Clear as a Bell
The Bell Charitable Foundation today named four organizations that have been selected to receive the Foundation’s inaugural round of grants that total $150,000.
altafiber, which formerly did business as Cincinnati Bell in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, launched the BCF earlier this year. The BCF’s mission is to support organizations in its operating territories that are driving Economic & Social Mobility, Technology, Environmental Sustainability, and Health & Wellbeing initiatives.
The BCF awarded the following organizations with grants at a special luncheon at the 1819 Innovation Hub at the University of Cincinnati.
In the Economic & Social Mobility pillar, BCF funded Visionaries and Voices. V+V focuses on art education for people with disabilities. V+V works with these artists to develop and leverage their skills into careers. The BCF grant funds will expand this arts program to impact more lives and spread the word about its work in communities that lack art education. This is a great example of meshing important education and job opportunities for the artists, with spreading artistic energy and appreciation around the city.
In the Technology Pillar, BCF funded Per Scholas. Per Scholas provides IT training for unemployed or underemployed citizens at no cost. Individuals who qualify for Per Scholas' services may choose from any number of different IT courses. All course options include soft skills training, including how to interview well and develop financial budgeting skills.
In the Environmental Sustainability pillar, BCF funded Green Umbrella. This sustainability alliance is home to the Cincinnati 2030 District, which focuses on working with companies to decrease their carbon emissions in different ways. Companies that are part of the District focus on reducing their utility use, improving building efficiency, and helping green their employees’ commutes. Green Umbrella’s work includes many other areas of sustainability and climate action as well, including policy advocacy, planting community orchards, equitable access to outdoor learning for kids, building food system resilience, and connecting bike trails and paths around the city to encourage access to greenspace and biking as transportation.
In the Health and Wellbeing pillar, BCF funded 1N5, which focuses on mental health education and suicide prevention for students K-12 and in college. The organization’s model uses a rigorous evidence-based framework to normalize mental health and break down barriers that prevent youth from seeking help. Because 50% of mental illness originates before the age of 14, and 75% appears before the age of 24, 1N5 works in schools to make meaningful change. Mental health education helps to break stigmas and is especially important in this post-pandemic climate.
To learn more about the Bell Charitable Foundation’s work visit www.BellFDN.org.