Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland celebrates The Innovation Mission and fighting poverty with big ideas

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Tags: Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland , Foundations

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For the past 18-months, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland worked to help encourage and develop innovative ideas aimed at breaking down specific barriers faced by low-income families through five fellows chosen for The Innovation Mission: Fighting Poverty with Big Ideas. The foundation held a recent community event at the Global Center for Health Innovation in Cleveland to uplift and champion the fellows’ innovative solutions to fighting poverty.

The Innovation Mission selected the fellows in the fall of 2017 with plans for innovative projects to disrupt the cycle of poverty. The initiative, in collaboration with the Cleveland Leadership Center, recognized that one big idea could change everything.

Over the course of 18 months, the five fellows participated in professional development workshops, independent research, community collaboration and innovation coaching to grow their idea into a functional program.

The community event had a full ballroom at the Global Center for Health Innovation, where the fellows of The Innovation Mission spoke about their projects and community leaders challenged everyone in the room to listen to the people most affected by the issues before trying to develop solutions. Darrielle Snipes from ideastream served as the moderator for both discussions. You can view a video that outlines the fellows' journey over those 18 months. The fellows and Krey were also on the Sound of Ideas on 90.3 WCPN ideastream the day before the event, discussing their ideas and the fellowship.

“We now know that dedicating time and resources to deeply understand a problem—as well as how that problem is perceived by those affected—can lead to new approaches that will improve quality of life for Cleveland’s low-income individuals. But it’s not enough just to know that innovation requires certain conditions to thrive—we have to actively create opportunities and provide the resources necessary to pursue innovative approaches to address poverty," said foundation President Susanna Krey at the event.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System.