Global Cleveland board member Fred Geis is Making a Difference in the Community
Global Cleveland was honored to join Geis Companies, Metro-West Community Development Corporation and Mustard Seed Development to celebrate the beautiful renovation of a home on Cleveland’s west side. This week, a refugee family moved into their new home! We couldn’t be happier to welcome Cleveland’s newest residents who are building their futures here – and joining other newcomers and long-time residents to build a vibrant community.
In 2014, the Geis Companies focused on downtown Cleveland re-development and completed several game-changing projects for the city. The Geis Foundation decided, as premier Cleveland developers, to do more to help our city still reeling from the housing market crash and facing an influx of refugees. The Geis Foundation was founded shortly thereafter with the mission of renovating vacant and undesirable properties within Cleveland neighborhoods in order to provide housing for new immigrants and refugee families, and thereby make a meaningful difference house by house, family by family.
About the Geis Foundation
The Geis Foundation’s story and mission is intrinsically intertwined with the story of the Geis Family. German immigrants, Mr. and Mrs. Geis came to Northeast Ohio with little in their pockets and the dream of a better life in America. Though hard work, perseverance, and some help from new friends along the way, they formed the Geis Companies in 1967, a small design build company. The more successful their endeavors became, the more they felt the need to give back. As they became involved in numerous charitable efforts, it was their employees that established the first scholarship in their names as a Christmas gift in 2001. It is in their honor that The Erwin & Katherine Geis Charitable Foundation promotes education to underprivileged youth, assists in the development of the design/build industry, and encourages the philanthropic efforts of Geis employees.
The Geis Foundation routinely funds $50,000 of scholarships to several Greater Cleveland Catholic High Schools, $12,000 of scholarships to Geis extended family members, and also awards grants to local non-profits, including Rainey Institute, Boys Hope Girls Hope, and numerous other worthy groups.