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Caring Hearts Fund

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Inner City Saints  

Support NDC

Notre Dame College enrolls students from all walks of life.

However, occasionally, unbeknownst to staff and faculty, there are a handful of students who are admitted on their academic merit but who come to NDC without adequate family support and resources to matriculate successfully through their College years.

Caring Hearts Fund is a unique fund designed to help students through a desperate and unexpected circumstance with emergency funds.

Funding would (but is not limited to):

  • Allow them to continue and complete their education without the burden of issues such as going without books or other school supplies because they are unable to cover the cost;
  • Help buy food so they do not go hungry;
  • Provide safe and appropriate transportation;
  • Allow them to purchase appropriate clothing for interviews;
  • Assist with securing safe and affordable housing.
  • Assist with medications/prescriptions or costs related to medical care.

Notre Dame College is committed to being a source of God’s great goodness and providential care to everyone in its community and, especially to those who are in extraordinary need. The funds will provide limited emergency support to currently enrolled students who are experiencing a catastrophic situation such as a death in the family, an illness or extreme poverty, or any position that would otherwise make attending class very challenging. Students are eligible on a case-by-case basis and when other possible resources have been exhausted. This funding is not intended to replace or supplement existing financial aid. The Caring Hearts Funds are awarded and are not considered loans and are not required to be returned.

The number of students who can be served by the Caring Hearts Fund is subject to the availability of funds, which are all provided through the generosity of philanthropic support. As it continues to grow, the Caring Hearts Fund will soon become an endowed source of support for students in extreme need.

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Caring Hearts Fund

Your gift to the Caring Hearts Fund will help supply a Notre Dame College student with emergency funds as they are going through a desperate or unexpected life situation.

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Notre Dame College also conducts its InnerCitySaints Award program each year to raise money for the Caring Hearts Fund.

InnerCitySaints

Join us in shining a light on individuals who make a meaningful difference in Cleveland’s inner city urban communities.

Notre Dame College established the InnerCitySaints Award in 2016 to recognize and shine a light on an individual who through his or her humble service, dedication and presence has made a meaningful difference in Cleveland’s inner city urban communities. Net proceeds benefit the Notre Dame College Caring Hearts Fund, which provides emergency financial support to students who are experiencing unexpected crises.

For more information about InnerCitySaints, Contact:

Ann Coakley
Executive Director of College Advancement
216.373.6532
acoakley@ndc.edu

2019 InnerCitySaints Award: Renee Jones

Renee Jones, for more than two decades, has ministered to the needs of victims of human trafficking and dedicated her life to educating the community on the dangers of this global epidemic. Her Renee Jones Empowerment Center in Cleveland provides free life skills coaching, benefit identification and services from support groups and group therapy to journal writing and art therapy to women of all ages in need and at risk. The Center also assists individuals with contacting social service providers and works to connect and coordinate allies like the FBI Task Force on Human Trafficking, the Rape Crisis Center, the Cleveland Council on World Affairs and others to eradicate human trafficking throughout Northeast Ohio.

2018 InnerCitySaints Award: Edward Plaspohl

Edward Plaspohl was recognized in November 2018 with the award for his volunteer work with the St. Ignatius High School Labre Ministry, which every week dispatches volunteers to Cleveland’s inner city to search for the homeless, provide meals and offer other assistance. He also serves at St. Benedict Joseph Labre Ministry at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, which he helped to establish.

2017 InnerCitySaints Award: Father Jim O’Donnell

The second InnerCitySaints Award was presented to Father Jim O’Donnell in November 2017. O’Donnell helped establish the community of the Little Brothers and Sisters of the Eucharist, which for more than 35 years has provided a ministry of presence in the Central neighborhood of Cleveland.

2016 InnerCitySaints Award: Sr. Rita Mary Harwood

The second InnerCitySaints Award was presented to Father Jim O’Donnell in November 2017. O’Donnell helped establish the community of the Little Brothers and Sisters of the Eucharist, which for more than 35 years has provided a ministry of presence in the Central neighborhood of Cleveland.