must be at the center of what happens in their own neighborhoods,” said Tom O’Brien, program director of Neighborhood Connections. “They have the talent and the power, working together, to make positive change right where they live.”

Since 2003, Neighborhood Connections has awarded more than 2,375 grants totaling more than $7.78 million to support resident-led grassroots projects in neighborhoods

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture invested $75,000 in Neighborhood Connections in 2016 to support additional community-based arts and culture activities organized by and for Cuyahoga County residents. Through this partnership with Neighborhood Connections, CAC has co-funded 248 resident-led arts and culture projects in Cleveland and East Cleveland since 2013.

“Cuyahoga Arts & Culture is proud to support projects that help connect residents to arts and culture,” said Karen Gahl-Mills, CEO and executive director of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. “By investing in Neighborhood Connections, we’re able to use public funds to help Cleveland and East Cleveland residents create or discover programs and events in their own backyards.”

View the complete list of projects funded in November 2016.

Neighborhood Connections offers grants of up to $5,000 twice a year to groups of residents in Cleveland and East Cleveland who organize projects to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Groups are encouraged to work with partners and to propose creative solutions to challenges in their community. The next deadline to apply for a grant from Neighborhood Connections is February 10, 2017.

Neighborhood Connections is an innovative, nationally recognized community-building program established in 2003. Its mission is to fuel the power of neighbors to create, together, an extraordinary world right where they live. Its small grants program is the largest in the country and is guided by a grantmaking committee made up of 24 Cleveland and East Cleveland residents with a history of community involvement. The committee reviews and approves all grants. Since 2003, Neighborhood Connections has awarded more than 2,375 grants totaling more than $7.78 million. For more information, visit neighborhoodgrants.org.

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) is one of the largest public funders for arts and culture in the nation, helping hundreds of organizations in Cuyahoga County connect millions of people to cultural experiences each year. Since 2006, CAC has invested more than $140 million in more than 300 organizations both large and small, making our community a more vibrant place to live, work and play. For more information, visit cacgrants.org.