CLEVELAND — Students with asthma in 43 Northeast Ohio school districts will soon have better tools within reach during the school day, thanks to a $70,000 grant awarded this week to the Reid Wiley Charitable Foundation for asthma education and management resources.
Impact100 Cleveland, a women-led collective giving organization, chose the foundation as the recipient of its first grant cycle. The foundation was selected from more than 93 nonprofit applications after months of review that included site visits and presentations, according to the announcement.
The money will provide about 4,000 asthma spacers and 4,000 inhaler carrying cases for students and school nurses. The supplies will be distributed through Akron Children’s Hospital School Health Services, which works directly with schools across the region.
Spacers matter more than their simple design suggests. The tube-like chambers attach to a standard inhaler and help a child draw in a full, measured dose of medicine — something that can be difficult in the middle of an asthma episode, when breathing is already strained and panic can make technique worse. A spacer kept at school means a student does not have to rely on perfect form at the worst possible moment.
The foundation behind the program carries a personal story. It was formed in memory of Reid Wiley, a Medina resident who died of complications from asthma, and it now works to make sure other families have the equipment and education that can keep a manageable condition from becoming an emergency.
Impact100 Cleveland’s model pools individual giving into a single large award. The organization, founded in 2025, raised this grant from 70 women who each contributed $1,000 to invest in their community, then voted on where the combined funds could do the most good.
Founding president Brooke Potrzeba said choosing one recipient was not about ranking nonprofits against each other, but about the members deciding together where this particular grant could create transformational impact. The other finalists were the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland and Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity.
For school nurses across the 43 districts, the practical effect will be immediate: stocked cabinets, spare carrying cases for students who forget theirs, and education materials that help staff recognize and respond to an attack early. Distribution through Akron Children’s school health network is expected to move the supplies into buildings across Northeast Ohio in the coming months.
