Kurt Karakul 

 

President of The

third Federal Foundation

 

by Myleah Avant, crew 5

 

 

“I believe that all children should have the chance to learn in a safe and fun environment,” said Kurt Karakul, the president of the Third Federal Foundation.   Most people would agree with this but not everyone is doing something to make this a reality.  Kurt Karakul is a man who has devoted his life to helping children attain quality educations. Through his work at the Third Federal Foundation this man is changing the lives of others in extraordinary ways.  Third Federal Foundation gives about $2.5 million a year to help the city improve. In brief, this foundation has made a great difference in the Cleveland area.

 

Kurt Karakul’s main cause is to promote education in urban places. He wants to give all students a chance to actually go to school and enjoy it. He believes that most people don’t understand the importance of reading and math. These subjects are important mainly because you need them to get jobs and things. So he wants to better the futures of others by giving them an education. “I realize that a lot of people have opportunities that others don’t, and I believe they should have the same chance,” said Mr. Karakul. Under Karakul’s leadership the Third Federal Foundation has started a program in Slavic Village that helps promote pre-birth to college educational resources. It also works with partners to create programs to help Cleveland school system improve the education it offers.

 

When you talk to Kurt Karakul you will find out that he wasn’t always interested in working with non-profit organizations. He first was interested in law. He attended Case Western Reserve University for law and political science. He was interested in the idea of how fairness was something that was important. So he decided to use his degree in law to go further than just being a lawyer.  That’s when he decided to join the Third Federal Foundation. He was interested in helping non-profit organizations. Karakul devoted his life to something that would be beneficial to his community.

 

Karakul and his foundation have made a lot of progress. They have made sustained progress in allowing the non-profit agencies that assist children understand each other and work together. One thing that they did was give to the Botanical Gardens to create a garden in Slavic Village and they hired students to help with it. This was a way to actually give the youth a chance to be involved in something. They linked up with the Boys and Girls Club in Slavic Village to do this all year long. They also opened a health clinic in one of the schools and identified families that didn’t have insurance but were eligible to receive insurance. These were only a few of the many things that the Third Federal Foundation did to help children in the community.

 

The Third Federal Foundation has made a great impact not only on children but also just on the community. For example, the foundation financed Broadway Place which is a senior faculty that includes 42 suites. This project opened in 2002 and receives low income housing tax credits. They also provide houses for those who are in need of homes. For all their helping and great work they have won the following awards: the George S. Dively Award for neighborhood development and the Citizenship Award for city of Cleveland from the Ohio Arts Council.

 

Karakul enjoys helping others on a day to day basis. He enjoys the fact that he is changing the lives of others in a great way. But sometimes he finds it difficult to say no to some projects. It’s just the fact that he wants to try and help big causes and not just little things. He is more worried about the bigger picture. So he mainly just gives money to the projects that will make the biggest impact. That’s what he does on a day to day basis. Its making a big difference in ways that’s you couldn’t even think of.

 

“I hope that through our program we are able to help children to develop a better literary understanding,” said by Mr. Karakul .The programs that the Third Federal Foundation funds were created to help better the futures of others. So far this has been a success. They have also helped the community. They are giving all children the chance to be able to learn in a safe and fun environment. With all of these programs that they fund, they are making this possible. We need more people to see the bigger picture like Mr. Karakul does because it is actually making a difference in our community in major ways.