Foundation to fight racism

The Community Foundation of Lorain County has created a Racial Equity Fund to strengthen relationships between marginalized communities with law enforcement to improve policing policies and procedures, and to build community organizations’ capacity to bring about impactful, measurable improvements in racial equity.

The Community Foundation’s Board of Directors allocated $25,000 to the fund to support Lorain County nonprofits working to achieve racial equity, according to a news release.

“As community engagement chair, I was delighted to see the breadth of significant applications representing the critical work in racial equity taking place right here in our community,” said A.G. Miller, chair of the Community Engagement Committee at the Community Foundation. “We are hoping others see the critical importance of this work and will consider joining us through contributions to the Racial Equity Fund.”

In addition, NordsonCorporation Foundation donated $25,000 to the fund to continue the work in Lorain County because of its commitment to racial equity, the release said.

The first round of grants worth$50,100were awarded to four organizations:

• El Centro De Servicios Soc, $13,058, to provide a series of training to Lorain County enforcement department and officers designed to create awareness and provide education on the Hispanic and Latino community.

• Leaders of Today, $12,542, to assist Elyria and Lorain high school students with the design, construction and installation of signs that will promote public art and community-centric designs within Lorain County.

• Lorain County Urban League, $12,500, to engage the community in dialogue andseek to bring the Lorain County residents together by promoting acceptance and understanding about differing views while reading the same book.

• YWCA Elyria, $12,000, to assist with the transition of the YWCA Community Anti-Hate Taskforce to the YWCA Race Equity Center.

One of the grant recipients, Leaders of Today (LOT), is an organization that actively engages with Lorain County youth through community service, mentorship and a leadership development series.

“The 2019 Community Heath Assessment had some alarming data about Lorain County youth feeling sad or hopeless,” said Marsalis Hammons, founder and executive director of Leaders of Today. “Our project will introduce students to public art while addressing youth mental health and neighborhood blight.

“For our students being in a virtual place, this public art project is an opportunity for them to express themselves differently and positively uplift our community. We will be collaborating with Elyria Arts Council to bring this project to our community.”

The Racial Equity Fund has a Community Advisory Committee comprised of local community members that review the grant applications and select the grantees

onations of any amount are welcomed, and all contributions are tax-deductible .