Cleveland Masterworks: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, organized by Cleveland's Slovak immigrant community in 1903, constructed two churches in its 90 years as a thriving congregation. Abandoned in 1992, the decayed symbol of better times was demolished last week.

Neighborhood Connections announced this week that it has approved $382,114 in grants to support 121 projects in Cleveland and East Cleveland. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture will co-fund 27 of the resident-led arts and culture projects. Read about what community groups are doing with the funding to improve our neighborhoods.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History paleoanthropologist and assistant curator of human origins Dr. Emma Finestone in April was awarded the Robert J. and Linnet E. Fritz Endowed Chair of Human Origins. The position was part of a $3 million gift from Robert and Linnet Fritz toward the museum's Transforming the World Of Discovery campaign. Finestone was part of a group who, in Nyayanga, Kenya, discovered some of the oldest stone tools ever found.

While decluttering her basement, teacher, artist, and retired bass player Juliana Sadock Savino came across some items that inspired her to create some impromptu public art installations on the grounds of the decaying former Westinghouse Electric factory on Ashland Road.

Greater Cleveland Partnership’s (GCP) Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) announced yesterday, Tuesday, July 9, that 21 businesses will advance to the semifinals in season seven of Cleveland Chain Reaction, a neighborhood economic development project and small business pitch competition. Find out who made the cut!

The Mandel Foundation's Neighborhood Leadership Development Program (NLDP) has been producing neighborhood leaders since 2006. The younger Community Development Corporation Leadership Program (CDCLP) successfully empowers CDC leaders to create positive change in the communities they represent. Both programs are now looking for the next cohort of community leaders.

The Saint Luke's Foundation, The City Club of Cleveland, Bike Your Neighborhood Cleveland, and the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival will present a free film screening of “Bike Vessel” this Friday, with a community bike ride with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb on Saturday, to raise awareness, spark inspiration, conversation, and promote health equity through cycling.

Seeds of Literacy, which helps 1,500 adults each year on their path to earning their high school equivalency, was recently awarded a $25,000 Spectrum Digital Education grant to expand its virtual classroom, hire additional tutors, and buy equipment to serve adults in literacy needs and earning their GEDs.

Oberlin Conservatory of Music rising senior Damian Goggans and musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra will perform the works of forgotten Clevelander, 19th Century composer Justin Holland, at Lake View Cemetery's Classically Lake View chamber music concert series on Sunday, July 7.

This Thursday, June 27, Literary Cleveland will release its new print anthology of poems, stories, and essays written by Cleveland teens experiencing homelessness. The anthology was created and curated by artist RA Washington under his Amplify Fellowship. The free launch party will be held at Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry's 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter.

Earlier this month, the Saint Luke’s Foundation’s 10-member Resident Advancement Committee (RAC) awarded $40,257 in grants to seven organizations operating in the St. Luke’s footprint. The investments address social determinants of health—including educational attainment, financial stability, healthy eating and active living, safe and affordable housing, social connections—to help strengthen the four neighborhoods.

Applications are now open for the seventh season of Cleveland Chain Reaction, the small business pitch competition to help entrepreneurs build their businesses in Cleveland neighborhoods, hosted by Greater Cleveland Partnership’s COSE. Freshwater talks to last year's winner, Saidah Farrell, who shares her tips for pitching Marshmallow of the Month Club. Find out how you can apply and take your small business to the next level!

The Saint Luke's Foundation announced this week that it has granted more the $1.4 million in grants to 11 area organizations that are working toward strengthening Cleveland neighborhoods.

Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School students who are interested in maritime careers were on the Cuyahoga River and Inner Harbor last week, helping the Port of Cleveland and Argonaut clean debris out of the Cuyahoga River and the Inner Harbor.

Clean and Beautiful Cleveland Block 2 Block will hold its second annual Beautify Mt. Pleasant event this weekend, when volunteers will pick up litter, clean up the neighborhood, and tend to the flower beds that were installed last year on tree lawns along Kinsman Road between E. 131st and E. 154th Streets.

Maddie Cantrell a painting major and rising senior at the Cleveland Institute of Art, lost both of her grandparents suddenly. This week, she opens her exhibit "Living with Grief” at Hospice of the Western Reserve's bereavement center as part of a project through the CIA Creativity Works—a self-initiated internship for visual art and craft + design majors designed to support professional development.

Now in its seventh year of friendly competition, The Big Clean between volunteers in the City of Euclid and the Collinwood neighborhood spent last Saturday picking up trash and debris in a massive spring cleaning. Read on to find out which community won and how much total trash was collected.

As part of its ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and community engagement, MCPC will be holding its fourth annual E-Recycling event in partnership with Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Cleveland Zoological Society this Friday at the Zoo. People can bring their electronics to the event for safe and environmentally-responsible recycling, while also helping the Metroparks Zoo's gorilla conservation fund.

Need a job? Check out the latest edition of FreshWater Cleveland's “Who’s Hiring” series, where we feature growing companies with open positions, what they’re looking for, and how to apply.

The last time Cleveland experienced a full eclipse of the sun was June 16, 1806. While there are apparently no first-person accounts of the event, Western Reserve Historical Society historian John Grabowski shares his insights.