What is GCC?
- Fairmount Temple is a founding member of Greater Cleveland Congregations, a grassroots organization of more than 30 area churches, mosques, temples and allied institutions working together for social justice.
- Using the tools of community organizing, GCC helps build the power of disenfranchised individuals and communities.
- GCC effectively turns our values into action by addressing systemic injustice in Greater Cleveland.
- GCC has served as the catalyst for reform in the areas of healthcare, education, criminal justice, gun violence, and jobs.
What has GCC Accomplished?
Criminal Justice
- Successfully campaigned for the creation of a mental health and addiction Diversion Center to keep persons with mental illness and addiction out of the Cuyahoga County jail.
- Fostered the creation of Cuyahoga County’s first Civil Rights Unit in the prosecutor’s office, only the third such one in the country.
Healthcare
- Helped convene a coalition of healthcare advocates to support Medicaid expansion, which resulted in 275,000 additional Ohioans securing health care coverage.
- Successfully lobbied major national drugstore chains to open Covid testing sites in the City of Cleveland.
- Partnered with healthcare providers to organize Covid testing at 17 churches in Cleveland, resulting in approximately 5,000 individuals being tested in a six-month period.
- Partnered with healthcare providers to offer Covid vaccinations in Cleveland at 13 African-American churches resulting in 3,113 individuals being vaccinated.
Voter Engagement
- Worked with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to contact 13,000 voters whose mail in ballot applications had been rejected resulting in 7000 applications being corrected.
Education/Jobs
- Coordinated get out the vote campaigns for several school levy renewals for Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
- Secured a commitment from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to connect scores of parents to entry level school district jobs through a job training initiative.
Gun Violence
- Played an integral role in getting a first-of-its-kind agreement with a major gun manufacturer to provide detailed reporting on its gun safety and distribution practices.
- Participates in a national organizing campaign to bring cities & police departments together to agree to test any new safe guns.
How can you get involved with GCC at Fairmount Temple?
If you would like to learn more about the work of GCC at Fairmount Temple, contact Rabbi Josh Caruso (216-464-1330) or David Biegel, Fairmount Temple’s GCC Core Team Chair at (216-469-6082).
GCC
Rise Together.
