I’m the single mother of a 4-year-old and I’m struggling to make ends meet. How can I help make sure my daughter is not affected by our challenges?

The financial challenges many of us are facing today affect the entire family dynamic and can be overwhelming to manage.  This can be due to the inability for many people to pay for such necessities as rent, child care, utility bills, and more.  “Financial Tips to Help Families Cope” is about helping families discover new ways save money, cut costs and prioritize monthly spending to get the most for your dollar.  Plus, child psychiatrist Dr. Charles Sophy continues to lend his expertise on how to help children as we all learn to cope with new financial changes.

Resources, video and more are available on this topic from A Place of Our Own.

My family has really been struggling financially since my husband lost his job. We’ve had to move to a smaller apartment & make many other changes. Can you give us any advice for getting our kids through the difficult times ahead?

The current financial crisis is impacting families throughout this country.  New economic realities are forcing many families to make changes, both big and small, which affect their children.  A very special, and timely, episode of A Place of Our Own examines how we, as adults, can help young children understand changing financial circumstances without scaring them.  This special episode of A Place of Our Own features child psychiatrist, Dr. Charles Sophy, helping the Sharp family explain to their 2 ½ -year-old son why they’ve had to move in with a family member after his father lost his job.  This show gives parents the tools to reassure and emotionally support their children, to help them cope during these sometimes frightening and unstable times.

Resources, video and more are available on this topic from A Place of Our Own.

The Lakewood Division of Community Development will host a Financial Education Forum on Thursday, June 25, 2009 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at Harrison Elementary School, 2080 Quail Avenue. This forum will provide resources to assist Lakewood homeowners with questions about their homes or rental properties. Topics to be covered include Property Valuation, Rehabbing Property, City and County Programs, Rental Resources and Home Repairs.

Representatives from Charter One Bank, the Cuyahoga County Auditors Office, City of Lakewood Division of Community Development, Cleveland Tenants Organization, First Federal of Lakewood, Mediation Center and the County Foreclosure Prevention Program will be on-hand to provide information and answer questions.

For more information, contact Mary Leigh, Program Manager for the Division of Community Development, at (216) 529-4663.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
5:30pm - 8:00pm
Please note, this program will take place at:
MOCA Cleveland
8501 Carnegie Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106

5:30 - 6:30 pm:  Tour the new MOCA exhibit, There Goes the Neighborhood
6:30-8:00 pm:  A public, open-mic discussion of ideas about revitalizing Cleveland’s communities

There Goes the Neighborhood explores the evolution of communities here and abroad.  The exhibition focuses on how architecture and landscape embody a neighborhood’s past, present, and potential future.  The work on view examines places amid growth or decline, sites that hover somewhere between construction, deterioration, and renewal.  The artists reveal how physical sites symbolize the human experience of change, whether simple or complex, invited or forced.  Linking actual and anticipated shifts in communities across the globe, There Goes the Neighborhood emphasizes the evolving structures and compositions of neighborhoods in the twenty-first century.

This program is part of Building our Future Beyond Foreclosure.  This program is also in collaboration with the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition.

Free and open to the public
For more information about the exhibit please visit the MOCA website.

The American dream of home ownership is disappearing during these times of crisis. In Ohio, rising unemployment, loss of business, and a bleak economic outlook also threaten that dream. Help is available. Save the Dream provides information and highlights programs that Ohioians can use to help save the dream of owning a home. There is information about available resources, the value of working with local housing counselors and the importance of contacting your mortgage servicer.

Visit the Save the Dream website.

United Way 211

United Way's 211/First Call For Help is a free and confidential information service ready to direct you to the health and human services you need in Cuyahoga, Geauga and Medina Counties.

Just dial 2-1-1. Professional staff are available to help you 24 hours a day, every day.

More resources

Save the Dream

The American dream of home ownership is disappearing during these times of crisis. In Ohio, rising unemployment, loss of business, and a bleak economic outlook also threaten that dream.

Help is available. Save the Dream provides information and highlights programs that Ohioians can use to help save the dream of owning a home.

More resources

Upcoming Events

ESOP Partners with Area Suburbs to Help Homeowners

More events

Funding for the coverage of economy and jobs topics comes from The Cleveland Foundation; Eaton Corporation Charitable Foundation; The George Gund Foundation; The George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation; The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation; The Nord Family Foundation; NACCO Industries, Inc.; and Parker Hannifin Foundation