by Samantha Spaccasi
Neighborhood Connections, with additional funding from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, has announced $250,745 in funding for 100 projects in Cleveland and East Cleveland. The community-building group, established in 2003, aims to “fuel the power of neighbors to create, together, an extraordinary world right where they live” through financially supporting creative projects. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture is a public funder that supports cultural projects in the county.
“By investing public dollars in Neighborhood Connections, we expand CAC’s reach into important neighborhoods,” said Karen Gahl-Mills, CEO and executive director of CAC, in a press release. “We’re proud to support residents’ efforts to use arts and culture to improve their community.”
The grant recipients include Love Soldiers, a community group in the Lee Harvard neighborhood, which will receive $5,000 to fund Community Art for All gatherings. Residents will come together during spring and summer events to paint on canvas while getting to know each other. Another organization, Untapped Potential Productions, will receive a combined $3,500 from both funders for a program created to address breaking the cycle of incarceration through plays.
“Residents working together, and supported with a small grant, can make extraordinary change in their own neighborhoods,” said Tom O’Brien, Program Director of Neighborhood Connections. “It’s always exciting to see these projects come to life.”
The program offers grants of up to $5,000 twice per year in May and November. The next deadline to apply for a Neighborhood Connections grant is August 11th.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com June 6, 2017.
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