MedWish International

President: Tish Dahlby
First Grant Year: 2011
Volunteer Team: Dick Cahoon (Lead Partner)
Projects in Progress: Development, Human Resources, Board Development 

Progressive Arts Alliance

Progressive Arts Alliance (PAA) was founded in 2002 by musician Santina Protopapa and a group of other artists determined to bring arts education to urban youth in a meaningful and relevant way. Native Clevelander Santina, PAA's Executive Director, leads a diverse team of arts educators in their mission of “providing experiences in the contemporary arts that stimulate critical thinking and promote progressive thought,” and seamlessly integrating arts education into a school's curriculum as a tool to enhance learning. PAA's programs for students of all ages include arts workshops, hip-hop and filmmaking camps, after-school programs, and in-school residencies, among a host of others.

PAA has used CSVP's grant to hire a development coordinator and a freelance grant writer.

Cleveland SVP Partners have provided $55,000 and 150 volunteer hours toward capacity-building projects to date.

 The Intergenerational School

The Intergenerational School (TIS) began in 1998 as the brainchild of its three founders: Catherine C. Whitehouse, PhD, educator and developmental psychologist; Peter J. Whitehouse, MD, PhD, a gerontologist and neurologist from Case Western Reserve University; and Stephanie FallCreek, DSW, executive director of Fairhill Center for Aging. The mission of TIS is “to foster an educational community of excellence that provides experiences and skills for life-long learning and spirited citizenship for learners of all ages.”

The school’s educational model was born from the desire to create a school that honored and respected children and enabled them to each learn in a time frame and manner that suited their individual capabilities. To do this meant rejecting age as the single most important factor in organizing the educational environment and experiences. TIS students learn and thrive in flexible multi-age classes based on their developmental needs. Developmental learning stages and small class size (16 students) allow children to learn in their own way and at their own pace for an individually tailored experience.

Cleveland SVP Partners have provided $30,000 and 75 volunteer hours toward capacity-building projects to date.

 Emeritus Investees

    Adoption Network Cleveland 

Adoption Network Cleveland was founded in 1988 by Betsie Norris, an adoptee who searched for and reunited with her birthparents, and in the process discovered a large number of people with unmet needs related to adoption. Adoption Network Cleveland provides programs and services for adoptees, birthparents, adoptive parents, youth in foster care, foster parents, siblings and adoption professionals. Adoption Network Cleveland recognizes adoption as a complex, lifelong and intergenerational process. Its mission is to connect and empower individuals, organizations and communities impacted by adoption and foster care, and to provide a source of healing for those in need.

Cleveland SVP Partners provided $60,000 and 300 volunteer hours toward capacity-building projects.

E CITY 

(Entrepreneurship: Connecting, Inspiring & Teaching Youth)

E CITY merged with Youth Opportunities Unlimited in 2011. 

E CITY teaches entrepreneurship to low-income young people in the Cleveland area by improving their academic, business, technology and life skills so that they can become economically productive members of society and break the cycle of poverty in their communities.

E CITY plans seeds to grow healthy communities. E CITY is working to turn the tide of poverty in inner city Cleveland neighborhoods, one young entrepreneur at a time.  E CITY reaches 14-21 year olds in low-income communities and teaches skills of entrepreneurship as a path toward economic self-sufficiency. E CITY inspires teens by showing them that their innate street smarts, mental toughness, and creativity can be turned toward viable business ideas.  E CITY is more than teaching kids how to run their own businesses.  It shows youth a new way to look at money, education, life, and their futures.  It gives them a set of skills that assure them they are smart enough and good enough to make a contribution to our society and economy, and play out their own dreams.

Cleveland SVP partners provided $65,000 and 670 volunteer hours toward capacity-building projects .

   Famicos Foundation

Famicos Foundation was founded in 1969 and is one of the oldest community development corporations in Cleveland. Famicos works to augment both the physical and social landscape of neighborhoods through real estate development, community organizing, programs and services.

Famicos Foundation is dedicated to preserving and maintaining affordable housing and owns and manages over 800 units of affordable housing for families, seniors, the disabled and formerly homeless individuals.

Famicos Foundation realizes that housing is only part of the need facing low-income residents today.   It offers programs that focus on youth development, education, literacy and technology and the ongoing emergency services.  Where Famicos cannot meet the needs of residents, partnerships are formed to ensure they receive the counseling, health care and assistance they need to achieve their goals.

Cleveland SVP partners provided $74,220 and 566 hours toward capacity-building projects.

   Family Connections

Family Connections (formerly known as Shaker Family Center), was formed in 1992 as a result of a Shaker Heights community task force's determination that a need existed for quality early childhood education serving children of all abilities and backgrounds. Since then, Family Connections has developed programs such as the Play and Learn Station, the Patricia S. Mearns Family Playroom, Learning English as a Family, and Parenting Plus that fulfill its mission “to provide programs, resources, and opportunities to encourage and support families in raising young children.”

Since its inception, Family Connections has been a home not only for early childhood organizations, but has expanded to provide parenting programs and family support services out of the former Sussex Elementary School building in Shaker Heights. Family Connections is also a founding member of the Greater Cleveland Family Support Consortium, and works in collaboration with Heights Parent Center and the City of Lakewood Family Room to bring quality family support services to their communities and the surrounding areas.

Cleveland SVP Partners have provided $55,000 and 141 volunteer hours toward capacity-building projects to date.

   Near West Theatre

Since its founding in 1978, Near West Theatre has provided the youth of Cleveland’s Near West Side with an alternative to drugs, violence and vandalism by involving them in the theater arts. Over 82,000 children, youth and adults have participated in Near West Theatre’s productions, acquiring performance and technical training.

Cleveland Social Venture Partners made an initial financial investment (grant) of $35,000 in Near West Theatre in September 2003.  Cleveland SVP’s Volunteer Team has worked with senior staff of Near West Theatre and donated over 300 hours of assistance in executive coaching, staff development, and gift tracking, processing, and cultivation.

Cleveland SVP partners provided $96,000 and 450 volunteer hours toward capacity-building projects.

Youth Opportunities Unlimited

Founded in 1982, Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U) serves more than 12,000 at-risk youth annually through innovative programs that link employers, schools and youth. These programs provide work and life skills, facilitate work-based learning, and assist with job development, recruitment, and placement.

Y.O.U. provides workforce preparation services to youth age 14-19 in Cuyahoga County who live in families near, at, or below poverty level. Y.O.U. works in partnership with school districts, employers, nonprofits, and others.  Y.O.U . serves youth with:

• academic retention services to keep at-risk youth in school and on track to get their high-school diplomas,
• internships and other quality workforce experiences pegged to key industries of the future,
• enabling students to see connections between education and work with programs like Youth Career Olympics,
• training in life skills, employment and job-seeking skills, and
• placement in entry-level jobs.

Y.O.U. was selected as Cleveland SVP’s first investee in September, 2002. Y.O.U senior staff and Cleveland SVP Partners worked together to design and implement a human resources strategy for the organization’s 50 employees, and to develop a streamlined system for incorporating community volunteers into Y.O.U.’s programs, and to track employer relationships to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

Cleveland SVP partners provided $120,000 and 625 volunteer hours toward capacity-building projects.