The oldest community foundation in the country, the Cleveland Foundation was established in 1914 to pool the charitable resources of Cleveland’s philanthropists into a permanent endowment for the betterment of the city. The Cleveland Foundation currently has assets of $1.87 billion and has made over $1 billion in grants. One of its priorities is the Greater University Circle Initiative, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment in the community by leveraging the economic strength of the area’s large anchor institutions. Through this initiative, the foundation played a key role in catalyzing the Evergreen Cooperatives. Another unique program is Neighborhood Connections, which has made over 1,600 small grants totaling over $5 million since 2003 to support the ideas and projects of community residents.