Smart Development

What a year of immense impact for Smart Development filled with love, passion, and a deep desire to be in community with one another. In 2024: 4,617 Unduplicated Clients Served providing $125,000.00 in emergency financial assistance, variety of additional services and case management with 608 placements in full-time and part-time employment. 8,893 In-Kind Donations of clothing, shoes, appliances, kitchenware, blankets, bedding, household items, toys, hygiene products, baby items, toiletries, winter jackets, and more donated to individuals and families in need. 1,012 Families Recieved Food Families received culturally-relevant food boxes filled with halal culturally specific foods our clients can use to feed their families. 617 Families Received Housing Services with 8 homes rehabilitated, 56 first-time new homebuyers, 138 refugee-family housing navigation support, and 55 free-minor home repairs, and more. Our growth is a testament to the ability of our board, staff, and volunteers to be responsive to the growing needs of the community through our proven model: community serving community. None of this could have been possible without the dedication from our staff who give every moment of their day to serve the community, our donors and funders who believe in our work, and to the community for entrusting us to be their safe space and trusted voice. A special thank you to our organization partners who together, we made even more impact. We hope to continue in 2025 to remain true to our mission and remain a voice for all in need, especially Newcomers across Northeast Ohio.

Happy New Year! 🎆 2024 was a big year of impact for Smart Development, and we can’t wait to serve even more in 2025! Let's come together this year and offer more life changing support across Northeast Ohio. Smart Development’s goal hasn’t changed, but we pray to this year continue to aim to give everyone the opportunity to feel empowered, to thrive, and to have a community that they feel safe in and can call home. Hope is where home is- and we will continue to work toward this for all!Join us on our journey this year by following us! ✨

✨ Happy Holidays from us to you! ✨ We wish all who observe Christmas, Kwanza, and Hanukkah a blessed holiday filled with good health, happiness, and love. As the year comes to an end soon, we reflect on the beauty within the Newcomer community, their strength and resilience, and hope for a future filled with hope.

We are so beyond thankful to be able to continue to provide health navigation and case management for Newcomers in Northeast Ohio with the support, dedication, and commitment from Three Arches Foundation! ❤️

This giving Tuesday, support at need families across Cuyahoga County with Smart Development! Whether it be helping put food on the table, and provide emergency in-kind items like hygiene products or bath towels, or supporting the community navigation and connections our staff provide to lead individuals and families toward pathways of opportunity. Give today, here: bit.ly/SDGIVING

Are you a Greater Cleveland landlord, property owner, or realtor? We're looking for houses and or apartments for rent for newcomers to rent! Please reach out to us if you/someone you know has available rentals that can help make this community home to newcomer families at contact@smartdevelopmentinc.org for more information! The housing coordinating program will help organizations through the Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland ensure families have access to safe and accessible housing!

Smart Development is beyond thankful to the Three Arches Foundation for their support to help Newcomers understand and navigate the local health care system by bridging cultural and linguistic gaps through the work of a health and wellness team comprised of a social worker, case manager, and community navigator. Through this work, we hope to grow resilience in Newcomers across Greater Cleveland, enhance existing and build new community partnerships to compliment our work, and make Greater Cleveland an even more welcoming and healthy place to live. Three Arches Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that invests in advancing the health and well-being of the people of Lakewood and surrounding communities through grant making. By connecting people, ideas and resources, the Three Arches Foundation fosters a collaborative approach towards investing in organizations whose work directly addresses the continuum of physical and behavioral health issues. For more information, visit threearchesfoundation.org.

Newcomer Day of Giving was equally successful in providing critical essentials to Newcomer families of Cleveland and fulfilling to be able to provide to families for all partners and volunteers involved ❤️ In planning this day, Newcomer Navigator Management Team partners Smart Development , Re:Source Cleveland, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) Cleveland, Rise Together, Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services , and NUEVA LUZ URBAN RESOURCE CENTER wanted to continue our Newcomer Day series by ending the year with a huge last event filled with gifts for our families. Over 1,520 individuals served across such diverse communities: Congolese, Somali, Ukranian, Syrian, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Palestinian, Iraqi, and beyond. Our impact goes beyond just the items distributed, but for a quick glance we distributed: 500 cleaning supply kits were distributed provided by Saint Ambrose Catholic Parish 1,000+ toys to babies and children provided by Smart Development 1,000 winter jackets for adults and children provided by Smart Development Fresh produce and canned food for over 409 families provided by May Dugan Center Over 100 different individuals items of socks, hats, gloves, and scarves provided by University Schools The Newcomer Navigators project started in 2022 with support from Cuyahoga County. To ensure this project is culturally responsive and as close to the communities as possible, it is co-created and co-managed by Re:Source Cleveland, Rise Together, Smart Development, USCRI, and Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center. Newcomer Navigators is more than just a navigator program. We believe international newcomers are an essential part of our community and should be fully integrated rather than navigating from the outside. Our partners at Cleveland Public Library and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo provided fun resources and give away including dozens of free books! 📚

“I became a citizen February 2024 after living in the United States for 7 years. I’ve grown so much in those 7 years- learned what i think is decent English, obtained work, received a associates degree from Tri-C as a medical assistant, and had my third child this past May. Voting in my first election makes me excited! When i had my naturalization ceremony, they provided us the documents to register and i did immediately. My children asked me “mama, do you even know what you’re voting for?” And at the time i told them “no” because i really didn’t. Ever since I’ve attended events and met and talked to people about what it means to vote, learned about what issues are on ballots from Smart Development staff, i feel confident now to vote for the first time, to be heard, feel like what i experience matters. My kids now feel proud of me for committing to vote, and that makes me smile.” - Hagar Abunaam, 46 Ward 16 Cleveland, OH Photo of Hagar while at work in Cleveland Cleveland VOTES This is apart of Smart Development’s “My First Vote” series of first time voters of immigrant, refugee, and newcomer backgrounds testimonials.

Today is #NationalVoterRegistrationDay ! ✨ We are so proud to be apart of CAIR Cleveland Community Resource Fair to help get community members registered, share voter educational material, and additional community services they can access they’re in need of! Thankful to be therr with our friends at Cleveland Public Library Asian Services in Action (ASIA) One Ummah Initiative, League of Women Voters - Cleveland, Palestinian Youth Movement, Ibn Sina Clinic, and more! Event is going on till 8, stop by and join the fun!