December
1, 2008
Dear
Friend of the OEOC,
It’s
time for our annual solicitation of your financial support. As you think about
yearend charitable donations, consider aiding the work of the OEOC.
Regardless
of the season, our staff are in the trenches helping Ohio employees buy the companies
they work for.
In
the current economic crisis, that help is needed now more than ever. The banking
meltdown is spreading beyond financial services to the “real economy”
– the part of the economy that provides goods and services to American consumers
and that employs the bulk of American workers. It’s depressing that the Wizards
of Wall Street have brought us to this point with their securitized sub-prime
mortgages, their unregulated derivatives, and their astonishing debt levels, but
they have.
As
the economic crisis spills over into the part of the economy where most Americans
work, we need new tools to support employee ownership.
One
of the most innovative is coming out of the Cleveland Foundation’s commitment
to using employee ownership as part of its economic inclusion strategy in the
Greater University Circle (GUC) area. That’s the area of Cleveland where
the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, the
Cleveland Art Museum, the Cleveland Symphony, and other major cultural and medical
institutions are located. It’s a district of extremely rich “anchor
institutions” – all legacies funded by Cleveland’s industrial heritage
– and extremely poor people. Median household income for the 43,000 people
in the six surrounding neighborhoods is $18,500. Unemployment in Cleveland in
general is 9% and in the GUC area is off the charts.
Click
here to read the rest of the message
from our director
Our
annual report, which is attached, provides the basic numbers on what we did last
year.
Click
here for our FY 2008 Annual Report
