If  Kauser Razvi has a say in it, underutilized spaces in Cleveland will be a place where a child's imagination can run wild, all thanks to power of the written word.

Razvi, founder of the Cleveland-based project management organization Strategic Urban Solutions, is the book-loving brains behind Literary Lots,  a program that aims to "brings books to life" in a vacant lot, playground or other outdoor space.

To pilot this idea, Strategic Urban Solutions plans to launch its first Literary Lot this summer in Ohio City's Novak Park. In conjunction with Cleveland Public Library, LAND Studio, and Ohio City Writers, Razvi's group will recreate places, concepts, and adventures from select children's books. The space will also host educational programming, with the goal of bringing Cleveland's kids together through the cooperation of the city's cultural institutions.

"Libraries are community anchors," says Razvi. "We thought it would be cool to marry the idea of bringing books to life in places near our libraries."

The summer program spot would have books (of course), poetry readings or a movie based on the book the space is built around. Artists would enliven the space, perhaps decorating a small sandpit in which kids can dig for buried gold,  just like the young adventurer from Treasure Island.

"I think of it as a 'comfortable artistic backyard,'" Razvi says.

Building a nice "backyard" isn't free. A Kickstarter fundraising campaign for the project begins at the end of February, with a minimum goal of $5,500. Razvi believes transforming an underused space into a reading zone for kids is well worth the price of admission.
 
SOURCE: Kauser Razvi
WRITER:  Douglas J. Guth

Innovative ideas abound in Northeast Ohio, believes Judy Wright, founding member of The Cleveland Colectivo. Too often, however, those dreams are not big enough to draw the attention of the major grant makers in town.

The Colectivo was designed to fill that gap. A grassroots, Cleveland-based giving circle that pools funds to make contributions in the community, the group is inspired by the traditional practice of immigrant neighbors who invested in each other’s businesses to build a neighborhood.

"Our goal is to support small, innovative projects that need a little boost," says Wright, a Lakewood resident. She and a group of like-minded friends from the nonprofit sector created the Colectivo in 2004.

The group's grants range from $500 to $5,000. Funding supports a wide variety of projects, from enhancements to the kitchen at the Cleveland Hostel to a summer series of free music events at Edgewater Park.

"There's no focus area besides these projects having an impact on Cleveland," Wright says.

The next round of funding kicks off February 28 with the Colectivo's fast pitch presentation event at Shaker LaunchHouse. Up to 40 entrepreneurs and innovators will have two minutes to present their bright ideas, which will be voted on by attendees. The top 10 vote-getters will then move on to interviews conducted by group members. Registration to present at the fast pitch event opens February 25 at noon on the group's website.

Getting a roomful of people to network and be excited about their fellow Clevelanders' brainstorms is a side benefit of the effort, notes Wright.

"A little bit of 'spark money' can be hard to get," she says. "We're just trying to make the process easier."

 
SOURCE: Judy Wright
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Nautical adventure awaits Cleveland youths this summer thanks to Project YESS (Youth Empowered to Succeed through Sailing), a program that allows local students to spend a week sailing and working on a 150-foot tall vessel.

The program, developed by the Rotary Club of Cleveland, is meant for high school students ages 13 to 17. Starting this year, teenagers will develop leadership and navigational proficiencies during a six-week land-based course. Graduates will then ply the Great Lakes aboard a tall ship, using the skills they learned to become a vital member of their on-board community. Lake-faring activities include reading charts, working in the galley and tying ropes.

"They are physically part of the crew,"  says Project YESS co-chair Anne Kelly. "All of them are sharing in responsibilities and duties from port to port."

The program started in 2010 in conjunction with the Tall Ships Festival. A group of volunteers help raise the $1,500-per-student fee, which includes curriculum materials, meals, and cost of berth. Students with strong leadership skills but who otherwise would not be able to afford the experience are targeted by Project YESS members.

"The kids hold each other accountable and teach one another to step up," Kelly says.

Project officials hope to bring the youth sailing camp experience to 35 students this year. Along with providing direction, confidence and a sense of community, the program can also open students’ eyes to the unique career opportunities that exist in the Great Lakes region, maintains Kelly.

To receive an application for the Project YESS 2013 class, email projectyess@yahoo.com. Applications must be mailed to the Rotary Club of Cleveland by March 15.

 
SOURCE: Anne Kelly
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

"We are all assets," declares the national website of TimeBanks USA, a movement dedicated to building "caring community" economies through an inclusive exchange of time and talent.

Indeed, time can be as valuable an asset as money in terms of the positive impact it has on a neighborhood, says Adam Gifford, director of community involvement at the Stockyard, Clark-Fulton, and Brooklyn Centre Development Office, which, along with its parent Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, is sponsoring a time bank in Cleveland.

The time bank movement works through reciprocation. For example, a landscaper does an hour of volunteer tree-trimming work, then deposits those 60 "time dollars" into his account. When he needs a service done, like getting his dogs walked or receiving help with his taxes, he simply "withdraws" his deposit for the service. There is no monetary value ever attached to any service -- time is the one and only coin of the realm.

"People may not have the money available, but they may have time," says Gifford. "It's about giving people access to services they normally couldn't afford."

Time banks have sprung up across the country. Locally, Kent and Medina are among the communities to use the service. The Cleveland time bank is in its infancy, attracting nearly 100 members putting in about 150 hours of work so far. A program orientation will be held February 26 at The Salvation Army's Clarke-Fulton location, while a Cleveland time bank website is scheduled to go live in March.

The time bank is open to individuals and groups. Gifford views the exchange of skills and services without cash as a method to enrich lives.

"It's a creative way to build a community," he says.

 
SOURCE: Adam Gifford
WRITER:  Douglas J. Guth

Filing a federal income tax return is far from the most enjoyable activity one can do. It can even be intimidating for people who don't understand the process or know they are eligible for an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit providing free tax preparation and other services to low- and middle-income Cuyahoga County residents, aims to bridge the knowledge gap and help hard-working individuals and families keep more of what they earned. Nationwide last year, the average credit handed out was about $2,200, but the credit can provide as much as $5,900.

"About 20 percent of people eligible for [EITC] don't claim it," says Mark McDermott, Enterprise vice president and Ohio market leader. "We get the word out."

That word is spread in conjunction with the Cuyahoga County Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition and a host of other local partner organizations. This tax season, Enterprise has recruited over 350 IRS-certified volunteers to assist in the effort.

Eligible residents can access the free service by dialing the United Way of Greater Cleveland's 2-1-1 help line. Appointments are scheduled at one of 25 sites located throughout the country. There are also a handful of Saturday free tax-preparation events taking place right up until filing day.

During the past seven years, more than 55,000 participants have received over $77 million in refunds and saved millions of dollars in fees from paid tax preparers, notes program director Kathy Matthews.

"That's about $13 million going back into the local economy," says Matthews.

Tax help isn't Enterprise's only offering. Those who use the service also have access to benefit screenings, debt management and more.

"The tax work is our foundation," says McDermott. "This has proven to be a great program."
 
 
SOURCES: Mark McDermott, Kathy Matthews
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Heights Arts ' executive director Peggy Spaeth is retiring, but that doesn't mean the nonprofit community arts organization will be taking it easy along with her.

The group currently is searching for a replacement for Spaeth, who helped found Heights Arts in 2000 and has led the organization ever since. Since late January, the group has received 40 responses from those hoping to carry on the "creative renaissance" that Spaeth launched over a decade ago, says Heights Arts' board president Sharon Grossman.

"We're just starting the process," says Grossman. "We would like to hire someone by late spring."

Spaeth will stay on board during the hiring period and help train the new executive director after the appointment takes place. The outgoing director said the decision to leave was made out of a desire to pursue other interests.

"We don't want to lose her, but this is an all-encompassing job," Grossman says.

It was also a job that Spaeth did well, adds the board president. As director, she brought public art projects to city streets and chamber music concerts to local living rooms. In 2011, Spaeth oversaw expansion of the Heights Arts Gallery on Lee Road, growing its floorspace and successfully stretching the organization's reach into the community.

"Peggy has great drive and an ability to see the big picture," says Grossman.

Spaeth established important relationships with local artists, also reaching out to public figures -- among them Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelley and Cleveland Cinemas owner Jonathan Forman -- capable of supporting these artists.

Heights' Arts next leader will have challenges ahead, but the transition doesn't have to be rough.

"That person will have a chance to put their own stamp on the organization," says Grossman.  "Change can be good."

 
SOURCE: Sharon Grossman
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

In recent years, Mentor native Erin Huber has flown 7,000 miles just to get the population of a small Ugandan village a drop to drink. That effort is part of a larger endeavor to promote water sustainability both locally and globally.

Huber, founder of Drink Local Drink Tap, a nonprofit organization seeking to connect Clevelanders to local water through art installations and free environmental education, traveled to Africa the last two summers with the mission of getting an impoverished people access to clean water.

The first trip, in 2011, found the activist journeying throughout East Africa to learn about the water situation. Her visit to a rural Ugandan town was particularly eye-opening. Children in the village had to walk over a mile to find a nearby water source, and the water wasn't clean or safe.

Last summer, Huber and her small team returned to Uganda, where they drilled a 70-meter hole into a water table to bring drinkable water to the people of the tiny African community. They filmed their efforts for the documentary Making Waves from Cleveland to Uganda, which Huber hopes to screen at the Cleveland International Film Festival.

"We struck water 'gold,'" she says of the Africa venture, which now supplies fresh drinking water to about 1,500 villagers.

Huber, with a master's degree in environmental studies from Cleveland State University and fond memories of a childhood spent camping next to lakes, streams and rivers, has three more water-related projects set for a future jaunt to Uganda. Meanwhile, she will continue to educate Cleveland's youth and adults about the enormous local fresh water resource known as the Great Lakes.

"We have to realize how fortunate we are," Huber says. "Everything we see needs water to exist."
  
 
SOURCE: Erin Huber
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

For a number of years at the tail end of the 20th century, Greater Cleveland's public and private leaders attempted to pull the city up through ambitious marketing campaigns. For awhile it seemed to work. The national media began referring to Cleveland as the "Comeback City" in conjunction with the grand openings of ambitious projects like Tower City Center, Jacobs Field and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
 
But toward the end of the '90s a strange thing happened: The city, for all intents and purposes, stopped marketing itself.
 
Why?
 
"We began to believe our own press," says Rick Batyko, president of the Regional Marketing Alliance of Northeast Ohio, which conducts the Cleveland Plus campaign. And civic officials "moved on to other tasks and defunded marketing."
 
In essence, Northeast Ohio stopped telling its tale with the tale barely begun -- a rather large mistake in retrospect. "The underlying economy wasn't doing that well," Batyko says. "That's something you couldn't see in the skyline shots."
 
During the mid-2000s, the region's narrative thread was picked up by Cleveland Plus campaign. Established in 2005 -- with founding members that included Greater Cleveland Partnership, Positively Cleveland and Team NEO -- the organization champions Northeast Ohio as a culturally rich, yet affordable place to live.
 
Read the rest of the story here.

If Northeast Ohio has a digital divide, then Cleveland-based nonprofit broadband provider OneCommunity wants to lay down enough fiber-optic cable to successfully bridge the gap.

The divide is particularly wide in Cleveland's poorer neighborhoods, says OneCommunity CEO Brett Lindsey. In response, his organization created the Connect Your Community Project (CYC). Since 2010, CYC has provided broadband training, equipment and support for nearly 8,000 Cleveland and East Cleveland residents. The group's work is supported through a $18.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

The organization's new adopters receive a refurbished computer at no cost after matriculating through the training program. They also have the opportunity to receive a free modem and affordable, high-speed home Internet service.

In modern society, everything from job postings to health care information is online, notes Lindsey. The idea is not to give Cleveland's underserved access to solitaire or funny YouTube videos, but an electronic education that will allow them to look up information on their child's school system or connect with far flung family members.

"The haves and have nots in terms of technology are significant," says Lindsey. "This is a way to get people engaged."

OneCommunity is also bringing "digital literacy" to Cleveland families with young people on track for college entry but not currently connected to broadband. Computer training and access can go far in spurring parental engagement in a student's post-high school academic career, Lindsey believes.

So far, so good, says the OneCommunity CEO. In its initial CYC data, 75 percent of parents surveyed used their home broadband connection to communicate with their child's teachers and administrators.

"We have to continue to ensure that people don't get left behind," says Lindsey.

 
SOURCE: Brett Lindsey
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Education is on the forefront of Cleveland's transformation plans. The city is aiming to reform its troubled school system as well as increase the number of youth attending and graduating from college.

Cleveland Public Library (CPL) had Cleveland's goals in mind when planning its African American History Month programming for this year. Throughout February, the library will offer a variety of education- and educator-focused programming, music and events at its main facility and branch locations. 

"We try to focus on topics that resonate with the community," says CPL programming director Aaron Mason. "Education is the topic of the day."

Featured programs and events include:

* A showcase of student-produced music and videos created by Cleveland’s youth through the efforts of Reading R.A.M.M. (Recording Arts Music Media) founder Edward “Phatty” Banks. The February 9 event at the main library is designed to connect area children with reading and education through use of pop-culture-style music and media.

* A performance by Ralph Miles Jones and Baba Issa Abramaleem, otherwise known as "The Seekers of Truth Revolutionary Ensemble." Jones is a multi-instrumentalist and recording artist from Oberlin College. Abramaleem is a composer, visual artist, playwright and percussionist-guitarist. The duo plays CPL's Rice Branch on February 15.

* A free screening of the documentary "PUSH: Madison vs. Madison" on February 22 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. branch. The film covers the trials of a talented but dysfunctional high school basketball team.

This year's round of African American History Month programming is meant to look ahead rather than back at history, notes Mason.

"The library should be a place of learning and engagement," he says. "It's about exposing people to new ideas."
 
 
SOURCE: Aaron Mason
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

The philosophy of the Public Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is that kindness to animals helps build a better world for all. If that's true, then Negative Space Gallery hopes to set the foundation for a happier planet with an upcoming PAWS charity event.

Negative Space and area band Second Hand Dogs will host the benefit for the nonprofit animal rescue group on February 16 at the gallery. PAWS' emphasis is placed on reform of current animal cruelty laws and adoption of dogs in need.

The event is particularly timely in light of two recent cases of animal cruelty that made headlines in Cleveland, notes Negative Space director Michael Kurtz. In November, a bull mastiff was shot and left for dead in a Cleveland Heights park. Late last month, a Labrador mix was killed with a bow and arrow in Old Brooklyn.

The Negative Space program offers a raffle to benefit PAWS, resource tables, adoption opportunities, and a guest appearance by "Forrest," the survivor of the Cleveland Heights attack.

"There are people whose animals mean more to them than anything in the world," says Kurtz, whose Collie-German Shepherd mix was rescued from a home with poor conditions. "Who can [shoot a dog] and sleep at night?"

Ohio is one of the states with the most lax animal cruelty laws, PAWS officials note. Seven bills dealing with animal cruelty were recently rejected in the 129th General Assembly. Raising funding and awareness for such an important issue is a pleasure for Kurtz.

"There should be public pressure to not allow this kind of behavior," he says.

 
SOURCE: Michael Kurtz
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Studio Fifty-One is a new wig boutique providing free wigs to any woman undergoing cancer treatment at the Cleveland Clinic that results in hair loss. Perhaps the greatest benefit the wigs provide is the sense of normalcy that goes AWOL while a patient is going through the healing process.

"The salon brings our patients comfort at a difficult time of their cancer journey," says Elizabeth Lindecke, director of The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative at the Clinic.

The initiative partially funds the boutique, which opened on January 24 at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center. Funding is also coming from Margaret Rose Giltinan, a breast cancer survivor who underwent treatment at the hospital. The synthetic and real hair wigs are provided by the American Cancer Society and Jeffrey Paul Salon.

Early response has been "wonderful," reports Lindecke. The salon gave out 15 wigs during its first day of operation. One woman arrived with an old photograph that displayed her pre-cancer hairdo.

"She asked, 'Will I ever see this girl again?'" says Lindecke. "We found a wig that approximated her old hairstyle, and she left feeling like a million bucks."

Since its opening, Studio Fifty-One has received numerous emails and phone calls from people interested in the program. While there are no toupees for male patients, Cleveland's professional sports teams have donated a variety of free hats and caps for them to don during treatment.

For further information on Studio Fifty-One, email studio51@ccf.org or call 216-445-6885.

 
SOURCE: Elizabeth Lindecke
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Arts and culture can define a community, creating a critical mass that translates into jobs, business opportunities and, ideally, sustained economic prosperity. These were the words of Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium Initiative (NEOSCC) director Hunter Morrison during a January 25 roundtable hosted by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC).

These also are words that CPAC president and CEO Tom Schorgl likes to hear. The focus of the roundtable event was sustainability, and how the arts and culture community can assist the region as it evolves through population and land use shifts. The local arts sector becoming engaged in these issues can help keep Northeast Ohio resilient, vibrant and sustainable, said Morrison, a notion that the CPAC president shares.

"We have cultural clusters throughout the region, and the ability to communicate on a larger basis with the population about those clusters," says Schorgl. "We need to continue to reach our audience."

The roundtable, which drew over 50 attendees to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's main gallery, was CPAC's first such event of the year. The nonprofit will sponsor similar forums through November, with an overall aim of connecting the arts and culture realm with professionals from sectors including community development and health and human services. Past roundtable speakers have included Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon, and City of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson.

"The idea is to provide a forum for new ideas around a common cause," Schorgl says.

 
SOURCE: Tom Schorgl
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Providence House has spread its arms just a little bit wider to Northeast Ohio abused and neglected children with the recent expansion of its facilities.

The Ohio City-based agency, which stands as the first crisis nursery in Ohio, renovated its current at W. 32nd Street and Lorain Avenue location and added 6,500 square feet of space, which combines the children’s shelter and services. As a result of its growth, Providence House will be able to serve an additional 125 at-risk children each year, notes executive director Natalie Leek-Nelson.

"All of our kids are moved over," Leek-Nelson says.

The expansion is the first part of a $2 million, three-phase project designed to allow the nonprofit agency to better serve Northeast Ohio families in crisis. Providence House has raised $2.3 million since launching its "Protect the Promise" campaign in spring 2011. Not only will the agency be able to provide more short-term housing for kids unsafe in their homes, it will also increase the ages of children served from newborn to six up to the age of 10.

"Now the older brothers and sisters in the same crises as their younger siblings will be helped," says Leek-Nelson. "We've created unique educational spaces with computers and academic resources so these kids can catch up on their schoolwork."

The second phase of the “Protect the Promise” capital campaign will include a new family center that will take over an existing building across the street from the expanded facility. The third and final phase involves construction of a 60,000-square-foot children and family campus.

 
SOURCE: Natalie Leek-Nelson
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Cleveland's Gordon Square Arts District (GSAD) is supported by a strong backbone of dedicated institutions, corporations, merchants, residents and philanthropists, says Judi Feniger, newly named executive director of the West Side arts enclave.

Feniger planned to spend this week meeting with these groups, and looks forward to continuing the relationships that will help make the district even stronger. "It's a dynamic area," says Feniger, successor to GSAD founding executive director Joy Roller, who earlier this month became president of Global Cleveland. "I need to get a sense of what's going on."

What's been happening in recent years is new loft housing, an enhanced Detroit Avenue streetscape, new retail and gallery ventures, and the renovation of the Cleveland Public Theatre complex and Capitol Theatre. The latest milestone occurred in November with the groundbreaking for the Near West Theatre’s first permanent performance venue.

"Gordon Square is a growing part of Cleveland that attracting young residents," says Feniger. "How can we take these great assets and show them to our community?"

The experienced arts and business leader plans to answer that question thanks to a philanthropy and arts background that includes leadership stints with the American Red Cross and most recently the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage.

"I've been to Gordon Square many times," Feniger says. "It will be exciting to build on the foundation and bring more activity and awareness to the things going on here."

The district's potent combination of housing, new businesses, the arts and neighborhood beautification is attracting national attention and drawing audiences and visitors from throughout the region, notes the new executive director.

"There are many great things to do in Cleveland," says Feniger. "Our challenge will be to get a share of people's time and mind."

 
SOURCE: Judi Feniger
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program designed for people of all ages and fitness levels. Jillian Neimeister and Tricia Tortoreti, owners of the recently opened Birdtown CrossFit in Lakewood, believe the program can empower the lives of Cleveland's teenagers in ways beyond physical prowess.

During a fundraising campaign to help purchase equipment for the gym, the pair promised to donate a one-year membership to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland for every $2,000 raised. The duo ended up raising $7,260 through their indieGOGO.com campaign, equating to three memberships for teens affiliated with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

"Our intention is to introduce teens to a larger community of people who are committed to health, and a network of Clevelanders who may encourage and support them," says Tortoreti, a "Big Sister" with the organization for the last five years.

"We're happy to engage a different audience around the benefits of mentoring," says Big Brothers Big Sisters president/CEO Gretchen Faro regarding the partnership. "Fitness is clearly a need for our community."

The business partners expect that participating teens will come to the gym with their Big Brother or Big Sister, but membership affords them use of all classes on offer. CrossFit is not a typical gym, relying more on jump ropes and barbells than elliptical machines and treadmills. The Cleveland-based CrossFit is located in the Lake Erie Building in Lakewood's Birdtown neighborhood.

Partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters was an easy call for Tortoreti. Her 14-year-old "Little" was eagerly searching for after-school activities that didn't involve video games or just hanging out with friends.

"CrossFit can do so much for you besides making you more fit," says Tortoreti. "We have a great community spirit here."
 

SOURCES: Jillian Neimeister, Tricia Tortoreti, Gretchen Faro
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

It's been more than three years since the bodies of 11 women were discovered on Imperial Avenue. The home of convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell has since been demolished, but the empty lot will soon see a memorial project thanks to a grassroots group that includes architect Kevin Robinette.

The motto of the Near West Family Network (NWFN) is "Stronger Families, Stronger Cleveland." Good schools are an important means of bringing those families into town, maintains the volunteer group's founders, hence the forthcoming Near West Cleveland PreK-8 School Fair.

The fair takes place February 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Ignatius High School. Sponsored by NWFN and advocacy group Ohio City, Inc., participants will get information about the private, charter, public and parochial schools found in Ohio City, Detroit Shoreway, Tremont and other Near West Side neighborhoods. School representatives will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.

"There will be a gamut of educational options available," says NWFN co-founder and Ohio City resident Norma Polanco-Boyd.

The mother of two daughters expects between 18 to 20 schools to be represented at the fair. "The goal goes back to the reason we started this organization [in November 2012,] says Polanco-Boyd. "We wanted to create a resource-based organization to retain families or attract them to these neighborhoods."

Along with the schools, Polanco-Boyd expects attendance from a handful of non-academic groups as well. These entities will provide yet another source of information for participating parents.

The NWFN website has a list of schools serving the Near West Side. Polanco-Boyd, a community affairs officer with a bank regulator, moved to Cleveland from Chicago with her husband, Joe. At the time, the couple didn't know anyone; Polanco-Boyd helped create NWFN for young families in similar straits.

The school fair is a critical to her group's mission, Polanco-Boyd believes.  "We want to grow Cleveland and help maintain its vibrancy," she says.
 
 
SOURCE: Norma Polanco-Boyd
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth