Neighborhood Alliance receives $1 million donation from Stocker Foundation

Neighborhood Alliance is more than halfway to its $10 million funding goal for upgrades and renovations to its buildings and programs, thanks to a $1 million pledge from the Stocker Foundation. The Stocker Foundation announced the allocation Wednesday toward the nonprofit's Child and Family Services Continuum of Care, which includes programs to close gaps in early childhood education in Lorain County. Patricia O'Brien, executive director of the Stocker Foundation, said the gift is the largest the foundation has allocated in the past 43 years, and marks the 55th grant given to Neighborhood Alliance. Over the years, Neighborhood Alliance and the Stocker Foundation have evolved in their missions but have continued their partnership, O'Brien said. The Stocker Foundation's grant focuses include early literacy, student engagement, school improvement and removing barriers to academic success. A cursory glance at Neighborhood Alliance's services may not immediately seem to coincide, but digging deeper — in particular, surrounding the work at the Haven Center and children at the shelter — shows how the pair dovetail together, O'Brien said. "This is not just a capital campaign that's very bricks and mortar, this is a very transformational kind of project where you start to track these kids who may be 3 years old when they are here, do they enter kindergarten ready to learn, ready to read? How do we track them at third grade? Do they keep those gains? And then we know at third grade that's a great predictor if you can read on grade level at third grade, likely you're going to graduate from high school, not engage in risky behaviors, all those sorts of things," she said. "And this project, at a high level, that's what this is about." Neighborhood Alliance Executive Director Alicia Foss said the main focus of the six phases of projects across the nonprofit's buildings and programs is to support work for families in the county — from the addition at Haven Center to investing in an expansion of its Cityview building to have space for the Rising Titans Collaborative. The nonprofit serves about 1,500 children annually between its shelter, early intervention program, Help Me Grow home visits, child care center and Rising Titans Collaborative. "When we look at what the families went through during the pandemic and how the kids were being educated and the way in which the kids experienced being in the shelter and the trauma that comes along with that and having maybe a family of five with mom and three school-age kids and an infant all in one room, trying to do three separate (classes) or virtual learning with the baby crying in the background," Foss said. "That being their experience of being in the shelter and how that impacts their education." In early September Neighborhood Alliance broke ground on the multimillion-dollar expansion to the Haven Center. Once complete, the J-shaped space will add about 20 additional beds with a layout better accommodating families with children. The Rising Titans Collaborative, a partnership with United Way of Greater Lorain County and Lorain Schools, provides programming and resources for families in Lorain with children ages 5 and younger. The collaborative is housed at 3835 Clifton Ave., next to Neighborhood Alliance's childcare space, but a planned addition to the building will give it its own offices and other amenities. Foss hoped it would also help eliminate wait lists for the nonprofit's programs. By 2025 Neighborhood Alliance expects to have spent about $10.2 million between six different phases of renovations and additions to its properties. Those projects include the already completed Nutrition Kitchen at 265 Washington Ave., Elyria; expanding the Haven Center and rehabbing its dorm rooms; the addition at Cityview for Rising Titans Collaborative and renovations to the second floor and gymnasium at the Washington Avenue site for offices, a senior enrichment program and a community gymnasium. With the Stocker Foundation's gift, Neighborhood Alliance has raised $5.6 million of its total. Other donors include the cities of Lorain and Elyria, Lorain County Commissioners, Neighborhood Alliance's Board of Trustees and staff, Nord Family Foundation, Nordson Corp. Foundation, Nordson Corp. employees and the Turco family. Neighborhood Alliance also received allocations in the state's 2022 budget. O'Brien said while the Stocker Foundation's gift is to support the nonprofit's transformation, Wednesday's announcement was also to build awareness about the ongoing projects and the "best practice vision" to address homelessness and other community needs Neighborhood Alliance is working toward. "When we talk about this, this is not an 'if' this happens but a 'when' this happens," O'Brien said. "So if 2025 is the year that it's all going to be completed, what do we have to do as a community to make sure that happens? Because there are a lot of people who need help." For more information about Neighborhood Alliance's programs and planned expansions, or to donate to the nonprofit, visit myneighborhoodalliance.org. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.