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The David and Lura Lovell Foundation Awards $150,000 To Six Toledo Nonprofit Programs

TOLEDO, OH – The David and Lura Lovell Foundation awarded $150,000 in grants this summer to support programs of six nonprofit organizations in Toledo, plus three other projects.

The family foundation funds projects related to mental health, integrative medicine, cultural / spiritual enrichment and philanthropic education. Since its founding in 1994, the Lovell Foundation has awarded more than $13 million to support those priorities.

The Toledo grant recipients are the National Alliance on Mental Health of Greater Toledo, Neighborhood Properties, ProMedica, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Symphony Orchestra and The Victory Center. All have previously received grants from the Lovell Foundation for a combined total of $1.7 million.

The Lovell Foundation was established with proceeds from the sale of the Colton Chemical Company, which David Lovell founded and grew in Toledo for 25 years. When he died unexpectedly at the age of 66, his wife Lura and daughter Ann moved the foundation forward. It is based in Tucson, where Lura lived part time before her death in 2013, and Ann Lovell, board chair, has lived since 1989.

The 2015 Toledo awards are:

  • NAMI Greater Toledo received $30,000 to continue its family educational support, outreach and advocacy programs. The foundation also awarded $5,000 for the new Kidshop Pilot Program, a support workshop for children who either have a mental health diagnosis or have a family member with a mental health diagnosis. Kidshop includes education and group work with a trained facilitator, as well as arts and crafts learning activies. Lura Lovell became a tireless advocate for mental health services in Ohio and nationally after learning to navigate the system for a son who suffers from serious mental illness.
  • Neighborhood Properties, Inc. is a pioneering nonprofit that provides supportive housing and peer support for adults who have severe mental illness. David and Lura Lovell were founding board members of NPI. David and two other businessmen led the acquisition, rehabilitation and organization of the first 40 units. Today NPI owns 550 apartment homes in Ohio at 60 locations in Lucas County and one each in Tiffin and Fostoria. A $10,000 grant was awarded for The Showcase Recovery Event, which highlights the artwork by the residents and creates a venue for poetry readings, music, dance and the visual arts.
  • ProMedica received a $5,000 grant from the foundation to support its 12th Annual Wellness Conference which includes a free evening public event and a day-long conference for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals. The goal is to raise awareness of integrative medicine. The conference focuses on attaining wellness through an integrative, holistic approach that takes into account the whole person – body, mind and spirit – spanning all ages and all aspects of lifestyle.
  • Toledo Museum of Art received $15,000 to support its Art After-School Program. Each year, AAS provides more than 700 underprivileged children who may have no other access to the arts with art experiences and education. In the fall of 2015 TMA will implement new hands-on visual art experiences. Many community organizations are long-standing partners of this project. The new elements of the program not only offer students the opportunity to try new mediums, but also allow them to expand their experiences at the museum and remain engaged in multiple ways.
  • Toledo Symphony Orchestra programs ensure that all youth in the community have access to high-quality music education projects regardless of their socioeconomic status or the school they attend. A $35,000 foundation grant supports the Community Music Lessons program and Young People’s Concerts. During its 71st season, TSO will serve more than 12,000 students – providing coaching and instruction on instruments, professional music performances and life-enriching skills, including discipline, community participation, self-expression and self-confidence. TSO partners with the Toledo Public Schools, reaching a large number of students from low-income families.
  • The Victory Center provides professional services for cancer patients and cancer survivors, including massage, Reiki, aquatic exercise, counseling, reflexology, aromatherapy, support groups and nutritional guidance. The Lovell Foundation has supported The Victory Center’s provision of integrative and complementary therapies for the past 15 years. The 2015 grant award is $35,000 to help provide these services at no charge. There are currently 2,200 active persons in the Victory Center’s client database.

Three grants of $5,000 each were awarded to family-initiated projects – That Neighborhood Church in Toledo serves victims of sex trafficking; Camp Reel Stories in Oakland, Calif., allows teens to learn filmmaking from top female professionals, and Soul Shoppe, also in Oakland, offers hands-on programs where students practice empathy, resolve conflicts and have a say in shaping their school to be a safer place.

Over the past 20 years the Lovell Foundation has partnered with 60 local nonprofit organizations and supported a few projects that were national in scope. The Lovell Foundation is governed by three second-generation trustees and a board of advisors that includes family members and non-family members who have expertise in law, accounting, asset management, education, mental health and nonprofit administration.