Fairfax
Fairfax - photo Bob Perkoski
The Fairfax neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland is home to a variety of famed Northeast Ohio institutions, not the least of which is Kamaru House, established in 1917 as the first interracial theater and/or arts center. Its “new” neighbor, the Cleveland Clinic, set up shop in 1920. Fairfax Renaissance Development Corp. aids the community through a variety of programs and initiatives. Recently, the organization has helped foster intergenerational housing for grandparents raising their grandchildren.
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.
Neighborhood disinvestment and quality housing are two of the top reasons why racism is considered a public health crisis. But residents in some Black Cleveland neighborhoods are investing time and effort to make their neighborhoods safe, bright, and beautiful.
There are many efforts are underway at farms, community gardens, markets, social service organizations, and public agencies to nourish communities like Cleveland—the nation’s poorest big city—where food deserts are common and healthy foods are not the cheapest, most affordable, or most accessible options.
In this second part of our two part series on affordable housing and racism, we look at the efforts the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, nonprofits, and neighborhood CDCs are making to improve affordable housing options and how to ensure safe and affordable housing is not discriminatory.
Affordable housing is one of the most critical basic needs of everyone. But Cleveland is lacking in affordable, quality housing, experts say, and the Black population is most impacted. While Cleveland and many neighborhood CDCs are working to improve affordable housing options, the need—especially in Black communities—is still great.
Cleveland Masterworks: Woodland Cemetery in the Central neighborhood is one of the city's earliest examples of the mid-19th Century garden cemeteries—rural landscaped areas that encourage visitors to linger. Woodland Cemetery hosts a large cross-section of Cleveland residents, political leaders, and people involved in about every controversy of the 19th Century.
DigitalC, the local nonprofit that is focused on connecting the unconnected, has expanded its high-speed internet connections in seven different Cleveland neighborhoods—including about 1,000 residents in four CMHA properties.
The Innovation Square project is set to bring a mixed-use, mixed-income district along the Opportunity Corridor on Cleveland’s southeast side. Along with the new Meijer grocery story, neighborhood residents, business owners, and officials see potential for Fairfax to become an emerging, thriving neighborhood.
Cleveland Restoration Society on June 8 will place at City Hall the second historical marker on the Cleveland Civil Rights Trail, honoring late Cleveland Mayor Carl B. Stokes.
Cleveland Masterworks: In the 1890s, aging Civil War veterans began to reflect on the sacrifices they made as young soldiers and wanted to honor the memory of their fallen comrades. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was built in 1894 on Public Square to honor the more than 9,000 Cuyahoga County soldiers who served in the Civil War.
The Cleveland Restoration Society has announced the next three markers on the African American Civil Rights Trail. Eventually, 10 historical markers will memorialize locations associated with Cleveland’s struggle for Civil Rights between 1954 and 1976.
Cleveland Masterworks: At the turn of the 20th Century, William Knox and John Elliot designed several unique commercial buildings in downtown Cleveland, as well as a Fairfax church.
Cleveland Masterworks: The only remnant of St. Agnes Church in the Hough neighborhood is the bell tower on a grassy plot of land, but the church's history is remarkable 100 years later.
Five community partners broke ground on a $52.8 million project in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood on Tuesday, Dec. 16—bringing a Meijer store, jobs, and apartments to the neighborhood and bolstering ongoing development efforts by Fairfax Renaissance Development.
Documentary filmmaker Carl Kiss enjoys telling the stories of how everyday Clevelanders and local business make Northeast Ohio a better place. Most recently, he capture Destiny Burns' story in his CLE Urban Winery documentary.
More than 40 years ago, the Buckeye Woodland Community Congress shut down the East Ohio Gas building, crashed an energy company board meeting, and disrupted a fancy lunch to get the executives of major utility companies to reduce heating costs for seniors and more. What can we learn from this history of activism?
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund last week awarded Karamu House $75,000 to restore the apartment where poet and playwright Langston Hughes once wrote.
Karamu House is about to complete the third and final phase of its renovations and return to live performances, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
With three effective vaccines available, progress is being made in the fight against COVID-19 and the number of cases in Ohio declining on a daily basis. The Cleveland Clinic is working hard to increase vaccinations and keep the COVID-19 cases on the decline with targeted programs to reach more people.
The Cleveland Bar Association recently hosted a panel discussion examining the historic and continued environmental justice concerns that have fueled ongoing health and wealth impacts in city neighborhoods.