Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) yesterday, June 23, announced a $2 million investment in Cleveland’s community development corporations (CDCs) beginning Tuesday, July 1.

The grants made to the CDCs make up the core of CNP's CDC Advancement & Resilience Initiative—expanding from 10 to 17 grantees in its first year, 2024. By maintaining both its total investment and number of grantees for this second year, CNP is empowering these independent nonprofits to work in real estate, economic development, community engagement, neighborhood planning, marketing, and partnering.

“Our grantmaking is special because we take a collaborative and flexible approach with our CDC partners,” Tania Menesse, CNP president and CEO, said in a statement. “But it’s also more than just dollars. Through professional development, advocacy, and teamwork across neighborhood borders, we increase the capacity of CDCs to meet the needs of residents and neighborhoods.”

Ayonna Blue Donald, vice chair of CNP’s board of directors and the CDC Advancement & Resilience Committee, which recommended the grant awards, agrees with Menesse, saying lasting change comes from investing in the people and organizations rooted in community and driving the work every day.

Harvard Cultural Fest“Cleveland benefits from an impressive network of neighborhood-based nonprofits—but their impact doesn’t happen by chance,” she says. “It requires the commitment of every staff member, every board leader, and every funding partner to sustain and grow this work.”

CNP leads as an advocate for improving the funding environment for local community development and is championing a sea change for CDCs’ operations in 2025.

“CDCs are uniquely positioned to advance revitalization for the neighborhoods they serve,” CNP senior vice President of CDC Advancement and Resilience Jason Powers said in a statement. “Through these investments, we build resilient organizations and position them to shepherd long-term improvements and growth.”

Since 2022, CNP has supported the policy now expressed in Cleveland City Council’s Ordinance 113-2025, which would create a new, more transparent program to fund CDCs’ neighborhood-based work.

It will enable the City of Cleveland, the largest funder of CDCs, to hold CDCs accountable for their full range of programs through contracts with local dollars, instead of federal funds with ill-fitting restrictions and program limitations.

The advocacy and capacity-building work for CDCs builds upon CNP’s Advancement Model, co-created with CDCs from 2022 to 2023 to define the core functions of CDCs.

CNP aligns its support with this Advancement Model to be responsive to CDCs’ priorities. In the second year of CNP’s initiative, grantmaking is focused on human capital and operations. Because most funders prioritize projects, CDCs requested intentional investment by CNP in the people and tools that make those projects happen.

The pool of funding for the $2 million investment includes support from the Cleveland Foundation; The George Gund Foundation; the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation; Enterprise Community Partners; KeyBank Foundation; Rocket Community Fund; and others. The majority of the investment, 58%, supports Cleveland’s most disinvested neighborhoods through their CDCs.

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress will celebrate its work with CDC partners during its Annual Meeting & Awards on Thursday, July 10, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Slovenian National Home in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood. Everybody is invited to attend the presentation and enjoy the local food and artistry. Tickets are available at CNP.

CDC Advancement & Resilience Initiative grantees and investments for the fiscal year of July 2025 through June 2026:

2025-2026 Grant Awards by CDC

• NuPoint CDC: $168,500
• Famicos Foundation: $157,000
• Metro West Community Development Organization: $142,500
• MidTown Cleveland, Inc.: $140,000
• Slavic Village Development: $135,000
• Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc.: $125,000
• St. Clair Superior Development Corporation: $125,000
• Old Brooklyn CDC: $113,500
• Northwest Neighborhoods CDC: $111,000
• Greater Collinwood Development Corporation: $100,000
• Tremont West Development Corporation: $95,000
• Jefferson-Puritas West Park CDC: $80,000
• West Park Kamm’s Neighborhood Development: $80,000
• Westown CDC: $67,813
• Ohio City Incorporated: $65,000
• Little Italy Redevelopment Corporation: $35,000
• Harvard Community Services Center: $20,000

• Capacity and achievement evaluations: $195,000
• Board development program: $44,687

• Operations: $986,500
• Community Engagement: $472,313
• Marketing: $327,500
• Development: $124,000
• Planning: $35,000

In addition to CDC advancement, CNP’s revitalization work in neighborhoods includes lending through its Village Capital Corporation and real estate development through its New Village Corporation.