EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - East Cleveland Neighborhood Center was able to continue the Freedom Schools program last summer through community support, and this year the organization is reaching out again to keep the children's program running.

According to an East Cleveland Neighborhood Center press release, the Freedom Schools program provides summer support for children and families through a model curriculum with five essential components: high quality literacy enrichment, parent and family involvement, civic engagement and social action, intergenerational leadership development, and nutrition, health and mental health.

The program is designed by Children's Defense Fund and helps with summer reading loss as well as promotes social action and engagement for children ages 5-17, the release states. The program has been a resource that runs at no cost to the families it serves in and around East Cleveland.

Just as summer vacation began last year, East Cleveland Neighborhood Center learned its Freedom Schools program would not receive funding from United Way and the 70 children signed up for the program would have one less option for summer learning.

"Due to priority changes and differences in budget allocation East Clevelands Neighborhood Center struggled to keep the program running last summer. Every week became harder but through the dedication and commitment of our staff and support from the community and local organizations we were able to finish out programing without interruption," the release states. "Our community proved to us that this program was needed and that they were willing to fill in the gaps of funding to service our students."

As ECNC gets ready to implement the Freedom Schools program for a fifth consecutive summer, it is hoping to receive support from community members and organizations once again. To assist with the initial costs, a fundraising campaign has been started.

To contribute to the fundraiser, go here.

For more information about Freedom Schools, contact East Cleveland Neighborhood Center Executive Director Dabney Conwell at 216-932-3626 or email dconwell@ec-nc.org.

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ECNC seeking support for kids' Freedom Schools