Neighborhood Connections, Salvation Army continue to serve needs in Greater Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - “Neighborhood Connections was founded in 2003. Its mission is to fuel the good ideas of residents in Cleveland and East Cleveland.”

Lila Mills, the communications manager for the organization, says it gives away about $600,000 in grants every year.

Since its inception, it has invested $8.7 million in almost 3,000 community-lead projects in the two cities.

There are two grant applications every year; the second Friday in February and the second Friday in August.

A volunteer committee of residents from the two cities, read the applications, do the interviews and make all the funding decisions.

Carol Malone of Neighbor Up, the creator, host and producer of the podcast, says they recently funded a minority in construction training program in the Fairfax neighborhood.

Another example of an innovative idea came from a 14-year-old, 10th grade girl. Her idea, Car Seat Library, is designed to meet needs of mothers bringing newborns home from the hospital. Mothers, who don’t have a car seat, can rent one for the blessed occasion.

They also talked about Network Nights. It’s designed to bring positive thinking doers together to affect change. There is one being held on Nov. 20 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Buckeye neighborhood at Fairhill Partners on Fairhill Road.

Another Network Night is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 5 at Midtown Tech Hive at 6815 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland with free dinner and parking.

In the second half of CW 43 Focus, we talked with Major Thomas Appling of the Salvation Army of Greater Cleveland.

The Salvation Army International has been around for 150 years. It has a presence in every zip code in the country. It serves people in need, whether that’s food, clothing or housing, including employment and volunteerism. It has preschool, after school and senior citizens programming and religious services.

Major Thomas Appling, of the Salvation Army, says its fundraising, including “The Red Kettle Campaign,” is underway hoping to raise $2.7 million dollars in Greater Cleveland.

“People don’t carry cash anymore. We want to give the opportunity, but the response is less than it’s ever been. So, we’ve kind of stepped into the digital era now and this year we have the ability at the kettle stand, on the sign to use Apple pay. Google Pay or to use a QR code which will allow people to go right to a landing page and make a donation on their phone.”

You can watch this entire CW 43 Focus show with host Harry Boomer and his guests on demand on our Roku and Amazon Fire TV apps, online at Cleveland19.com and on TV every Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m. on CW 43.

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