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.

Drawn by a craft beer scene that he considers to be among the top five in the Midwest, Cleveland native Paul Benner has moved back to town to open the Cleveland Brew Shop. His aim is to help customers make craft beer and premium wine at home.

"When I brewed my first beer, I knew that one way or another I'd do something with this," says Benner, who graduated from Baldwin Wallace University with a degree in Entrepreneurship. "I tagged Cleveland as a market in need of a shop."

The Cleveland Brew Shop will be located at 2681 West 14th Street in Tremont. The 1,200-square-foot storefront has new hardwood floors and plenty of natural light. In addition to selling ingredients and equipment, Benner plans to offer classes in homebrewing.

Although the shop does not currently have a license that allows consumption or sale of alcohol, tastings will be offered through a partnership with Bac, a restaurant that is located next door. A three-hour homebrewing class will cost about $10.

Benner says that he plans to host a soft opening for the shop around November 1st. His goal is to have the shop fully functional before the end of the year.


Source: A. Paul Benner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

During a recent Tremont Art Walk, Lisa Turner took a break from running her busy pet store to chase an ailing, stray dog down Professor Avenue. After she and a friend chased it for half an hour, they caught him and took him to Gateway Animal Hospital. The Friends of Cleveland Kennel donated $1,200 for his surgery, and "Buddy" was put up for adoption.

Turner, who opened Tremont Tails earlier this year, isn't the only animal lover in the neighborhood. Tremont has always been a welcoming neighborhood for pet owners, with many of the restaurants allowing dogs on their patios. Scoops Ice Cream even serves doggie ice cream. Tremont animal rescue advocates are also helping to move dogs and cats off the street and into the hands of responsible pet owners.

"The rescue community is overwhelmed, and I saw a need to bring in more volunteers and raise awareness," says Turner of her boutique, which not only sells pet products but also connects people with animals in need of adoption. "We've been well-received by the community, and we have had adoptions here."

Becca Riker, owner of the Mutt Hutt, is another neighborhood rescue advocate. "Tremont is surrounded by dog-friendly amenities, and a lot of people who are interested in urban living want a dog for safety or companionship," says the 20-year Tremont resident, who also helped to create the Clark Field dog park.

Other Tremont organizations that are involved in animal rescue include the Animal Protective League (APL), Friends of Cleveland Kennel and Gateway Animal Clinic (which is well-known for treating rescued dogs and cats).

It's a goal that is shared by the entire community, says Turner, who has a bull mastiff she rescued from the industrial Flats. "Nine out of ten people who walk in here have a mutt. They're all rescued. People here really care about their pets."


Source: Lisa Turner, Becca Riker
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

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

Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski takes us on a visual tour of some of Cleveland's most popular free, outdoor events. With stops at Wade Oval Wednesday, Lakewood Library's Front Porch Concert Series, and Tremont's Arts in August, this colorful sideshow gives viewers a front seat to fun, Cleveland-style.

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

In 2011, Trevor Shaw was working in sales and marketing for an industrial parts distributor, searching through Google AdWords accounts when his wandering mind struck upon an idea. “I was bored and thinking about the previous weekend and all the fun I had,” Shaw recalls. “So I started thinking.”
 
Shaw’s thinking led to Barkudo, an iPhone app that allows bar managers to input daily drink specials so customers within a five-mile radius can redeem them on their phones.
 
“The bar manager goes to the Barkudo website, logs in to their merchant account and creates deals throughout the week,” explains Shaw. “Users open the app within five miles of that bar and will see the specials.”
 
Barkudo differs from deal sites like Groupon in that users do not prepay for the special, and bar owners do not have to wait for their money. “The bar owners receive their money at the point of sale, up front from the customer,” says Shaw.  “There’s no printout. You just have to be at the location to get the deal.”
 
In just a few weeks -- Barkudo launched at the end of July -- Shaw has commitments from Panini’s on Coventry, The Cedar Lee Pub and Grill, The Fairmount Martini and Wine Bar, and the Blind Pig. More bars are on the way in Ohio City, Tremont and Akron.

“In the next month we expect to be moving quickly as everything starts trickling in and moving week by week," adds Shaw.
 
Right now, Shaw works with a programmer to help him launch. He expects to hire a technical person and sales reps as the business grows.

 
Source: Trevor Shaw
Writer: Karin Connelly

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

George Vlosich has been creating Etch-a-Sketch art since he was 10, but more recently his artistic creations have landed him on Oprah and earned him millions of views from followers on YouTube.

Now the arts entrepreneur, who has also launched a line of Cleveland-centric apparel and painted 40-foot murals of local sports icons inside Positively Cleveland, is opening a gallery on Professor in Tremont.

"Being on Oprah opened up opportunities for me, and now I create artwork for people literally across the world," says Vlosich, founder of GV Art and Design. "I'm trying to do things that take the Etch-a-Sketch and go beyond the red frame. I worked in advertising for the last nine years, but now I'm going full-time."

Vlosich's new storefront gallery is located in the space that formerly housed Asterisk Gallery. The artist is renovating the interior and restored the prominent storefront windows, which had long been covered up by a false, wooden facade painted blue. The gallery is scheduled to officially open sometime in October.

"I want to grow beyond Cleveland," says Vlosich of his future business goals. "I also want to start doing stuff that makes an impact on the community. We already do a lot of charity events, and we're going to get kids involved with artwork."


Source: George Vlosich
Writer: Lee Chilcote

In the best of cases, getting a book published can take one to three years from start to finish. Or, you can do it the way Richey Piiparinen and Anne Trubek did with Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology. The pair of Cleveland writers managed to compress the entire Sisyphean process into an implausible three-month timeframe.

The City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have invested millions of dollars in public money to help make urban development projects happen over the years. But do they provide the maximum benefit to the taxpayers paying for them?

Amanda Woodrum, a researcher at the liberal think tank Policy Matters, says that Northeast Ohio leaders have not always maximized the public benefits of development projects. Yet cities like Cleveland have a tool at their disposal called Community Benefit Agreements to help ensure the public gets the biggest bang for its buck when it comes to public subsidies.

"Community Benefit Agreements involve an economic development approach that balances the three E’s of sustainability: environment, equity and economy," says Woodrum. "One of the biggest things is ensuring that the workforce involved is hired locally. The second thing is that it is diverse and reflective of the population as a whole. There are other questions, too. Are we behaving responsibly towards the environment? Is there access to the development site for public transit?"

Woodrum adds, "The whole process is done in a very open discussion in which key stakeholders come together. There is a movement nationally to do development this way. In many cases, anchor institutions are voluntarilyy creating such agreements because they recognize that they have stake in community."

Woodrum stated that the City of Cleveland does not have a comprehensive policy towards creating Community Benefit Agreements with developers, and that the absence of such a policy can lead to inconsistent results. She cited the Horseshoe Casino as a potential model project due to its local hiring practices; on the other hand, a new housing development at Cleveland State University has drawn ire from the local building trades union for its failure to hire local workers.

To generate a discussion about Community Benefit Agreements in Cleveland, Policy Matters has helped to organize a daylong symposium with local and national experts at Cuyahoga Community College on Friday, August 3rd. The event is cosponsored by the City of Cleveland and Cleveland City Council.

"If the stakeholders coming to the table decide it makes sense, we’d like to move forward with building a policy that ensures whenever city subsidizes development in any meaninging way, we’re maximizing value to community," says Woodrum.


Source: Amanda Woodrum
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When late summer rolls around, my kids and I are desperate for adventure. From our house in the Heights, that usually means we’re heading down the hill to Cleveland, where over the years we’ve discovered countless family-friendly things to see and do. The options are many and growing, but here is our pick for Top 10.

One year ago, six interns from Dallas, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Boston, Baltimore and Jewett, Ohio came to Cleveland to participate in the inaugural year of Trinity Urban Service Corps, a project of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Cleveland.

The goal of the program is to engage young people in nonprofit service work that improves the City of Cleveland. It also seeks to build community among members, stimulate faith development and help young people discern their career paths.

Adam Spencer, who organized the program for Trinity Cathedral, says it has been successful and is expanding to eight interns in its second year. A new crop of service corps members are scheduled to arrive in town next month.

"This program is all about working to make the city a better place," says Spencer, a Northeast Ohio native who loves playing the role of tour guide in his hometown. "The service corps members help to do the work we desperately need done in Cleveland. The program also gets young people interested in the city and its issues, and it shows them all the wonderful stuff that's going on here."

Trinity's service corps members live communally in a house in Detroit Shoreway. The program pays for their housing, transportation and health care and provides a modest stipend and shared allowance for groceries and utilities. Interns are encouraged to use public transportation as a way to navigate the city.

Some of the work sites included Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, West Creek Preservation Committee and Leadership Cleveland. Service corps members performed tasks ranging from community organizing to working with homeless men to organizing the Cleveland Mow Goats project.

The Trinity Urban Service Corps is part of a network of similar urban service corps that are organized by Episcopal congregations across the country.


Source: Adam Spencer
Writer: Lee Chilcote