CLEVELAND — Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum News, partnered with the Cleveland Foundation and other organizations to distribute a total of around $500,000 to several local nonprofits.
The funding came from Charter’s Spectrum Employee Community Grants program, the Spectrum Digital Education Program and the Spectrum-Cleveland City Council Neighborhood Technology Trust Fund.
The Spectrum-Cleveland City Council Neighborhood Technology Fund was established in 2000 to support nonprofits that work to advance digital literacy, internet adoption and broad technological empowerment in targeted neighborhoods of Cleveland. The awards were given over a three-day period.
On Wednesday, July 21, the Boys Hope Girls Hope of Northeastern Ohio received $5,000 and 25 new Chromebooks to help expand digital literacy skills. It’s an international organization that has several local branches, including the one in Cleveland, that helps train young people to prepare for a better education and career.
On Thursday, July 22, The Haven Home received a $10,000 grant. The Haven Home is an emergency overflow shelter for women and their children in Cuyahoga County.
Haven Home Executive Director Cindy Rios said the money will be used to help the moms and children at the shelter have a more comfortable stay.
“We want this building to feel like home when they come in,” said Rios. “We don’t want it to feel like an institution. We don’t want them to feel like they’re just a statistic here. We try to personalize things and mom comes in and she’s got a young daughter for example and they don’t have anything, you know we want to find her some cute outfits to wear or a book bag for school so she feels like other kids feel."
On the same day, Charter offered a training class at the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority for senior citizens to help them learn how to use technology.
Each of the attendees and previous graduates of the course were given a brand new laptop to help them continue to improve their digital literacy skills. One of the senior citizens who had previously graduated from the digital literacy training class was excited about the unexpected gift.
“I didn't really realize I was gonna get one, but I can communicate with my grandkids, my son and his family, and the sisters, nephews and the whole family,” said Claricer Borders, 75.
The CEO of CMHA Jeffery Patterson said he is excited to help the people in his community bridge the digital divide.
“I think the residents enjoy the opportunity to be able to be in a program, learn and then get the equipment to be able to help them do what they want to do in terms of digital technology,” said Patterson. “it's great to have a partnership with Spectrum where they come into the community, provide these opportunities and help our community get connected.”
On Friday, July 23, the Masjid Bilal of Cleveland, the first Mosque built from the ground up in Greater Cleveland and the first mosque built by a predominantly African American congregation in the U.S., received $5,000 and 25 laptops.
The Masjid said it plans to distribute the laptops to students in its computer literacy courses and use the funds to upgrade an existing computer lab.
In total, over the three-day period, Charter awarded nearly half a million dollars.
As of July 16, 2021, Charter has granted more than $25,000 to Cleveland organizations in support of access to technology and digital literacy skills through its Spectrum Digital Education Program.The Spectrum Employee Community Grants has awarded 327 grants to nonprofits, totaling $854,500 in funding across 30 states.
Just in Cleveland, Charter has granted $31,000 to organizations in support of critical social needs for families, youth in crisis and community members in need of food and shelter.
July 27 Editor's Note: The spelling of Jeffery Patterson's name has been corrected.