Healthy Lakewood Foundation Announces Funding For Community Support

The Healthy Lakewood Foundation (HLF) Board of Directors awarded $104,800 in Neighborhood Opportunity grants at its November Board meeting.

The HLF Board awarded these grants to twenty-one local organizations for community-based projects that support community building and engagement through innovation and learning. These projects support meaningful work at the hyperlocal level in Lakewood. This funding seeks to address the social determinants of health and the conditions of our community that impact our health and well-being.

Awarded Neighborhood Opportunity Grants include:

• $4,000 to Empower Sports for sports league programming and participation for students with a disability/disabilities.
• $4,500 to College Now Greater Cleveland, for a series of college planning workshops for high school students and their parents, from FAFSA prep to college transition and more.
• $7,200 to Gigi’s Playhouse Cleveland for programming and supplies which supports participants with Down syndrome to be more independent and confident in their abilities while improving their strength and health.
• $7,500 to The Family Room, a program of the City of Lakewood’s Department of Human Services, for their New Parent Support Group and prenatal support groups, providing feeding, lactation, and general care support to families of infants and babies.
• $7,500 to Lakewood Tree Advisory and Education Board, a program of the City of Lakewood, for their bi-annual resident tree giveaway program.

Additionally, the HLF Board awarded several System-Level Grants, with a commitment of $165,000 over two years to four area organizations. Funding includes $25,000 to Center for Community Solutions over two years for conducting research and analysis on the first year of Summer EBT implementation in Ohio, as well as $30,000 to The Land for expanding their Community Journalism Program to Lakewood, to engage and train community members to report on important local civic issues.

For a complete list of the Neighborhood Opportunity and System-Level grant awards, please visit HLF’s website: https://healthylakewoodfoundation.org/grantmaking/recent-grants/. Please stay tuned to HLF’s website for 2025 funding opportunities.

Sharon Schuldt is the Healthy Lakewood Foundation - Foundation and Grants Coordinator.