FH awards $10,500 to 13 Heights projects

Noble Cigar Box Guitar Project participants performed at the 2022 Heights Music Hop. [photo: FutureHeights]

The FutureHeights Neighborhood Mini-Grants program has awarded $10,500 to 13 Heights groups in its spring 2023 round of grantmaking.

The program invites groups to apply for up to $1,000 in funding for neighborhood-level, community-building projects, programs, or initiatives in Cleveland Heights or University Heights.  

Artful’s project, This Art is for the Birds, received $1,000 to support arts workshops directed by Robin VanLear that will result in an outdoor Greek theater-style production to take place in Coventry PEACE Park this summer. 

Building Heights’ project, Heights Middle School Shorts, received $1,000 to support a week-long summer camp at which CH-UH middle-school-aged children have the opportunity to write, direct, and produce their own short films.  

Gallery 2602’s project, Come Home With Me, received $1,000 to support the first-ever solo exhibition by artist Antwoine Washington, which the Coventry Village neighborhood will host beginning in June 2023.

Heights Tree People’s project, Nela View Road Tree Watering, received $1,000 to aid in watering the 47 newly planted trees on Nela View Road in the Noble-Caledonia neighborhood. 

Millikin Neighborhood Group’s project, Community Building through Shared Events, received $1,000 to support the wide array of activities and entertainment it brings to the Millikin Playground—a place it has taken stewardship of since the school closed.  

A Lennox Road neighbors project, Reducing Trash on Lennox Road, received $1,000 to install two new trash receptacles in the Cedar-Fairmount neighborhood, in an effort to reduce littering.  

Start Right CDC’s project, Neighborhood Book Fair, received $1,000 to support the creation of a book fair to help promote reading and literacy in the Caledonia neighborhood, where there is no library within walking distance. 

StudioCat’s project, Art Workshop Series for Cognitively Disabled Adults, received $1,000 to support an eight-week art-making class for 12–15 disabled adults in Cleveland Heights. The workshop will conclude with an exhibition of the art created during the program.

Berkeley Road Street Club’s project, Berkeley Road Block Party/Community Building, received $500 to support the hosting of its annual gathering in the Boulevard neighborhood.  

Coventry Living Project Working Group’s Coventry Living Room Project received $500 to support the creation of an "outdoor living room" in the Coventry neighborhood intended to serve as a gathering and performance space for the community. 

Gearity PTA’s project, Update the High Tunnel Outdoor Classroom, received $500 to support an upgrade of the garden at Gearity elementary school in University Heights.  

The Noble Cigar Box Guitar Project received $500. This annual program, now in its third year, provides Heights middle-school-aged children with the opportunity to learn to build and play their own cigar box guitars.  

The Roxboro Elementary School PTA’s project, Roxboro Elementary School Learning Garden, received $500 to support the startup of a learning garden at the school. 

The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program offers two rounds of funding annually, once in the spring and once in the fall.  The deadline to apply for fall funding is Sept. 15.

To learn more about this FutureHeights program, visit www.futureheights.org/programs/community-building-programs/minigrants, or send an e-mail to swolf@futureheights.org.