On the heels of its successful Creative Minds summer camp, NewBridge Cleveland has kicked off another new initiative: CLE Lead. An art-inspired leadership training program, CLE Lead will help more than 100 middle school and high school students develop skills in ceramics, graphic design, and photography—as well as boost social and emotional intelligence—over a yearlong period.

Summer may be fading, but the skills and experiences Creative Minds summer camp participants received will stay vivid for a very long time. A new six-week program at NewBridge Cleveland, the Creative Minds camp offered 30 local middle schoolers the chance to learn ceramics, photography, and graphic design.

The educational opportunities at NewBridge Cleveland have afforded one promising graphic design student a fast track to a full scholarship at Cleveland Institute of Art.

Last month, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) hosted its third annual Vibrant City Awards Lunch. More than 500 city leaders, stakeholders and community development professionals gathered at Cleveland's Edgewater Park to celebrate leading neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Click here to see who received the honors.

This series of stories, "Grassroots Success: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods," explores how meaningful impact on our communities grows from the ground up. Support for "Grassroots Success" is provided by Neighborhood Connections and NewBridge Cleveland Center for Arts & Technology.
 
This past Saturday at the Cleveland Masonic Auditorium, the NewBridge Cleveland Center for Art and Technology graduated 60 students from their Phlebotomy Technician, Pharmacy Technician and Hospital Nursing Assistant programs. While the event marked a promising new day for those students, Fresh Water took some time to meet former NewBridge student Tyeisha Long, whose story truly brings the organization's impact into sharp focus.

Mckinley Wiley took the photos included in this article during the May 20, 2017 NewBridge Cleveland graduation celebration.
 
Tyeisha Long was raising a small child alone, living with various relatives for short periods of time when she made a pivotal decision. She was going to move forward to a better position in life no matter how much sacrifice it involved. And then without looking back, she did.

Read her inspirational story here.
 

This Friday, the NewBridge Cleveland Center for Arts and Technology, which aims to give at-risk Cleveland youth a fresh and different outlook on education and life. will host its Spring Session Art Exhibition. Fresh Water managing photographer Bob Perkoski previews the festivities here.

NewBridge Cleveland's adult job training programs have taken off since the center for arts and technology's 2010 opening, expanding offerings and tripling enrollment in its health-tech programming.

The latest episode of "Neighbor Up Spotlight" is now available. "Neighbor Up Spotlight: What does Neighbor Up do?" is a 15-minute kitchen table conversation between host Carol Malone and Neighbor Up member Tom O'Brien focusing on how Neighbor Up came together and what members are doing to make change in Cleveland.

Hosted by Malone, a Cleveland resident and activist, each episode of "Neighbor Up Spotlight" focuses on members of Neighbor Up, a network of approximately 2,000 Greater Cleveland residents making positive change in their neighborhoods. This resident-driven social change movement is about bringing equity to all Cleveland neighborhoods.

Listen to “Neighbor Up Spotlight" on Soundcloud or download episodes from iTunes. Or just click below to hear the latest edition right now.




Support for this series, "Grassroots Success: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods," is provided by Neighborhood Connections.

Children living in Cuyahoga County have some of the highest lead blood-levels in the Ohio. Public entities, nonprofits such as Neighborhood Connections and – most importantly – residents on the ground are tackling the broad and complex problem.

This series of stories, "Grassroots Success: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods," explores how meaningful impact on our communities grows from the ground up. Support for "Grassroots Success" is provided by Neighborhood Connections.
 
Alex Robertson is smart, ambitious, and successful. And after leaving Glenville to attend Ivy League Columbia University in New York City, he returned home to share what he has gleaned and improve his neighborhood by making it more fun.
 
Robertson threw a birthday party for his entire community when he first formed the pop-up game and event organization Recess Cleveland (recessCLE). Its first event was held on his 31^st birthday, August 9, 2015.
 
“Birthdays are always a good time to get people out to an event,” says Robertson. “I told my friend, for my birthday I want to throw dodge balls at you.”
 
Approximately 50 people showed up. They divided the group into age 21 and under and age 22 and older.

”The highlight of the day was a 65-year-old grandma pitching to five-year-old kids,” Robertson says. “When she was kicking, she kicked a line-drive to the outfield. So all the kids were like, ‘Granny’s got legs!’ We did get her a designated runner, though.”

Continue reading.

Years in the making, plans for La Villa Hispana – a center celebrating Latino heritage and commerce in the Clark Fulton neighborhood – will be unveiled next month at a City Planning Commission meeting.