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By Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau and Acting Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families

The Children’s Bureau will honor five winners of its Champion Awards at this year’s 21st National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. The award recognizes the efforts of agencies, community-based organizations, businesses, courts, individuals, parent leaders, and others who have made exceptional contributions in promoting the health and well-being of children and families. The 2019 Champion Awards recipients are:

For Preventing Child Maltreatment
Providence HouseVisit disclaimer page (Cleveland, OH)

Founded in 1981 to provide emergency shelter for children in Greater Cleveland whose families were experiencing a crisis, Providence House supports one of the longest lengths of stay among nurseries in the U.S. and offers the deepest levels of services beyond children’s emergency shelter, promoting family stability and preservation and preventing foster care placements.

For Reshaping Foster Care as a Support for Families
Andrew and Amy Baker (Searcy, AR)

Andrew and Amy, foster parents since 2014, are committed to partnering with birth parents to help ensure that every child they have fostered is eventually reunified with his or her biological family. Andrew is the founder of Red Door Table Foundation, an organization committed to supporting biological parents, children and foster families.

For Promoting Child and Family Well-being
Sue Williams (Columbia, SC)

Sue has been a tireless advocate for children and families throughout South Carolina and at the national level. As CEO of the Children’s Trust of South Carolina, Sue has built a collaborative program model where local partners deliver community knowledge, leadership, and access to families and program delivery.

For Building Community Capacity
Good Samaritan Community ServicesVisit disclaimer page (San Antonio, TX)

Good Samaritan Community Services serves as a catalyst for change, supporting youth, individuals, and families by providing community-based services designed to help empower them to overcome the impact of poverty. These services, reaching more than 5,500 individuals and families across six sites in South Texas, include a child development program, youth development services, afterschool and summer youth enrichment programs, a college readiness program, and family services.

For Supporting the Workforce
Justin “Jay” Miller (Louisville, KY)
Jay Miller is Associate Dean for Research, Associate Professor, Director of the Self-Care Lab, and the Doris Y. Wilkinson Distinguished Professor in Social Work Education in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. Jay founded the Self-Care Lab at the university to address potentially toxic employment conditions for child welfare professionals. He is also engaged in state-wide efforts to support foster/adoptive/kinship caregivers.

The Children’s Bureau received over 60 nominations for the Champion Award. View the complete list of each category and eligibility requirements.

Providence House, a crisis nursery, will open a second campus in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood, growing its capacity to care for children and families in crisis.

With the second campus, Providence House will increase the number of infants and children it serves annually to more than 700, and expand services to more than 1,000 parents and caregivers.

Providence House’s “Giving Hope for the Phuture” — $13 million campaign to support the new campus and sustain the organization into the future — has raised around $2.5 million to date, including leadership gifts from Saint Luke’s Foundation and campaign chairs Karen Dolan, a trustee of the Providence House board, and her husband, Paul Dolan, chairman and CEO of the Cleveland Indians.

“Providence House has always responded to the needs of our community’s most vulnerable members, children whose families are in crisis,” said Natalie Leek-Nelson, Providence House CEO and president, in a prepared statement. “It’s our priority to meet the tremendous demand in our community for our services and be accessible to the children who are at risk of abuse and neglect. We’re so thankful for the gifts from Saint Luke’s and the Dolans at this early stage in our fundraising campaign, as it demonstrates their confidence in Providence House delivering needed services to our East Side community.”

Providence House’s current Ohio City campus serves about 350 children a year. Due to limited space, the organization last year couldn’t admit 170 infants and children at its West Side campus, according to a news release. Roughly 70% of those unserved lived on the East Side of Cleveland, prompting the organization to look for a second location to serve those children and families in their neighborhood.

“The board and the staff really rose to the challenge and said, ‘OK, we need to go where the children are,’ ” Leek-Nelson said in an interview. “And we began a process of just looking at what our options were for facilities on the East Side.”

Renovations, addition planned

Providence House in January bought the historic Weizer Building located at East 118th Street and Buckeye Road. Plans for the new campus include a $3 million renovation of the existing building and a $5 million, 7,000-square-foot addition to house a 24-bed crisis nursery residential wing.

The Weizer Building will house Providence House’s administrative offices, a children’s education center (complete with classrooms and activity spaces, a gymnasium, medical exam rooms and more) and a family resiliency center, where families can access case management, connect to community resources and visit their children. The site will also have playgrounds for the kids, including basketball courts and grassy areas.

Pending reaching fundraising milestones, the goal is to begin renovation of the Weizer Building in June and begin occupying it with administrative and family services in October. New construction of the residential nursery is slated to begin next spring with an eight-month build, aiming to have children in the building in late 2020/early 2021.

The plan also includes some minor work on the West Side campus to address wear and tear. Moving administrative offices from the West to East Side also frees up space on Providence House’s original campus to give people more appropriate, confidential workspaces.

“Saint Luke’s Foundation is proud to support Providence House in their expansion to the East Side,” Anne C. Goodman, Saint Luke’s Foundation president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “Their work aligns well with our mission to improve and transform the health and well-being of individuals, families and the neighborhood surrounding Saint Luke’s. We’re excited to see the impact Providence House will have in this neighborhood and beyond.”

Once the renovation and new building are completed, Providence House anticipates it will hire an additional 40-45 new employees, the majority of whom will be full-time.

“What’s really kind of cool about those positions is 30 or so of those jobs are jobs we train individuals to,” Leek-Nelson said. “They don’t need special certification or a degree. They’re child-care providers, housekeeping, maintenance. And so we’re really hoping we can generate some live-work opportunities in the Buckeye Neighborhood, which unfortunately is one of the neighborhoods with the highest rate of poverty and the highest rate of unemployment in Cleveland.”

Neighborhood catalyst

Providence House hopes to help catalyze future development and partnerships in the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, according to the release.

The new campus will serve an additional 325 children in the East Side Crisis Nursery with free, noncustodial care and emergency shelter to children newborn through 12 years old whose families are in crisis. Providence House also offers families a range of services, including, according to the release: family preservation services to support family stability for parents/guardians with children in the East Side Crisis Nursery; onsite aftercare program to support families reunited with their children to offer continued guidance and resources; and a community-based family resource center and basic needs support programs for families referred by local partners.

“While the children are with us, we’re very holistically working with the children — their medical wellness, their developmental milestones, school readiness, school enrollment, all that work,” Leek-Nelson said. “And while we’re doing that with the children, our social workers are working intensively with the parents to address homelessness, domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health issues, and sometimes it’s a combination of a bunch of those factors. And so really, our goal is to keep that family together by creating a support network that will be with them when their children return home and continue to see them remain safe and stable.”

CLEVELAND – Providence House, a crisis nursery committed to ending child abuse and neglect, was recognized as one of thirteen programs in the nation by ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center for its Innovative and Exemplary Service. The award will be presented at the 2019 National Lifespan Respite Conference in Buffalo, New York.

“Providence House is honored to be recognized by ARCH for our innovation and exemplary service,” said Natalie Leek-Nelson, Providence House CEO and president. “This recognition is validation of our work and the commitment of our staff to assure the highest quality service to the families we serve using our evidence-based model.”

ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center assists and promotes the development of quality respite and crisis care programs in the United States, and helps families locate these vital services in their communities.

“Providence House exemplifies the characteristics that ARCH values in respite programs,” said Jill Kagan, ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center Director. “They have demonstrated their commitment to children and families in their community by implementing a data driven model accompanied by best practices in our field.”

Providence House was selected by ARCH for its establishment of a “data culture” to assure continuous quality, identify barriers to participation, documentation of successes, and for making data-based decisions. Additionally, Providence House’s approach to social and economic changes as well as changes in best practices including social determinants of health and trauma informed services place Providence House at the forefront of the field of crisis care.

For more information about Providence House, please visit provhouse.org.

Author: John Hillbery

Baker Mayfield’s influence has electrified Cleveland Browns fans. This is a recounting of my first-hand experience with Cleveland’s franchise quarterback, and how he helped raise of $5,000 dollars for a local Cleveland charity.

As a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, I’ve always dreamed of the day that we would have a franchise quarterback. I’ve seen the ups and downs of this franchise for my entire life. I can only remember 2007 as the one winning season I’ve ever experienced as a fan of the Browns. But after coming off a promising 2018 campaign, we are headed in the right direction and have found our answer at quarterback.

Late in the 2018 season, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was fined $10,026 dollars by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct, during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Many of us Browns fans were shocked that he was fined. In a spur of the moment response to this news, I created a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay the fine for him, and over the course of a week, I experienced first-hand the power of Mayfield.

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Shortly after I created this campaign, I quickly realized that I wouldn’t have been able to pay the fine. Per the NFL: “the league withholds the amount of the fine from the player’s next check.”

So, then it was decided that this money would go to a Cleveland based charity, known as Providence House. Mayfield had worked with them previously throughout the season, and I thought that there was no better match out there! By this time, a couple thousand dollars had been raised by Browns fans, using my own personal social media accounts.

But then on the first day of 2019, the most unbelievable thing happened. Mayfield tweeted the link out. I was astonished. It was one of, if not, the most surreal moments of my life. I had never experienced this type of exposure before. What was I going to do? Soon enough, we had raised over $5,000 dollars for Providence House. It was an awesome way to start the new year. Mayfield had rallied Browns fans to come together to donate towards an amazing and heartfelt cause.

Mayfield’s electric personality is something so unique and intangible. To take a franchise on his shoulders that hasn’t had success in such a long time and completely seize the moment is something that has captivated us all. Being able to start my 2019 off this was such a surreal moment and one that I will never be able to forget. We are still only in the beginning of Mayfield’s career. But his influence is undeniable and the electricity that he has put into this team has revived our long-dormant franchise.

As part of its ongoing commitment to communities, Dominion Energy, parent company of Dominion Energy Ohio, is contributing a $10,000 Critical Community Needs Grant to West Ohio Food Bank in Lima.

The local grant is part of $155,000 in such grants presented in Ohio and an overall $1.6 million overall awarded to more than 200 nonprofit organizations providing essential human services in 12 states. This is the fourth year the company has awarded more than $1 million to meet critical community needs.

“Each year we look at ways to support charitable organizations that work day-in and day-out to make a positive impact in our communities,” said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, the company’s charitable arm. “These grants will help provide the food, shelter and medical care needed by many for a better life.”

Other Ohio grant recipients are:

• Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Cleveland, $15,000.
• Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, Cleveland, $15,000
• Cleveland Municipal School District, $10,000.
• Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center, Cleveland, $10,000.
• Eliza Bryant Village, Cleveland, $10,000.
• A Second Home for You, Cleveland, $5,000.
• Battered Women’s Shelter, Akron, $5,000.
• Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Akron, $5,000.
• Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, $5,000.
• Enterprise Community Partners, Cleveland, $5,000.
• Family Promise of Summit County, Akron, $5,000
• Family Promise of Greater Cleveland, $5,000.
• Joseph’s Home, Cleveland, $5,000.
• Lake County Free Clinic, Painesville, $5,000.
• Providence House, Cleveland, $5,000.
• Rahab Ministries, Akron, $5,000.
• St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, $5,000.
• West Side Catholic Center, $5,000.
• Mobilemed 1, Lyndhurst, $5,000.
• Second Harvest Food Bank, Youngstown, $5,000.
• Stark County Hunger Task Force, Canton $5,000.
• YMCA Mahoning Valley, Youngstown, $5,000.

CLEVELAND — Quarterback Baker Mayfield gave the Cleveland Browns’ fans plenty of reason to cheer with his on-the-field accomplishments during his rookie season, and he continues to do so on a national level for his commitment to bettering the City of Cleveland.

In a national media appearance on The Jim Rome Show on CBS Sports Network in Atlanta at Super Bowl LIII Wednesday, Mayfield talked about auctioning off a dinner for two, which raised $40,000 for Providence House to help at-risk families in Cleveland.

“Unbelievable,” Mayfield said of being able to have a positive impact so quickly into his career.

“To be able to have that opportunity is very special, and to be able to give back to a city that’s believed in me and supported me, and just to be able to impact the youth, give every kid a chance to have the same opportunities as everybody else, I think that’s the important thing about it.”

With Mayfield’s help, the Browns were able to raise more than $100,000 in just 10 minutes to benefit Providence House at their annual “Deck The House” event at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The North Olmsted Junior Women’s Club has been serving the city and surrounding communities in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties for over 75 years.

The club was founded and orchestrated by Gerald Rankin in 1943, with their first meeting occurring on Aug. 8 of that year at a former golf club, Par Three Club House, according to Renee Kolesar, current president of the Junior Women’s Club.

Over its course of 75 years, the non-profit club has welcomed a number of women from Lorain and Cuyahoga counties to serve their fellow communities and be involved in order for each to grow, the 69-year-old Kolesar said.

“This diverse group of women is involved in many service projects, including the (current) Tim Tebow “Night to Shine” special prom, constructing Easter baskets/holiday gifts for hundreds of senior adults and children, support for high school after prom, (North Olmsted City Schools’) Education Foundation, Oxcart Food Pantry, Providence House, Twice Blessed Store, The Gathering Place and Trinity Church meals for the needy,” Kolesar said.

“As strong supporters of continuing education and lifelong learning, the Junior Women also provide scholarships each year to high school students and adult women for higher education expenses.”

Kolesar resides in the city and has been a member of the club for 15 years. This is her first time serving as the club’s president. She said the club currently has 41 members of all ages, though they must be 21 or older to join.

Members do not have to be North Olmsted residents.

“Most women join to support the community through volunteer work, meet new people and find new friendships,” Kolesar said. “I joined after my youngest child went to college since I had been very active volunteering in the school system while my children were in school.”

Kolesar said her favorite thing about being part of this club for so many years is the people she’s met.

She added she also loves the work they do to support charities and help people in need.

“We get so much good feedback from the groups we have supported,” she said. “It’s wonderful to know we have made a positive impact in our community. We recently received a proclamation from the Ohio Senate for our community service.

“(For example,) I personally felt so good when I was able to help someone shopping at the Twice Blessed Store (of Cleveland), when I drop off Easter baskets the group had assembled at the nursing home or when I make that phone call to tell a woman she had been chosen to receive a scholarship. We aren’t a big group and we don’t raise huge amounts of money, but I know that we have added happiness to people’s lives.”

Kolesar said while federal, state and local governments help those in need, there have been cutbacks in many government programs.

“Charitable community groups like (North Olmsted Junior Women’s Club) are a needed resource that can provide something extra for our citizens who are at a difficult point in their lives,” she said.

Karen Hirsh, 52, of North Olmsted, has been a member of the club for about two years.

Hirsh said she joined after moving to the area from Hudson once her youngest child began college at Kent State University.

She said was looking for a way to meet people in an area she was unfamiliar with.

“I was not aware of organizations or volunteer opportunities in the Hudson area like this,” Hirsh said. “It’s a great way to meet new people when you’re new to the area.”

Hirsh said one of her favorite things about the club is the volunteer opportunities.

“Sometimes as an individual, it can be difficult to find opportunities, but we have a committee in charge of this every year who do research and find opportunities,” she said. “It’s great to be with a group of people who volunteer. We do so much good in the community, from volunteering, to raising money for scholarships, to making monetary donations to other organizations. It’s a lot of work, but so worthwhile and rewarding.”

Molly Cotofan, 40, of North Olmsted, has been with the club for five years.

She and husband John Cotofan had moved to the city from Fairview Park in 2014 with their two children. She said she knew close to no one after coming to the area and found an advertisement to attend a Junior Women’s Club meeting.

After going to her first meeting to see what it was like, she ended up joining that night.

“It is such a welcoming group of women who give their time and energy to try to really make a difference in North Olmsted and surrounding communities,” Cotofan said. “The group allows me to grow as a person through creating new friendships and giving me an outlet in which to serve our community.”

Cotofan said in her five years as a member, she has many things she truly enjoys. One of her favorites is the Adult Women’s Scholarship the club offers.

The club raises money throughout the year and donates it to worthy causes, but she loves that they annually give out this scholarship.

“The scholarship goes to a non-traditional woman who is either already enrolled in a higher education program or wants to enter one,” Cotofan said. “We receive great applications and it is always a joy to hand this scholarship out.”

Cotofan said the group also has raised money to contribute to their local Kiwanis Club, for playground equipment for their schools, constructing Easter baskets for senior citizens who reside at the Joshua Tree and they have donated to North Olmsted’s School Garden.

“(The Junior Women’s Club) gives women the support they need to make positive changes in North Olmsted and surrounding communities,” Cotofan said. “We can identify issues and concerns on a smaller, local level and take steps to make an impact. North Olmsted is fortunate to have an organization such as (the club) to serve as bedrock for our community.”

Kolesar said the group raises money through three separate events in the year: a basket raffle in the early spring, usually held at Two Bucks in North Olmsted; a plant sale sponsored by Dean’s Greenhouse in Westlake; and selling Clague Playhouse tickets normally in late November.

She added the club recently donated $2,100 to the following organizations: A Night To Shine, Oxcart Food Pantry of North Olmsted, North Olmsted Senior Center, Cogswell Hall of Cleveland, North Olmsted Kiwanis, North Olmsted School Gardens, Dress for Success and the Ronald McDonald House.

When not serving communities, the group gets together for social activities outside of the club to enjoy themselves and celebrate their friendship, Kolesar said.

The club meets the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the North Olmsted Senior Center, 28114 Lorain Road

Saint Luke’s Foundation’s board of trustees approved about $4.4 million in grants to 25 organizations in the foundation’s third round of grants for 2018, the board announced Wednesday, Jan. 9.

The investments align with the foundation’s mission to achieve health equity by addressing social determinants of health such as educational attainment, financial stability, healthy eating and active living, safe and affordable housing, social connections and the strengthening of the neighborhoods surrounding the former Saint Luke’s hospital, according to a news release.

“We are so pleased with the overwhelming interest from organizations and critical partners spearheading efforts to address social determinants of health,” said Anne C. Goodman, Saint Luke’s Foundation president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “It is invigorating to see that there is growing recognition across the community that health is more than just the absence of disease and that there are myriad and complex factors that impact our ability to ensure health equity”.

According to the release, the grants are as follows:

• A one-year, $85,000 grant to City Year for “Whole School Whole Child” at Harvey Rice Wraparound and John Adams College and Career Academy
  A one-year, $150,000 grant to Esperanza for family engagement in education
• A one-year, $90,000 grant to Passages Connecting Fathers and Sons Inc. for Jobs for Dads and Moms
• A one-year, $60,000 grant to Towards Employment for general operating support
• A two-year, $92,000 grant to Enterprise Community Partners Inc. for lead-poisoning prevention
• A one-year, $50,000 grant to Family Promise for general operating support
• A two-year, $200,000 grant to Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity for Greater Buckeye Housing Rehab
• A five-year, $1 million grant to Legal Aid Society of Cleveland for The Campaign for Legal Aid
• A one-year, $90,000 grant to West Side Catholic for Center Zacchaeus Housing Solutions
• A one-year, $136,661.88 grant to Cuyahoga Metro Housing Authority for The Police Assisted Referral Program
• A two-year, $100,000 grant to ideastream for the “Homes” Project, lifting resident voices in partnership with Justin Glanville
• A two-year, $300,000 grant to Neighborhood Connections for Neighbor Up in Greater Buckeye and Mount Pleasant
• A one-year, $75,000 grant to Open Doors Academy for the Family Advocacy Program
• A five-year, $600,000 grant to Providence House for “Giving Hope for the PHuture” support for the Providence House East Side expansion, Buckeye Road
• A one-year, $126,000 grant to University Settlement for the Strengthening Families Program
• A one-year, $76,000 grant to West Side Community House for Wrap for Success
• A one-year, $50,000 grant to Cleveland Botanical Garden for Green Corps: Impacting Youth
• A one-year, $100,000 grant to Food Trust for the Food Access Raises Everyone (FARE) Project
• A one-year, $350,000 grant to Western Reserve Land Conservancy for Thriving Communities Institute Saint Luke’s Neighborhood Revitalization
• A two-year, $350,000 grant to Center for Community Solutions for general operating support
• A one-year, $25,000 grant to City Club of Cleveland for strategically aligned programming support
• A one-year, $55,000 grant to Business Volunteers Unlimited for Unlimited Capacity Building Services for Nonprofits
• A one-year, $100,000 grant to Care Alliance for general operating support
• A one-year, $125,000 grant to Neighborhood Family Practice for general operating support
• A two-year, $40,000 grant to Philanthropy Ohio for general operating support