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Cleveland Colectivo Gives Away $18,125 in Fourth Year of Funding: Grassroots Giving Supports Fresh Thinking and Innovation

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

The Cleveland Colectivo, a four-year-old Cleveland “giving circle” whose members pool their own money and give it away to innovative projects, has selected six projects and two giving circles for funding in 2009. Reflecting the group’s determination to transform Cleveland, these projects, selected from more than 100 applications, address community issues such as: the arts, sustainability, community development, immigration, health care and youth development. In an effort to help support the development of other giving circles in Northeast Ohio, the Colectivo has also provided $1,000 in matching funds to two giving circles. In total, the Colectivo awarded $18,125 in 2009 – an amount that is consistent with last year’s funding, despite economic conditions.

"In a down economy, we have stayed steady and supported fresh thinking in Cleveland,” said member and co-founder Walter Wright. “This year, we are particularly excited about our giving circle challenge, because it reflects our expanding mission. We’re making a difference!”

The Colectivo provided grants to ten different projects in 2009:

• Building Hope in the City was awarded $3,250 for Voices Worth Hearing – Art Worth Sharing, a project to create a video documenting the personal experiences of refugees and to create a multimedia art show that will raise awareness about refugee issues.
• Slavic Village Development was awarded $3,500 for Slavic Village Riding Tigers Bike Camp, an earn-a-bike program that encourages neighborhood youth to become independent travelers able to safely reach many destinations in the city.
• The Committee for Larchmere PorchFest was awarded $1,875 for Larchmere Porchfest, a community event that promotes the historic Larchmere neighborhood, creating a free, multi-destination concert by pairing musicians with porches throughout the neighborhood.
• Camp Sunrise, a camp in Southern Ohio that serves children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS throughout Ohio, including many from Cleveland, was awarded $2,000 for Sleeping Under the Stars, which will provide the camp with equipment such as tents so that they can experience sleeping outdoors in nature (many for the first time).
• The Earth Day Coalition was awarded $2,000 for Naturehood Native Plant Nursery, an effort to reclaim and beautify vacant, city-owned lots in the Stockyards neighborhood by creating a nursery of native plants that can be replicated in other communities.
• Cleveland Public Art was awarded $3,250 to create a juried artist competition for Public Art Signage for a Downtown Bike Station slated to be built this year.
• Extended Family, an existing giving circle with roots on the east side of Cleveland, was awarded up to $750 in matching funds to help expand and promote their current efforts.
• Youth Giving Circle, a start-up giving circle, was awarded up to $250 in matching funds to help create a youth-based giving circle in the Warrensville Heights school system.

Contact: Lee Chilcote
216/406-3750 or leechilcote@gmail.com
Walter Wright
wrightww@hotmail.com

Author: Cleveland Colectivo
www.clevelandcolectivo.org

 

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Cleveland Public Art has received arts employment support from the Ohio Arts Council made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts through funds allocated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009