Nov. 22—The Cleveland Foundation Board of Directors recently approved $227,000 from the Lake-Geauga Fund of the Cleveland Foundation to support 11 organizations serving Lake and Geauga counties.
According to a news release, the following grants were approved from the fund:
—Hershey Montessori School — $15,000. Funding will support high-quality mental health support services for students through staff capacity and training.
—Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center — $25,000. Funding will support access to equine mental health services for individuals in need who cannot afford to pay.
—Vineyard Christian Fellowship — $20,000. Funding will support the expansion of their Senior Box program, which delivers food and other basic necessities to low-income clients.
—Torchlight Youth Mentoring Alliance — $19,000. Funding will support increased organization capacity to expand services offered through their youth mentorship programs.
—Crossroads Health — $28,000. Funding will support the ongoing operations of the Mobile Crisis Services and Response team.
—Fine Arts Association of Willoughby — $20,000. Funding will support the Creative Arts Therapies suite of programming, which integrates the arts and mental health.
—Lake County Free Clinic — $25,000. Funding will support access to healthcare services for seniors within the clinic's footprint.
—WomenSafe, Inc. — $20,000. Funding will support mental health staffing and training to maintain high-quality services for clients.
—NAMI Lake County — $25,000. Funding will support program expansion to enhance peer support offerings for adolescents and youth.
—Fairmount Center for the Arts — $10,000. Funding will support access to the arts for seniors throughout Geauga County.
—Lifeline, Inc. — $20,000. Funding will support programming that connects pre-screened volunteers with seniors in need of support with small around-the-house projects.
Established in 1988, the Lake-Geauga Fund has distributed more than $19.7 million over the past 36 years utilizing the advice of its appointed committee, the release stated.
Since its inception, the fund has been a critical resource to communities in Lake and Geauga counties, as it has provided funding to jumpstart new ideas, guide organizational strategy, leverage additional dollars, and address high-priority program needs.
Beginning in 2015, the Cleveland Foundation's board decided to fully integrate organizations in Lake and Geauga in the foundation's monthly grantmaking process. Since that time, the Lake-Geauga Fund of the Cleveland Foundation has served as an additional resource with a more strategic grantmaking focus, the release stated.