Healthy Lakewood Foundation Supports Lakewood Families With Remote Learning Needs

The Healthy Lakewood Foundation (HLF) took several actions in November 2020 aimed at assisting Lakewood families with meeting their school-age children’s learning needs during the pandemic. In specific, the board approved:

• A $25,000 grant to the YMCA of Greater Cleveland to support its expansion of capacity to provide school-day care to school-age children while learning is remote;

• The allocation of funds previously awarded by the foundation to the City of Lakewood, Department of Human Services, to provide scholarship assistance for care during the school day for children from Lakewood families with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level; and

• The use of funds previously awarded to the Lakewood City Schools for document cameras to support teaching staff in their efforts to share documents, handouts and worksheets digitally and make connectivity easier for instructional purposes for families with school-age children. 

“These efforts, we hope, demonstrate our commitment to supporting Lakewood students’ academic growth and safety during these challenging times,” says HLF President Jeanine Gergel. “We recognize that some families are struggling to ensure their children are supported in the way they need to be while school is offered online. We recognize these needs will continue and evolve with the escalating public health crisis, and we will continue to monitor students’ and families’ needs to identify other ways we can be supportive in the future.” 

Families interested in accessing scholarship funding for school-day care while learning is remote should call the Division of Early Childhood at 216-529-5018 or email the program manager at jessica.parker@lakewoodoh.net. Families will be asked to provide a 2019 tax return and proof of current income and work/school schedule, along with a completed application. The requirement of the previous year’s tax return may be waived for families whose finances have been negatively implicated by the pandemic. There is no requirement that families must be a resident of Lakewood for the previous 12 months to be eligible for the scholarship assistance provided by HLF.

Families interested in enrolling their children in the YMCA’s care program for school-age children, called “YCARES,” can contact the YMCA Payment Registrar Office at (216) 263-6860 or children@clevelandymca.org for more information. Children ages 5-12 are eligible. The program is currently being offered at Grant Elementary School.

“We are grateful for the ways the City of Lakewood’s Department of Human Services, the YMCA and the Lakewood City Schools have stepped up to respond to the needs of the community,” says Gergel. “We are a community that takes care of each other, and these three organizations have epitomized that spirit in the way they have nimbly adapted to support Lakewood’s families and children.”

About the Healthy Lakewood Foundation: The Healthy Lakewood Foundation (HLF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit community foundation. HLF was created to ensure remaining assets from the conversion of the Lakewood Hospital will continue to benefit the health and wellness of residents in the City of Lakewood. HLF was established in September 2018 as part of the master agreement following the closing of Lakewood Hospital. HLF was formed from the Foundation Planning Task Force and through their recommendation to the City of Lakewood and the Lakewood Hospital Association.

To contact HLF or to review a listing of all of the foundation’s grantmaking to date, please visit www.healthylakewoodfoundation.org or email info@healthylakewoodfoundation.org.

Submitted on behalf of the board of the Healthy Lakewood Foundation by Kate Ingersoll, Secretary.