Urban revitalization is not built on stadiums and skyscrapers alone. Vibrant cities begin with passionate people working on the ground, doing the creative heavy lifting to make their communities better. Leading up to Urban Innovation Exchange Sept. 24-26 in Detroit, we take a look at 13 small projects with big potential.

Housing First, a coalition of more than 40 public and private organizations throughout Northeast Ohio, was formed in 2006 to end "long-term and chronic homelessness" in Cuyahoga County. With the recent completion of Buckeye Square, an $11.3 million building that offers 65 affordable, furnished studio apartments for low-income individuals and families, the group is closer to its goal of building 1,271 units of permanent supportive housing.

“Housing gives residents security and stability to combat other issues and get back on their feet," said Marc McDermott, Vice President and Ohio market leader for Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., the Housing First Initiative leader, in a release." All of the partners that made Buckeye Square possible are changing lives, and the model’s success in Cleveland proves that housing makes all the difference.”

The coalition has seen a 73 percent drop in chronic homelessness since the program began, which it cites as evidence that the strategy has been successful.

Buckeye Square, which officially opened this week, is located at Buckeye Road and E. 116th Street. The building offers shared laundry facilities, a community room with kitchen, a computer lab, resident parking, a 24-hour staffed front desk, outdoor space and on-site social services.

Supportive housing is aimed at helping the chronically homeless get back on their feet. Support services are provided to help them become more independent and reintegrate with their neighborhoods. Enterprise leads Housing First projects by assembling capital, working with local leaders and offering expertise. Cleveland Housing Network has acted as lead developer, while EDEN has served as co-developer and property manager. FrontLine Service helps provide supportive services to residents.

Buckeye Square was built using Low Income Housing Tax Credits as well as HOME funds and other grants. Enterprise furnished a predevelopment loan of $572,600.

Housing First also recently obtained a grant from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to create a mobile health clinic that will serve all of its buildings.

Twist Creative, a small design firm that was founded in Ohio City 15 years ago, is expanding into a larger, custom-designed space at the Fairmont Creamery in Tremont. In part, the move was prompted by the need to consolidate its space, which is spread out over four floors in a building at West 28th and Lorain. Yet the firm also wanted room to grow, as revenues have doubled in recent years and there are plans to hire additional staff.

"We definitely wanted to stay downtown or in the surrounding neighborhoods," says founder and design director Connie Ozan. "We have employees and clients on both sides of town. There's a lot of energy here that contributes to our culture."

Ozan and her team landed at the Fairmont Creamery thanks to the opportunity to custom build space and be part of a larger project. "We're at the beginning of the revitalization of this area, a new phase of Tremont development," says Ozan.

Twist's new offices will be located on one floor, and the space is designed to be more open and collaborative. The interior will have new mechanicals and finishes as well as improved technology features. The design blends old and new, with high ceilings, cement flooring and traditional architectural features like columns.

The Creamery's new rooftop garden and deck will be an added bonus. Ozan and her coworkers are looking forward to relaxing with views of downtown Cleveland, and also entertaining clients there. The presence of the Tremont Athletic Club also is a plus as Twist encourages a healthy work-life balance.

The entire Fairmont Creamery project is slated to be complete by November. Twist Creative anticipates moving into its new offices sometime in October.
 

Based on the dinner-party model, Cleveland SOUP provides financial support for innovative, locally based initiatives that touch on sustainability, public art and diversity. As garnering funds can often be one of the tallest hurdles for independent upstarts, SOUP has helped offset those costs in more than 60 cities.

An economic development professor at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University once told our class that he knew downtown Cleveland was coming back when he saw the occasional pile of dog waste on the sidewalk. Yes, owners should pick up after their pooches, but the mere presence of pets downtown is a good indicator that the neighborhood is walkable and safe.

But now, downtown Cleveland is really going to the dogs. The neighborhood has become so vibrant and liveable in the past few years that there are now more people and pets than ever. With more than 12,500 residents, apartment occupancy rates at 98 percent and more than 1,000 registered dogs, the area is in need of a dog park.

That's why Downtown Cleveland Alliance is launching a crowdfunding campaign to create a new dog park at Settlers Landing in the Flats. The campaign aims to raise $10,000, which DCA will match dollar for dollar. The park is slated to open this fall.

According to a release from DCA, the park will be located in an "open area adjacent to the RTA rapid station on the eastern bank of the Cuyahoga River. Equipped with pea gravel, fencing, a gated entrance, and benches for their human friends, dogs will have the ability to socialize and play right in the city they call home."

The crowdfunding campaign, which runs for four weeks on the Cleveland-based Tackk site, will offer rewards such as retractable leashes and t-shirts. It will be open for four weeks. Sponsors at the $500 level will be recognized with plaques along the fence of the dog park. Various contests throughout the campaign will be announced on DCA's Facebook page, so look out for some cool prizes.
 

As the 2014 Gay Games play out with eclectic events all over town, it becomes clear how they will leave a lasting positive effect on the host city of Cleveland. Uniting beneath a banner of inclusion, collaboration and unity, participants and sponsors establish a spirit that will endure long after the lights have dimmed and the last athlete has left the track.

After a career in marketing and public relations -- largely in the non-profit sector --Tom Sarago decided to hang out his own shingle and launch Spruce, a full-service marketing and PR company in Lakewood. But the non-profit mentality stuck with Sarago, so he’s offering up his services for free to the right Cleveland company -- a startup or an established company going through transition.
 
“It’s in my roots to always give back,” explains Sarago. “I know I have enough experience to help these businesses.” After pondering the best business advice he ever got from the COSE Best Business Advice Campaign, he came up with “never neglect a volunteer opportunity assisting an intriguing business.”
 
Sarago’s offer isn’t solely about helping new businesses; it’s about expanding his circle and getting the Spruce name out there. “I want to engage as many people as possible,” he says. “The business will come. This is about meeting new people and hearing new stories of companies doing great things in cleveland."

Companies are invited to contact Sarango and explain him why they should receive free help with marketing, PR, branding or strategic planning needs. Sarago is only looking for the most passionate business owners.
 
Sarago has recruited the talents of commercial photography studio Kalman & Pabst to also get in on the offer. The winning company leader will also receive a professional photo shoot.

The deadline to contact Sarago and tell him why you need his services is August 15. 

Startup Lakewood is at it again with its annual Ideation Challenge, during which people are encouraged to present their business ideas. “People can take the next steps and validate their ideas,” says Lakewood’s entrepreneur in residence and Startup Lakewood’s director of Ideation, Mike Belsito. “Sometimes, the first step is the hardest to take -- and that's what we're hoping to encourage.”

Ideation, currently in its fourth incarnation, added some new facets to this year’s submission process. Whereas the last go-around required an executive summary, the contest now necessitates both a business model canvas (a one-page outline of the business concept) and a single-page validation plan, which outlines five assumptions about the business and a plan for validating them. “By creating a validation plan, we believe we're encouraging people to identify actual steps that they can take to determine whether their business is viable,” explains Belsito.

More information on these documents can be found on Startup Lakewood’s competition outline. The deadline to apply is August 8. From that group, four individuals or teams will be selected to give a final elevator pitch in front of business experts, investors, entrepreneurs and consultants.

Prizes include a lunch with an entrepreneur and Lakewood mayor Michael Summers; a full scholarship to a nine-week entrepreneurial course with Bad Girl Ventures; and a prize package from the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce. Past winners include Mickie Rinehart for her beer flavoring Hops Drops, Daniel Dudley for the co-working space Lakework+ and Ahmie Young’s The Parenting Shop.

However, Startup shouldn’t be thought of as an incubator for small businesses. “We believed that we could create an environment that could be helpful and serve as a connector to entrepreneurs and soon-to-be entrepreneurs,” says Belsito. “The city recognized that it wanted to be more entrepreneurially friendly and encourage people to start businesses in Lakewood.”

Further details can be acquired July 22 at an upcoming meeting to be held at University of Akron, Lakewood campus from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Joanie Nelson and her granddaughter Jayda live in the new Fairfax Intergenerational Housing development on Cedar Avenue between E. 80th and 83rd streets. Eight years back, Joanie's daughter was struck and killed by a drunk driver in a car accident, leaving Joanie to raise her granddaughter. It's hard to raise a grandchild as a senior, of course, yet this challenge is made easier by the new housing development, which offers social workers, a computer lab and other support services that are aimed at helping grandparents who are raising grandkids.

“My granddaughter and I are thrilled with our new home at Fairfax Intergenerational," Nelson said in a press release. "I’m excited that the school and church are very close, and we have access to a computer center and after-school activities."

There are 2.4 million grandparents raising 4.5 million kids in the U.S. Fairfax Intergenerational Housing, now named Griot Village, is the first project of its kind in Ohio and one of only seven in the country. It offers an affordable, sustainable and supportive environment for seniors 55 and older who are raising children.

Griot Village was designed in accordance with Enterprise Green Community standards. The development consists of 40 new townhomes with a shared courtyard that promotes a sense of community. A Supportive Services Coordinator provides onsite services to residents. There are eight buildings, each of which has five housing units. Each unit offers homework stations and play areas, and there's an onsite community center. The new residents are in close proximity to a commercial and retail development, walking distance to University Circle, and a short distance from several major medical centers and local schools.

"This development allows grandparents to be in an environment where they can be free with fact that they’re raising a child," says Jeffrey Patterson, CEO of CMHA. "You may have seniors who live in one of our senior buildings and are taking on that role, but our senior buildings were not built for that purpose. Here, there’s play equipment on the property. There's a community center where there are educational opportunities. It's in an area that provides good development opportunities for youth and seniors. We can help them to be successful."

The total project investment amount was $12 million, which was funded primarily by Low Income Housing Tax Credits. The development is a partnership between CMHA and Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation.
 

Everybody has those days when they just don’t feel like going to work. But some employers offer perks that make coming to work a little less painful. From all-you-can-eat snack bars to pursuing outside interests on company time -- and free beer! -- these companies help make coming to the office a little easier to swallow.

Cleveland Public Library's Eastman Reading Garden once again will be transformed with public art this summer, as Mexican artist Ivan Juarez has recently completed the fifth temporary installation of the See Also program. The work, entitled Drawing Lines, features custom-built steel shapes threaded together with rope. The pieces are intended to be functional spaces in which visitors can sit and read, have lunch or talk, but they also are intended to inspire reflection on our relationship with the urban environment.  

"I am an architect who combines architecture with other disciplines, in this case landscape and art," Juarez explained during a recent visit to the garden. "I wanted visitors to be able to go inside and see different views and layers of the city."

According to the website of LAND Studio, the organization that coordinates the program, "Juárez brings a global perspective and a new interpretation of the space that imaginatively frames views of the garden’s natural beauty."

The site explains the meaning behind the installation: "A continuous thread moves across new and existing elements in the garden to filter the natural light and create new passages and spaces to gather and reflect. At the same time, the installation’s architecture is being broken apart. Its walls are transparent. Anyone can explore the installation, discovering new spaces, shadows, and frames. Similarly, Cleveland Public Library strives for greater openness and access for all, keeping its place as a community anchor with engaged learning and diverse programming."

About 20,000 feet of rope was used to create the installation, along with custom-built frames. The rope was provided by Samsel Supply in the Flats.

Drawing Lines will be illuminated during AHA!, a festival of lights that will take place August 8-10 during the Gay Games. The purpose of the festival is to highlight the transformation of downtown, local artists and public artwork.

The new Circle of Wildlife carousel at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo features 64 animals hand-carved by Carousel Works in Mansfield, Ohio, and grouped according to their natural environment. The carousel opened a few weeks ago just in time for the busy summer season.

"The response has been extremely exciting," says Zoo Director Chris Kuhar. "Folks are amazed by the carousel, which is extremely large and very beautiful, as well as the murals. Then there's the story that it was carved just down the road in Mansfield, by one of the world leaders in the creation of wood carousels."

Single ride tickets for the carousel are $3 ($2.50 for Zoo Society members). All-day ride passes are available for $8 ($6 for members). Directly adjacent to the carousel is the brand new Nature Discovery Ridge play area, which features natural habitats of rocks, water and trees where kids can play.

There also are new restroom facilities, concession stands, picnic shelters and an observation deck at Nature Discovery Ridge. The pavilion is available for rent, and the Metroparks is planning to build an events center called Stillwater Place adjacent to the carousel, which can be rented for weddings and other events. 

Carousel Works created eight custom animals that don't appear on any of its other carousels, including an Anatolian shepherd, lynx, ocelot and ring-tailed lemur. The animals and their habitats were selected by zoo conservation staff.

"This project is all about connecting the dots between people, animals and habitat," says Kuhar. "All of the animals on the carousel either have a conservation or education component. They're either animals in the collection or they're animals we support in conservation and education projects."

The project also features a number of historic sculptures of endangered bird species by local artist Viktor Schreckengost. The sculptures were repurposed from another project.

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Three organizations -- LaunchHouse, Civic Commons Ideastream and Economic and Community Development Institute (ECDI) -- have come together as the lead partners in supporting entrepreneurs with ideas to improve their communities.

SEA Change, a Social Enterprise Accelerator, provides up to $50,000 in funding, coaching and connections to eligible candidates trying to make a difference in Cleveland neighborhoods. “We’re funding people who have ideas to improve their communities in a sustainable way,” says Mike Shafarenko, Civic Commons director. “A number of organizations came together last November to discuss how to revive development and support of social enterprises in Northeast Ohio.”
 
Seven other groups are also involved, including JumpStart, Foundation Center Cleveland and Business Volunteers Unlimited (BVU). SEA Change is funded by the Business of Good Foundation, the Generation Foundation, the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and the George Gund Foundation.
 
Shafarenko says SEA Change emerged as the involved organizations saw a need to support the growing number of social enterprises in Cleveland. “We have a tremendous amount of talented, active people in Northeast Ohio who just don’t have the means to execute their ideas,” he explains. “The entrepreneurial spirit needs a little bit of coaching and support to take it to the next level.”
 
Examples of existing successful social enterprises include Edwins Restaurant at Shaker Square, which employs former inmates, Tunnel Vision Hoops, which manufactures and sells hoop houses to extend the growing season, and From the Blue Bag, which converts recyclables into works of art.
 
Sea Change will host training sessions on Friday, June 13 and Friday, July 11 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The events will provide training, one-on-one consultation and networking to help participants get social enterprise ideas off the ground.

 

For its recent fundraiser, Zygote Press decided to merge both visual and culinary artists in a unique double billing called The Big Show and Iron Printmaker. The "Iron Chef" style competition featured teams of chefs and artists using "mystery" ingredients to create prints. Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski captured all the action.