Mount Pleasant
On the southeast side of Cleveland, Mount Pleasant was
founded with a diverse population of residents, include Black families, Italians,
Germans, and Eastern Europeans. The neighborhood was celebrated for its solid homes
with large front porches, plenty of towering maple trees, and a strong sense of
community harmony. Like Union Miles, the neighborhood has a history of successful
resident-owned businesses. While many homeowners have struggled to maintain stately
homes after the housing crisis and financial hardship. In 2023, Union Miles
Development Corporation began also overseeing the Mount Pleasant neighborhood—uniting
the two in a vision for renaissance and revival.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In early April, the City of Cleveland, Enterprise Community Partners, Cuyahoga Land Bank, CHN Housing Partners, Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless united with Rocket Community Fund to unveil the Make It Home Cleveland program. Aiming to address tax foreclosure and improve Black homeownership rates in East Side neighborhoods, the initiative offers renters the chance to become homeowners through financial support and housing stability services.
FreshWater managing photographer Bob Perkoski provides a peek into the everyday lives of Clevelanders going about their business in the neighborhoods and on the streets of Cleveland.
Union Miles Development Corporation is adding the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood to its footprint—thanks in part to grants from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and St. Luke's Foundation. Union Miles CDC executive director Roshawn Samples has big goals for revitalizing Cleveland's southeast side and restoring the pride and investment in the neighborhood where she grew up.
Working with RTA, artist Kevin "mr. soul" Harp, and the City of Cleveland, the Union Miles Development Corporation installed six bus stop wraps featuring historic figures to enliven the neighborhood.
Northeast Ohio arts and culture organizations are fostering a love for growing food, working in the garden, and teaching others. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture is helping with its 2023 project support grants.
Cleveland City Council passed an ordinance on Monday to provide $5 million in ARPA funds to Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. The funds will be used to build and rehabilitate homes in underserved neighborhoods under Habitat's five-year strategic plan.
Neighborhood advocacy group Clean and Beautiful Cleveland Block2Block is on a mission to clean up Cleveland neighborhoods, one street at a time. On June 3, the group will be in Mount Pleasant, picking up litter and planting flowers. Volunteers are needed!
Too many Clevelanders, especially those living in the city's predominantly Black and underserved neighborhoods, struggle to make ends meet as a result of unemployment and underemployment. Many area organizations are working hard to meet the needs of people. Three Cleveland organizations are taking grassroots, creative approaches to supplying basic resources.
Dozens gathered last week in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood to dedicate a mural that celebrates the life and accomplishments of environmental activist and community leader Jaqueline Gillon.
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