Colectivo Grantees

Grantees

2008
> The Colectivo provided grants to ten different projects in 2008:

A Piece of Cleveland, a local start up business that “upcycles” salvaged lumber into home and office furnishings, was awarded $5,000 as a capital investment to help purchase equipment that would make their manufacturing process more efficient and enhance their profitability. For more information, visit www.apieceofcleveland.com.

Padres Unidos, an independent parent advocacy group, was awarded $2,500 for their programming to increase parental involvement in the educational system and reduce dropouts in the Cleveland Municipal School District. This program is a project of the Hispanic Roundtable. For more information, please visit www.convencionhispana.org.

Summer in the City, a grassroots public art collaborative, was awarded $500 to help purchase art supplies for a summer beautification project. Program leaders will paint city property such as garbage can lids and benches in the Ohio City and Detroit Shoreway neighborhoods.

Mom & Baby Happy Hour: New Mom Support Group, a project of Neighborhood Family Practice , was awarded $675 to help support pre-natal programming, specifically breastfeeding support for new mothers. Funding will be used for bus tickets and other supplies, which will attract participants and enhance the program.

Landscape Apprentice Project, a job training program providing skills in landscape architecture to urban youth , was awarded $4,500 to fund program supplies and a small stipend for 10 teenage participants, ages 13-17 in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood.

Ohio City Bike Co-op was awarded $2,000 for improvements to bicycle valet services at public events. Funds will be used to make the free bicycle valet service more attractive, professional, and efficient, encouraging participants to choose cycling over automobile transportation. For more information on the Ohio City Bike Co-op, visit www.ohiocitycycles.org.

Little Frogs in Bigger Ponds, a project of the Joyful Noise Neighborhood Music School, was awarded $1,800 to cover the cost of sending 6 youth to summer music and drama camps at major art institutions in the Cleveland area.

Centering Pregnancy: Empowering Mothers at High Social Risk was awarded $1,725 to provide pre-natal care and training for women at high-social risk living in the city of Cleveland. Funding will be used to provide additional educational materials for participants.

Big Deal: The Giant Supply Depot, a new concept for an innovative tutoring and literacy center on Euclid Avenue, was awarded $300 to cover the costs of the applicant to attend a national conference in order to learn how to establish this unique educational venue. The concept is based on successful literary centers established in cities across the U.S. by writer Dave Eggers.
Basics, a grassroots effort to distribute clean undergarments to formerly incarcerated women who are in the process of re-entry, was awarded $1,000. Funds will be used to help purchase the needed undergarments as well as for storage containers and distribution of the items.

Click here to down load the press release about the grantees (pdf).

2007
> The Colectivo provided grants to six different projects in 2007:

Zygote Press, a print-making collaborative, was awarded $2,000 for the Artzreach Program. The funds will help purchase materials and pay teacher stipends for an initiative to provide arts programming to individuals in detention and re-entry programs, in the Broadway neighborhood of Cleveland. Find out more information about Zygote Press at www.zygotepress.com.

ArtHouse, a community arts center in the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, was awarded $2,000 for the Fresh Stop – Studio Stop program. A first time collaboration between ArtHouse and CityFresh, these groups will host a “Fresh Stop” farmers market two days per month in the ArtHouse parking lot at 3119 Denison Rd. The market will offer locally grown produce at affordable prices. During the farmers market, ArtHouse will offer a free, open-door studio at its facility, allowing the public to take advantage of arts programming and classes. Find out more information about ArtHouse at www.arthouseinc.org, and CityFresh at www.gotthenac.org.

The Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center, a non-profit that focuses on fostering stronger relationships among youth and families of color, was awarded $5,000 for the African American and Latino Male Youth Dialogue program. The funds will be used for four quarterly dialogue sessions, estimated to impact 200 youth and fathers. The goal of the sessions is to create stronger intergenerational relationships, and to help youth change the projected outcomes of their lives. Contact the Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center at 216/651-8236.

The Wendy Park Foundation, a non-profit that promotes and educates Clevelanders about Wendy Park at Whiskey Island, was awarded $2,500 for the WHISTLE Program – a three-week summer boat-building and sailing camp for Cleveland kids. The funds will be used to purchase materials. This innovative program exposes youth to Whiskey Island and the natural environment. Find out more about this group at www.wendyparkfoundation.org.

Meet the Bloggers, a media organization that provides an alternative news source on issues that face Northeast Ohio, was awarded $500 for web hosting, newsletter maintenance, and pod-casting. Meet the Bloggers is known for hosting its interviews in Cleveland neighborhoods, bringing attention to under-reported issues, and for promoting an “open source” approach towards information and news. The Colectivo grant will help this grassroots group to expand its audience. Find out more about Meet the Bloggers at www.meetthebloggers.net.

2006
> The four groups selected for our first round of funding in 2006 were:

• The Building Bridges Mural Program, awarded $3,000 for artist Katherine Chilcote’s effort to create a youth internship program in partnership with Doug Horner at St. Paul’s Community Church that will result in a mural installation at the intersection of West 25th and Detroit Avenue.
Learn more.

• The Westside Refugee Family Center, awarded $2,500 to implement a six-month pilot “Mommy and Me” program, enhancing offerings already available to a growing number of refugee families on Cleveland’s near west side.
Learn more.

• City Wheels, awarded $1,000 for grant-writing assistance to support this innovative Northeast Ohio car sharing service designed to provide a creative cooperative transportation alternative to car ownership.
Learn more.

• The Tremont Urban Learning Garden, awarded $750 for materials to this project in which Lucky's Coffee Shop/Sweet Mosaic Bakery will work with neighborhood youth to build a garden in a vacant lot adjacent to the coffee shop and use the locally-grown produce in food and baked goods sold at the bakery.
Learn more.

Click here to down load the press release about the grantees (pdf).