The Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) will soon break ground on an array of 4,200 solar panels -- one of the largest solar arrays in Cuyahoga County -- that will reduce energy consumption on its campus by as much as 80 percent.

"When Mayor Jackson said that he wanted to be leading a green city by a blue lake, CMHA took heed of that," says Donovan Duncan, Director of Real Estate and Development for CMHA. "This is one way of reducing our carbon footprint."

The solar panel project will be developed and administered by Carbon Vision, a renewable energy analysis and project development company based in Shaker Heights. Carbon Vision will lease the land from CMHA, and after a period of 15 years, CMHA will have an option to purchase the panels at a sizeable discount.

The project is being developed at CMHA's headquarters, a LEED-certfied building at E. 82nd Street and Kinsman Avenue. Carbon Vision is developing the project using a combination of federal energy tax credits and New Market Tax Credits.

"We selected Carbon Vision because they've been a leader in this industry and had the most successful track record of those responding to our RFP," says Duncan.

Carbon Vision also will hire local residents to work on the project, which will generate high-quality jobs and is expected to take about six weeks to build.

CMHA has undertaken a wide variety of sustainability projects in recent years, including adding solar panels to other development projects, building rooftop gardens and green roofs, and building homes to energy-efficient standards.


Source: Donovan Duncan
Writer: Lee Chilcote

There was no shortage of naysayers when Ward 13 Councilman Kevin Kelley and other leaders launched an effort to provide free wireless Internet access to residents of the city's Old Brooklyn neighborhood.

Yet three years later, wireless hotspots blanket 90 percent of the neighborhood, and about 20,000 individuals use the service monthly. Kelley says the project could be a model for other areas that are seeking to bridge the digital divide.

"We learned through [Case Western Reserve University's] NEO CANDO program that about 50 percent of the ward had a daily Internet subscription," says Kelley of the impetus behind the Old Brooklyn Connected project, which also offers a community website. "To me, when you look at how people now communicate and look for jobs, or how kids perform in school, that simply wasn't adequate."

Kelley led an effort to hire a contractor that installed wireless equipment throughout the neighborhood. The City of Cleveland, Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland Housing Network and Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation collaborated to train residents how to use computers.

Although the project cost over $800,000 to implement, Kelley says it was well worth it. "We were looking for a way to invest in people," he says. "That's less than two dollars per month per household when you look at it over a five-year period."

Most of the money came from the city, and equipment is expected to last at least five years before it needs an upgrade. The results speak for themselves, he says. "I'm now getting a better signal from my front porch than from paid service."

Kelley hopes the project will also attract new residents. "How do we make Old Brooklyn a young community, a progressive community? This is a tool for doing that."


Source: Kevin Kelley
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Blackstone LaunchPad program opened its doors on the Baldwin-Wallace College and Lorain County Community College campuses on Sept. 6 and 7 and will open at Kent State University later this month and CWRU in January.
 
The Burton D. Morgan Foundation in Hudson and the Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced last November that they had committed $3.2 million to open LaunchPad locations in Northeast Ohio to train area student entrepreneurs.
 
The LaunchPad is a venture coach program developed at the University of Miami, Florida in 2008. The program provides participants with advice and mentorship to take business ideas to fruition. Students are matched up with venture coaches to guide them through the development process.
 
“The real goal here is around education,” says Deborah D. Hoover, president  and CEO of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation. “We’re providing a strong education, it’s experiential. Our key approach to the program is about networking – obviously in Northeast Ohio and venture coaches, but also in the larger community and through the national network of LaunchPad locations.”
 
Hoover reports that the potential is there for 150 new sustainable companies in the next five years, which could generate as many as 3,000 jobs.
 
Amy Stursberg, executive director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, says Northeast Ohio is an idea fit for LaunchPad. “We try to choose locations where we feel there is a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem and culture,” she says. “We’re leveraging those assets to jumpstart the region where it already exists.”
 
Kent State, which had a soft launch of LaunchPad this summer, already has 70 to 80 students involved in the program.
 
Sources: Deborah H. Hoover, Amy Stursberg
Writer: Karin Connelly
 
  
 
 

As city dwellers, we tend to focus on buildings. But it's the spaces in between those structures that matter most, say urban planners. Public spaces bring communities together, improve our physical and mental well-being, and drive social and economic change. The presence and quality of our public spaces is a measure of the desirability of a city.

When Sonali Morris first enrolled her children (ages five and three) in swim classes while living in a Detroit suburb, it was a miserable experience.

"They were crying because they could see me sitting right on the pool deck and the water was very uncomfortable,” says Morris. “I had to go out and hide in the locker room area of the country club. I hated I couldn't see them taking lessons and had no idea what was happening.”
 
But then Morris discovered Goldfish Swim School, a swimming facility designed for kids four months to 12 years old.
 
“This was a place that really spoke to them, took the fear out of the water,” Morris says. The water is always 90 degrees, a four-to-one student teacher ratio and classes deigned to teach children to enjoy swimming. Private or semi-private lessons are offered. There’s also a snack bar, air-conditioned viewing room for parents and a pro shop.

Now, Morris and her husband Michael, along with Robert and Vicki Pietrick, are opening a Goldfish Swim School in Warrensville Heights. Construction has begun on a 8,900-square-foot facility and is expected to open in mid-November.

“We have a proprietary curriculum,” says Morris. “Swim school concepts aren’t new. We took the best practices and standardized it.”
 
Not only will the Goldfish Swim School teach children how to swim, the new facility will employ about 40 people year round. Morris is the general manager.

“We have a lot of part-time positions,” says Morris. “We need instructors, lifeguards, front desk workers and deck supervisors.”

 
Source: Sonali Morris
Writer: Karin Connelly

Like many foundations, the Saint Luke's Foundation in Cleveland has emerged from the recession with a narrower yet deeper approach to grantmaking. Beginning this year, the foundation has eschewed responsive grantmaking for targeted grants in three primary areas: health, communities and families.

"This year our foundation turned 15, and as we thought about what our successes had been and how to serve the community in the best way possible, there was interest in focusing more narrowly," says LaTida Smith, Vice President of Programming, Outcomes and Learning at the foundation.

The change has been both challenging and rewarding. "This year, we're narrowing and doing responsive grantmaking at the same time," says Smith. "There are some projects we've funded in the past that we won't be able to fund anymore, and even though we've narrowed to three areas, those challenges are still broad."

One area where Smith says the foundation has been innovative and successful is in advancing the understanding of community health. The Cuyahoga County Board of Health was awarded a grant to develop its capacity to complete health impact assessments -- basically, determinations of how planning and redevelopment decisions impact neighborhood health -- while the "Place Matters" speaker series at the City Club prompted a broad discussion of place-based health disparities.

Examples of the foundation's changed grantmaking strategy include an increased emphasis on strengthening families -- as opposed to simply helping kids or adults in isolation -- and a strong commitment to the neighborhoods around the former Saint Luke's Hospital (Buckeye, Larchmere and Shaker Square in particular).


Source: LaTida Smith
Writer: Lee Chilcote

In recent years, Cleveland Municipal School District has opened 14 new high-performing public schools rated Excellent or Effective by the State. The Cleveland Plan, approved this summer by state legislators, will pave the way for even more improvements to the district's schools, making it more likely that urban parents will choose to remain in the city.

Tim Tramble of Burton Bell Carr Development Inc. tried for years to recruit a healthy eatery to the Kinsman neighborhood of Cleveland. When he found an entrepreneur willing to open a Subway here, however, the corporate chain nixed the idea.

The area, which has been dubbed "The Forgotten Triangle" because of the poverty and lack of opportunity rooted here, is a food desert that does not have a grocery store within a one-mile radius. That is a problem for the area's residents, many of whom don't have their own cars.

Faced with this problem, however, Tramble and his coworkers and board decided to open a community kitchen, healthy restaurant and community space. The $1.3 million project, which aims to create access to fresh foods, encourage healthy eating and support community market gardeners, opens later this month.

"This is a really low income neighborhood without much access to personal transportation, and people have to lug groceries and common things we take for granted," says Tramble of the project, which is called the Bridgeport Cafe. "They constantly shop for just two or three days at a time."

The community kitchen contains spacious, restaurant-style food preparation space that will allow neighborhood farmers to prepare their own foods for sale.

Tramble also plans to launch a Mobile Market, a specially built truck converted to an indoor market. Patrons can enter the truck, which will make stops throughout the neighborhood, pick out produce from two aisles, pay for it and exit the truck.


Source: Tim Tramble
Writer: Lee Chilcote

A local nonprofit has folded, but its services will live on. WECO, a community wealth building organization, dissolved this summer -- but thanks to a partnership between Neighborhood Progress Inc. and Key Bank, its Financial Education Center on Buckeye Road will continue to offer services.

"We are working to help neighborhoods regain their financial footing by starting at the very building blocks of community -- the residents," said Joel Ratner, President and CEO of Neighborhood Progress, in a release.

The Key Financial Education Center, which is located next to the Key Bank branch at 11461 Buckeye Road, has helped more than 16,000 individuals gain skills in financial management and personal investment since it opened in 2004. It offers free classes on topics such as credit, saving money and homeownership.

Neighborhood Progress has hired two former WECO employees to continue offering workshops, classes and coaching. Key Bank also has 140 employees that are certified to provide these services at the Center and in the community.


Source: Neighborhood Progress Inc.
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Hildebrandt Company, a sprawling, 115,000-square-foot complex on Walton Avenue on Cleveland's west side, was built as a meat processing facility. From 1885 until 1971, Hildebrandt made sausages and smoked meats that were sold throughout the city.

More recently, the building has been reinvented as a creative hub and artist enclave. Space in the building is occupied by artisan welders and metalsmiths, custom woodworkers and other craftsman entrepreneurs. Lake Erie Creamery, an artisan cheesemaker, is also planning to move into the Hildebrandt building.

"Our tenants believe in what they're doing and have a network of professional support," says Bill Hildebrandt, who adds that the building has always been in the family's name. "My joy is that the building is going back to its original roots."

Hildebrandt is referring not only to the entrepreneurs in the building, but also to the fact that he wants to transform the first floor into a commercial kitchen and incubator for food-based businesses. Although the idea is in its nascent stages, the building is well-suited for it. Hildebrandt hopes the project will come to fruition and help urban farmers and other food-based businesses grow and succeed.

One of the building's tenants is Rust Belt Welding, which has become well-known for its artistic bike racks. Currently, Rust Belt is working to transform a big blue shipping container into The Bike Box, a custom-made bike corral that will reside in Ohio City.

The complex's many historic features include a towering smokestack, massive coolers, glazed yellow brick interior walls and an ancient, bricked-over stable facing Clark Avenue (the hitching post where the beef was hung is still intact). Hildebrandt plans to restore the stable and create a store for artisan goods.


Source: Bill Hildebrandt
Writer: Lee Chilcote

An innovative software program developed by the Center for Urban Poverty at Case Western Reserve University is helping Cleveland neighborhood development practitioners reinvent their urban communities in strategic, data-driven ways.

NEO CANDO, a publicly accessible database, provides one-stop-shopping for anyone looking to research property information in their neighborhood. The site allows users to go beyond researching individual properties and look at snapshots of neighborhoods -- including which properties are at risk of foreclosure and which have been condemned. The site also contains social, economic and census data.

"In the past, information was collected from multiple websites, and by the time it was assembled, it was out of date," says Mike Schramm, a Research Associate in the Center on Urban Poverty in the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at CWRU. "We bring data together across domains. Our mission is to democratize data and to create data-driven decisions by both nonprofits and government."

In practice, NEO CANDO is used by foreclosure prevention agencies to research which properties are in danger of going into foreclosure. Armed with this info, grassroots groups can knock on the owner's door and attempt to intervene, thus hopefully preventing another vacant, bank-owned home in the neighborhood.

The information is also used to focus on areas with strategic assets in an effort to better protect them. "You need to know that the house across street from that recently rehabbed home is in foreclosure -- and then do something about it."

Projects like NEO CANDO are helping to facilitate a shift within the community development field towards creating more strategic, placemaking investments.


Source: Mike Schramm
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The 2.3-acre site of a former school in Old Brooklyn that has been fallow since it was torn down in 2008 will once again be used for educational purposes. This time, however, it will be used to teach adults with disabilities and city residents how to farm.

In partnership with the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga Land Bank, Koinonia Homes will transform the former Memphis School into a small farm featuring two greenhouses, a poultry building for fresh eggs, eight crop fields and a community garden. The farm will provide work opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as food for Koinonia's programs.

“This project is a win-win for everyone,” said Cleveland Councilman Kevin Kelley in a release. “Koinonia will have the ability to provide its clients with job skills training, the city sees this land going back into productive use, and Old Brooklyn residents have the opportunity to experience community gardening as well.”

Rising Harvest Farms will be located at West 41st and Memphis Avenue. The site will be prepared this fall and the first harvest is expected next season.


Source: Koinonia, Inc.
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When musician educators with Roots of American Music hold workshops in Cleveland public schools, it almost goes without saying that they are entering a place that doesn't have a full-time music teacher. Most cannot afford to hire full-time music staff, so they rely on part-time faculty and visiting artists.

The 14-year-old nonprofit organization educates more than 15,000 students throughout Northeast Ohio each year, teaching social studies, financial literacy and health education through music.

"We do a lot of songwriting about topics that are important to kids," says Kevin Richards, ROAM's Director. "They work with authentic artist-educators who not only can teach but are also bluesmen, Cajun zydeco artists or rappers."

Richards likens ROAM's educational approach to parents who disguise healthy foods to get their kids to eat them. In general, the artists have little trouble convincing kids to participate. "Kids don't realize they're getting an academic message at the same time as they're fooling around with traditional music."

ROAM's curriculum has changed as educational goals have evolved. When Richards created the organization, the focus was on teaching social studies. Today, such staple courses are supplemented with programs about financial literacy and health education (the latter is in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic).

One popular program called "On the Move" teaches students in the Central neighborhood of Cleveland about migration patterns throughout history. Students learn the song "Kansas City" and change the lyrics to fit their family's story.

Roots of American Music will host its 13th annual Benefit for Education on Saturday, October 6th at the Beachland Ballroom. Multi-award-winning Austin singer-songwriter Guy Forsythe is the headliner. The tickets are $125 for VIP access including dinner and preferred seating, or $15 for the concert only.


Source: Kevin Richards
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Thrive Cleveland, a new grassroots "happiness incubator," wants to amaze you. The goal is to provide experiences that are "surprising," "boundary expanding" and "beyond your comfort zone," according to cofounder Scott Simon.

"What we’re doing is creating what you could call a happiness gym," says Simon. "It will be a series of ongoing, curated experiences for Clevelanders. We want to get them to meet other people, be creative and hear from the best and brightest in Cleveland."

The group is composed of 13 Clevelanders who are volunteering their time to create happiness-inducing events aimed at engaging the city's residents.

The first experience, entitled "WTF? (What's That Food?) -- A Local Farm-to-Table Exploration," will take place on Saturday, August 25th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants will meet at Cafe Benice and then travel as a group to the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Farmers Market, where they'll meet with farmers, taste just-picked produce, and learn how fresh food contributes to happiness and well-being. Afterwards, the group will return to Cafe Benice to participate in a hands-on cooking experience utilyzing the farm-fresh foods. 

According to Simon, the event is part of a national movement towards fostering greater happiness in cities across the country. He cites the Happiness Institute in San Francisco and Life Labs NYC in Brooklyn as two comparable organizations.


Source: Scott Simon
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When Earl Pike of the Cleveland Leadership Center helped design the new Civic Engagement Boot Camp, he tapped the popular national trend of half marathon benefits as a wellspring of inspiration.

"People want to be challenged," he says. "We didn't want to do the typical thing of getting a bunch of young people in a room to listen to an old person pontificate. We wanted to ask people to do something really hard and put their hearts and souls into it."

The result? A one-day civic engagement half marathon, if you will. The Boot Camp starts at 6:30 a.m. and runs until 9 p.m.

"At the end, you'll be exhausted and probably smell bad and be a little frayed," says Pike. "But you'll see every major sector of Cleveland and you'll be engaged in a way that changes you, challenges you."

In June, participants held a behind-the-scenes meeting with the editorial board of the Plain Dealer, worked out with an 82-year-old woman, dug in the dirt at Ohio City Farm, went on a bike tour of Cleveland, and honed their improv skills at Cleveland Public Theatre. And that was just part of the day. It concluded with a meeting of area foundation leaders at the Terminal Tower Observation Deck.

The next installment of Boot Camp, titled "Cleveland from dawn to dusk -- like you've never seen it before," will take place Thursday, October 4th. The cost is $500.

"It doesn't really matter what people do: We love seeing people inspired and getting active in whatever domain they choose," says Pike, who says the long-term goal is combining civic engagement with personal growth. "Now we're beginning to look at the coaching that might come after the experience."


Source: Earl Pike
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Jeff Griffiths launched Hands On Northeast Ohio in 2007 to "train and equip volunteers to be at the center of change in their communities." In 2011, the startup nonprofit organization helped connect nearly 5,000 volunteers with hundreds of worthy projects throughout the Cleveland area.

Last weekend, volunteers prepped bikes at the Ohio City Bike Co-op, served meals to the homeless, delivered meals to seniors, cleaned cat cages, and lended a hand at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Hands On Northeast Ohio offers accessible, well-managed opportunities to serve throughout the community. Volunteers attend an orientation session and sign up for opportunities on the group's website. With a point and a click, they can read descriptions of opportunities, find out which ones are available, and sign up.

"People wanted to help, but oftentimes accessing volunteer opportunities was filled with barriers -- the commitment was unrealistic, the training was too cumbersome, or the agency didn't have a way to recruit or train volunteers at all," says Griffiths. "By us managing projects, we make both parties happy."

In addition to 35-plus managed projects per month, Hands On also manages one-day national events such as the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Griffiths says the organization is part of a national network of similar groups. "We saw a need, took a proven model and adapted it locally to our needs here," he says.


Source: Jeff Griffiths
Writer: Lee Chilcote

What's next? It's a question we all wish we had the answer to. But for folks looking to settle down, that question undoubtedly refers to place. In this running series, Fresh Water explores emerging Cleveland neighborhoods that are primed for growth. This week, writer Joe Baur examines Slavic Village.

TOA Technologies, the provider of mobile workforce management solutions, has hired Brian Cook as the company’s CFO. Since its founding in 2003, TOA has steadily grown from a small startup company to the global company with 350 employees around the world and more than 40 in Cleveland.
 
Cook, whose background is in global technology, telecommunications and media companies, will help guide TOA through its projected future growth.

“Brian is a good match for TOA because he’s lived through our future and he’s also not far removed from our past,” says John Opdycke, vice president of worldwide marketing. “We need someone in a financial role who is familiar with a company that is small and nimble and growing quickly.”
 
Aside from Cook’s international business and telecommunications expertise, Opdycke says Cook is a good personality fit with TOA. “The cultural fit was there,” he says. “Personality fit is important because we are still a small company.”
 
TOA recently entered markets in Latin American, Australia and New Zealand and is expanding locally as well. “We have seven of the top U.S. pay-tv providers as customers,” says Opdycke. “As things are happening, you really need more people. We’re bringing on people almost every other week.”

 
Source: John Opdycke
Writer: Karin Connelly