What does the future for the 1976 Coventry School building look like? A new pilot program holds the key to finding out.

On the heels of Pride in the CLE, good news out of Gordon Square: after 20 years of operating out of a 5,000-square-foot basement at 6600 Detroit Ave., the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland is ready to move into a prominent, custom-designed and -built, and proud new home across the street at 6705 Detroit.
 

Are you passionate about the future of Cleveland? Are you plugged into the people, places, and projects shaping and transforming our city? Then you might be the perfect managing editor for FreshWater! We are looking for someone to join our team starting in July.

On Friday, June 7, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress will host its fifth annual Vibrant City Awards—where more than 600 people will gather at Euclid Beach Park to recognize 16 community leaders for their devotion and contributions to Cleveland's urban neighborhoods. The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and tickets are still available for the lakefront BBQ luncheon provided by Zack Bruell Events.
 

Fresh Water's monthly "Free Stamp" feature rounds up the freshest free events in Cleveland. Check out the June lineup here!

They say one never forgets how to ride a bike—and if the freewheeling folks taking part in Silver Spokes are any indication, it’s 100 percent true. 

If she could afford a car, Antaneshia Fletcher could drive to her job at Bloom Bakery in less than 20 minutes. Instead, she rises at 4:30 am every day so she can spend two hours taking the two bus routes necessary to travel from her home in Euclid to the store near the Cleveland State University campus by 6:30 am.

Though the 20^th-century heyday of Euclid Beach Park is long gone, vibrant remnants remain—from the carousel at the Cleveland History Center to the rocket cars roaming around Cleveland to the newly opened Humphrey’s Popcorn on E. 185th Street. Today, another ode to Euclid Beach joins their ranks with the official ribbon-cutting of the Euclid Beach Pier.

You’ve probably seen the mark of Graffiti HeArt all around Cleveland, whether you realized it or not. The nonprofit coordinates graffiti-style murals in the city’s private and public spaces, like the vibrant piece on the Stockyard Meats building in Detroit Shoreway and the “Welcome to Cleveland” painting that greets visitors to Ohio City. But with the opening of the Graffiti HeArt Gallery on May 31, the organization will welcome guests and artists to a permanent homebase.

“Welcome home,” the crowd cheered as retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Charlie Pepinrivera and his family saw their new home on Canterbury Road in Cleveland Heights for the first time on Saturday, May 18. The four-bedroom, 1,736-square-foot home was purchased and renovated by Citizens Bank, in partnership with Homes 4 Wounded Heroes, then donated to Pepinrivera and his family.

On a recent Thursday in April, Jenice Contreras walked in front of 32 investors, architects, and community development corporation reps to announce some long-awaited news. “It’s a perfect storm,” she announced to the group at the Greater Cleveland Partnership offices downtown. “It took three decades. But we no longer need three decades to make it happen. All the right elements are now in place.”

Cleveland has had its shares of ups and downs in the 223 years since Moses Cleaveland first set up shop, but many of the city’s homes and buildings have remained—largely due to those who have put forth tremendous efforts to preserve and restore the structures that form Cleveland’s unique history.

During a recent afternoon ceremony at the Halle Building, the mood was celebratory and inspiring as five local organizations received $5,000 grants in support of youth-geared initiatives. Even cooler? The benefactors are ambitious, civic-minded high school juniors and seniors who spent nine months serving on United Way of Greater Cleveland's John K. Mott Youth Fund Distribution Committee.

When Cleveland Asian Festival founders Lisa Wong, Johnny Wu, and Vi Huynh first started talking about celebrating Cleveland’s Asian community in 2010, they didn’t know what to expect. “Lisa threw out [the idea of] a big party,’” recalls Wayne Wong, the festival’s emcee and this year’s performance chair. “It wasn’t about any particular ethnicity—Chinese, Japanese, or Korean—but about the entire community and a celebration of Asian culture.”

Welcome to 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. This installment includes jobs from Five Lakes Professional Services, Neighborhood Leadership Development Program, Refugee Response, Cleveland Foundation, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation, and more. Click here for the freshest job opportunities fit to print.

While little remains of the original League Park, it ranks among America's top neighborhood baseball parks, and the memories of the iconic Cleveland landmark are still vivid in many people’s minds. Now those memories are coming back to life with a brand-new scale model and revitalization efforts for the surrounding neighborhood of Hough.

In many homes, Mother's Day means smiling children, fresh flowers, and homemade breakfast-in-bed. But for families facing loss, their mom might be a lifetime away. Yoga to Remember offers a remembrance event on Thursday, May 9, at St. John’s Episcopal Church to honor the memory of mothers—or any loved one—who is missed.