Committee advances four ARPA community grant resolutions for scholarships, mentoring, farm restoration and youth programs

Cuyahoga County’s Education, Environment & Sustainability Committee on March 19 voted to advance four ARPA‑funded community grant resolutions to the full county council for additional readings and final votes.

The measures would award: up to $10,000 to the Black Environmental Leaders Association for the Jacqueline E. Gillen annual scholarship celebration (Resolution 20250081); up to $20,000 to Swing 5 Swing Social Fellowship’s Greater Cleveland chapter for a mentoring program (Resolution 20250097); up to $35,000 to Food Strong to restore and develop the Superior Avenue Community Farm (Resolution 20250098); and up to $10,000 to SOS (Strengthening Our Students) for expanded youth programs (Resolution 20250101).

Samia Bray, co‑director of the Black Environmental Leaders Association, described the scholarship project and its focus on sustainability careers. “Each 1 of the young people receive a scholarship of $1,000,” she said, adding the awards support studies across STEM, engineering and the built and natural environments. The group also highlighted a community mural honoring Jacqueline E. Gillen at 117th and Kinsman and said staff would follow up about next steps after the required readings.

Representatives of the mentoring fellowship (identified in the transcript as Shrudina Williams, president of the Cleveland chapter, and Carrisa Harris, chair of Ebony Pearls) outlined school‑based mentoring at FDR and a community site at the Davis Center, volunteer screening procedures and their approach to long‑term mentorship. Council member Mitch Leffert, who asked about enrollment and meeting locations, praised the work as “transformative” and asked presenters for outreach details.

Food Strong’s founder and executive director, who gave her name as Sarah, detailed the Superior Avenue site as approximately a three‑acre parcel about one mile from the lake. She described a three‑phase plan that includes community engagement and a farm build‑out, said the group has raised about $150,000 since September, and estimated rehabilitation of the farmhouse could cost roughly $500,000. She invited officials to a planned ribbon‑cutting ceremony on May 30.

Deirdre Williams, executive director of SOS, presented a video and student participants, and outlined the nonprofit’s expansion from 12 to about 50 participants and programming that now reaches through age 18. “We have been doing it, since 1993,” she said, summarizing the organization’s long‑running work in educational and life‑skill programs.

In each case members moved to send the resolutions to the next procedural step (three readings or second reading at full council). Each motion received an audible "Aye" and the items were advanced; the transcript does not provide a full roll‑call vote tally or detailed individual vote records for those final committee approvals.

What’s next: the measures are scheduled for further readings and final votes at the full county council; staff indicated they will contact applicant organizations with follow‑up details and any required materials.

(Reporting note: article uses only names and attributions provided in the meeting transcript. Where the transcript used a single name or an organization name as spoken, the article preserves that form. Exact roll‑call tallies were not specified in the committee transcript.)