Lindsay Marissa Osborne traveled the world to find the good in other people and cultures for her Small World Project.

A lot has happened this year in Cleveland. From new businesses to innovative ideas,  Fresh Water looks back at the top 10 stories of 2015.

It's the season of giving, but these organizations need folks to give all year long.

Business has been booming at Geiger’s since the sporting goods retailer opened its third location downtown last month. “Things have been going really well,” says co-owner Gordon Geiger. “We’re quite pleased with the traffic and the acceptance of the store.”
 
Geiger admits there has been a learning curve to running the store in a downtown environment, as opposed to its Chagrin Falls and Lakewood locations, but the owners have consulted with the owners of neighboring Heinen’s about how to adapt.
 
Then, in a brainstorming session, Geiger’s management came up with an idea that not only returns to the era of personalized service during the holidays, it saves time for busy downtown residents and shoppers.

Geiger’s will offer personalized shopping for its customers during the holiday season.
 
“You have to be a good listener and trust your instincts,” says Geiger of his consultation with Tom and Jeff Heinen on the new store. “We realized the solution of personalized service could be of some value to our downtown clientele.”
 
Geiger says the idea came out of brainstorming session in which that staff were recalling the days at department stores like Bonwit Teller and Halle’s department stores. “Those were the heydays of retail,” says Geiger. “It was a high level of service era, one which we hope will be once again.”
 
Shoppers can call (216) 755-4500 to make an appointment and share their gift lists. A personal shopper will then bring a selection of gifts for everyone on the customer’s list. Customers can enjoy a coffee or another beverage while relaxing.
 
“If they don’t know what they want to get, we can make some nice suggestions,” says Geiger. “In the 11^th hour there may be some interest in this sort of thing for last minute shoppers.”
 
Customers can make appointments during business hours, but after-hours exceptions can be made. The service includes free gift wrapping.
 
The service runs through Sunday, Dec. 20. Geiger says they may extend the service year-round if there’s demand for it.

Inmates from the Lorain Correctional Institution and CWRU students come together in a course aimed at tackling racism, oppression and the implication of mass incarceration.

Making Our Own Space summer project ends with satisfaction and life lessons for area teens.

Partially abandoned, Cleveland Heights' Severance Town Center sits in foreclosure with no plans for redevelopment of the property. Residents have some ideas on what should be done.

The concept of saving compostable food from landfills, and instead putting it to good use, is a notion that is starting to catch on in Northeast Ohio.

In 2009, Cleveland City Council updated its non-discrimination law to include transgender people. Then council added an amendment.

 But there was a problem with the wording, activists in the transgender community say. Council added an amendment to the law stating that employers and places of public accommodations could tell a transgender individual which restroom – men’s or women’s -- they could or could not use,  instead of leaving that decision open to whichever sex he or she identifies with.

“You don’t often see discriminatory language in a non-discrimination law,” says Jacob Nash, co-chair of Cleveland is Ready, the group working on ordinance 1446-13, which would change the wording in the current ordinance.

“What removal of this piece would do is make it safer for transgender people,” explains Nash. “It’s not safe right now – telling a transgender woman to go into the men’s restroom. I know women who have been attacked or cornered or raped because that’s where they were told they needed to go.”

While some members of the transgender community are open, or “out,” others are not, Nash explains. Either way the situation can be humiliating. He tells of a transgender woman who was made to use the men’s room while a police officer stood guard outside the door.

“That’s ridiculous,” Nash says. “To have someone literally policing the restroom?”

Diane Dierker is also campaigning for 1446-13. “I’m a transgender woman, so this is of great concern to me, especially because now I’m a Cleveland resident,” she says. “Who is better able to determine who should use which bathroom than the person who has to go?”

Dierker’s employer allows her to use whichever bathroom she identifies with and she has never personally been harassed. “But I think about it every time I’m in a public place and have to go to the bathroom,” she admits, adding she does know people who have been harassed or even arrested.

Dierker points out that transgender people are not looking to do anything malicious. “Transgender people are in the bathroom for one purpose – to go to the bathroom,” she says. 

Nash says Cleveland is Ready has gotten support from some city council members, but so far ordinance 1446-13 has not gone to a vote. Nash says they are hopeful it will be heard by the end of the year.