Cleveland Monsters and Cleveland Cavaliers Community Foundations Grant $510,000 to Northeast Ohio Nonprofits
The Cleveland Monsters Community Foundation (MCF) and the Cleveland Cavaliers Community Foundation (CCF) have awarded $510,000 in grants to 17 local nonprofits as part of the Spring 2025 grant cycle. These organizations serve Northeast Ohio communities with a focus on education, food security, wellness & recreation and creating safe spaces for youth.
This past October, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Rocket Arena, the Cavaliers and Monsters Community Foundation committed to awarding $30,000 grants to 30 organizations during the 2024–2025 basketball season. In addition to the $510,000, CCF and MCF granted nearly $400,000 in Fall 2024 to fulfill the $900,000 commitment. Of the 30 recipients, 12 are first-time grantees of the Foundation. The initiative also includes two $30,000 academic scholarships awarded to students from Northeast Ohio.
Since 1993, the Cavaliers Community Foundation has invested over $26 million to support organizations addressing critical resource gaps in the Northeast Ohio community. These grants have supported local nonprofits as they expand their footprint and provide vital resources to community members and our neighborhoods.
The Monsters Community Foundation Spring 2025 grant recipients include: Effective Leadership Academy, FrontLine Service and Humble Design Cleveland.
“From youth leadership development to mental health support and housing stability, these partners represent the diverse strengths our neighborhoods and community members need to thrive”, said Ben Adams, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the Cleveland Monsters. “Our commitment to supporting these organizations is unwavering, and we’re enthusiastic about the opportunity to help them make a real difference in our region.”
Together, these organizations provide a wide range of services, from educational enrichment and food security to mental health support and inclusive recreation.
The Cavaliers Community Foundation Spring 2025 grant recipients include: Achievement Centers for Children, Hope Ignites Northeast Ohio, City Mission, City Year, Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank, Greater Cleveland Food Bank, I Am Boundless, LMM, Providence House, Re:Source Cleveland, RePlay for Kids, Syatt and University Settlement.
“We are honored to partner with 17 outstanding nonprofits through our 2025 Spring grant cycle. For over 30 years, our foundation has been dedicated to building community partnerships that expand opportunities and address the most pressing needs for youth and families in Northeast Ohio,” said Pam Frasco, Executive Director of the Cavaliers Community Foundation and Senior Vice President of Social Impact and Equity. “These spring grantee recipients are true community leaders who work tirelessly to support our community in the most valuable ways. Each organization’s mission and goals align with the Cavaliers Community Foundation, funding programming that is focused on providing the best possible outcomes for our youth. We are grateful for the opportunity to work together to create a bright future”.
Grants are awarded twice each year, following a thorough review by the Cavaliers and Monsters Community Foundation Board. The second grant cycle for 2025 will begin in early fall. Organizations interested in being considered for funding should submit a letter of intent by September 1, 2025.
For more information about the Cavaliers Community Foundation or to apply, contact CCfoundation@cavs.com or find the application here. For consideration by the Monsters Community Foundation, please contact monsterscommunity@clevelandmonsters.com or find the application here.
Monsters Community Foundation Spring 2025 Grant Recipients
Effective Leadership Academy (ELA)
ELA's mission is to help young people develop their most valuable asset - themselves. ELA was founded in 2008 and their work over the last 17 years has centered on equipping young people to be their best selves, equipped with the leadership and power skills they need to lead productive, meaningful lives. The Founder and Executive Director adapted a corporate leadership curriculum, which she originally developed for the largest training hospital in the UK, to better serve the unique developmental needs of students in grades 5–12 and their educators. They have won local, state, and national recognition for the social-emotional elements of their programs and have served over 55,000 Northeast Ohio (Cuyahoga, Lorain, and Lake Counties, and further expansion into additional counties planned) students since their founding.
FrontLine Service's mission is "Reaching out to adults and children in Northeast Ohio to end homelessness, prevent suicide, resolve behavioral health crisis, and overcome trauma." FrontLine was founded in 1988 to reach out to the growing number of people in Cuyahoga County who were experiencing homelessness and struggling with severe mental illness. FrontLine staff went into the community, walking up and down streets, to build the trust necessary for these adults to accept help. By bringing services directly to those in need, FrontLine staff helped these adults vastly improve their quality of life.
Since 2020, Humble Design Cleveland has transformed just under 400 empty houses into beautiful, fully furnished and decorated homes at no cost to those they serve. They have welcomed home over 1100 Clevelanders, the bulk of them being children, so that their lives are changed for good. Each week, they turn two empty houses into personalized homes for individuals, families, and veterans emerging from homelessness. They do this using community donated furniture and household goods to create a space that allows each family member to thrive.
Cavaliers Community Foundation Spring 2025 Grant Recipients
Achievement Centers for Children
Achievement Centers’ mission is to empower children and adults with disabilities to achieve their greatest potential through holistic and family-focused services. They offer programs and services to individuals with a broad range of developmental and physical disabilities and special needs. Services are provided at three Northeast Ohio locations: Highland Hills, Westlake, and Camp Cheerful in Strongsville.
Hope Ignites of Northeastern Ohio (formerly Boys Hope Girls Hope) operates three residential homes in Garfield Heights, a robust out-of-school-time Academy program, and a College & Career Success program. Beginning in their sixth-grade year and throughout young adulthood, scholars find consistent, loving support in a stable, nurturing community at Hope Ignites, where they are fully championed academically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
The City Mission (TCM) has served Cleveland's poor and homeless since 1910. In its early years, the Mission provided a wide range of social welfare programs to meet immediate needs and provided compassion and grace to people in crisis. They empower men, women, and children experiencing crisis to overcome their unique paths to homelessness through long-term, residential programming, courses, and wraparound services offered at Crossroads Men's Crisis Center, Laura's Home Women and Children's Crisis Center.
Since launching in Cleveland in 1996, as the eighth site, City Year has partnered with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) to help students in under-resourced schools stay on track to graduate. In 2006, City Year adopted the Whole School Whole Child (WSWC) program as its signature service model, which provides academic, social skill coaching, and attendance support to students most in need.
Founded in 2016, Cleveland Kids' Book Bank (CKBB) is dedicated to ensuring every child has access to books in their home, inspiring literacy and a lifelong love of reading. Addressing this crisis requires systemic change and community action. CKBB plays a vital role in supporting literacy interventions by ensuring books are accessible at home and encouraging parents to read with their children. In partnership with neighborhood, city, and county entities, they serve as the go-to resource for book access in Greater Cleveland.
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is the largest hunger relief organization in Northeast Ohio, having served over 424,000 people in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Ashland and Richland counties in 2024. They do this through both food distribution and SNAP outreach efforts. The Food Bank operates a community food distribution center, providing food and other critical grocery products annually to more than 1,000 local food pantries, hot meal programs, shelters, mobile pantries, programs for the elderly, and other nonprofit agencies.
I Am Boundless began as Franklin County Residential Services, incorporated in 1980 under the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The organization provided respite services and supported living services throughout Central Ohio. In 1985, four intermediate-care facilities were constructed, expanding upon the residential services provided to families in Central Ohio. Franklin County Residential Services was privatized from the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities in 2004. In 2023, Koinonia Homes-a leading provider of residential services, day programs, and employment services to adults with I/DD in Northeast Ohio-joined the Boundless family of nonprofit companies.
Founded in 1969, the mission of LMM is to challenge systemic injustices faced by those who are oppressed, forgotten, and hurt by providing responsive solutions, advocacy, and hope. The youth served in LMM’s Youth Resiliency Service (YRS) Program have trauma histories; mental, emotional, physical health or substance-use challenges; many are runaways, or without a home or stable living environment; and others are survivors of physical abuse and neglect. YRS also provides a holistic continuum of care that helps youth to address their challenges, develop positive social attachments, and prevent a return to homelessness in the future.
Providence House was founded in 1981 with the mission of preventing child abuse and neglect in Northeast Ohio by providing temporary emergency shelter for children and supporting families in crisis. The organization has grown in response to the increasing need for family preservation services, particularly for families experiencing homelessness, housing instability, and other crises. The organization's core mission is to ensure the safety and well-being of children while supporting and stabilizing families through crisis intervention and connection to community resources. They provide emergency shelter in a safe and nurturing environment for children ages 0-12, while their families work to resolve the issues they face. The organization's ultimate goal is to preserve families, ensuring children remain in their homes when possible, and to prevent future trauma or crisis.
Re:Source Cleveland is a Cuyahoga County based nonprofit founded in 2010 with a mission to empower international newcomer families to grow roots, supporting them in becoming engaged, self-sufficient and contributing members of their new communities. They’ve grown to serve over 2,000 newcomers from over a dozen countries in 2024 across programs that focus on youth and teens and their entire families by providing a range of wrap-around support services and ongoing enrichment programs. They work with newcomers from immigration pathways and legal statuses including former refugees, those with temporary protected status, those on humanitarian parole, and those with or seeking asylum.
RePlay for Kids was established in 1999, with a mission of increasing the availability of toys and assistive devices for children with disabilities. Replay teaches volunteers from companies, schools, and other organizations how to adapt or repair toys so that children with disabilities can use them to play and learn. Initially, free toy repair and adapting services were provided to 2 Cuyahoga County agencies. They’ve now expanded to provide services to over 180 agencies, schools, and hospitals in 14 Northeast Ohio counties. The programs have also grown, and now include educational toy adapting workshops at schools, adapting ride-on cars for mobility, and toy workshops for employee team-building sessions.
What began as an initiative to introduce youth to skiing has evolved into a comprehensive program that bridges culturally relevant education with transformative outdoor experiences. The mission centers on youth and family engagement. An emphasis is placed on place-based environmental education and restorative practices, creating transformative experiences that connect communities to outdoor spaces that include Mountain Biking, Skiing, Camping, Swimming, Scuba Diving and others. Throughout the cohorts are STEM-based learning activities, mentorship programming, and leadership development initiatives.
University Settlement (US) has provided social services to the Broadway Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland since 1926. The Settlement is Slavic Village's anchor social service agency, annually serving over 13,000 of the community's 19,000 residents. University Settlement also serves 14 zip codes in the Southwest suburb through family services. Current services focus on helping youth, seniors, and families identify and overcome barriers of poverty and inequity in order to reach their highest potential.
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