Author: sgreen

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress launched the Advancement & Resilience Initiative in 2023 to serve the central goal of our 2022-2027 strategic plan: ensure community development corporations (CDCs) have access to the financial resources, talent, industry expertise, and technical assistance they need to effectively serve their neighborhoods, continuously improve, and sustain operations over time.

The initiative has included a new, collaborative funding process for Cleveland’s CDCs built on trust and transparency. In their proposals for grant support, each nonprofit CDC shared its strengths, challenges, and greatest areas of concern. With this data, we created our Advancement & Resilience Initiative Year 1 report.

Supporting core functions of CDCs

In Fiscal Year 2025 (July 2024 through June 2025), CNP is investing $2.013 million in 17 CDCs, including seven nonprofits that are new to CNP’s highest level of grantmaking. Our financial and technical assistance to these CDCs is aligned with our CDC Advancement Model, which we developed during two years in partnership with CDC executive directors.

For the first time, the Advancement Model identified and defined six core functions of a CDC:

Our increased pool of funding for Fiscal Year 2025 grants to CDCs included support from The Cleveland Foundation; the George Gund Foundation; the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation; Enterprise Community Partners; Rocket Community Fund; and KeyBank Foundation.

New data to evolve our strategies

• 5,212 households engaged by Healthy Homes or code enforcement programs
• $2.3 million invested into home repairs through programs and partnerships
• 1,252 small businesses engaged for technical assistance
• $2.6 million distributed to small businesses 
• $47.1 million invested into public realm improvements, green spaces or tree canopies
• 136,000 non-residents engaged through marketing
• 466 community events produced or supported
• 103,000 print communications circulated

Key insights from the Year 1 baseline data are already informing our strategies for Year 2.

1. Community engagement capacities and strategies vary widely across the network. CNP will provide additional professional development and platforms for CDCs’ engagement activities.
2. The CDC network has weakness around primary and intermediate home repair. CNP will focus Year 2 investments and training on home repair staff.
3. Commercial real estate and neighborhood planning are present at few CDCs. CNP will increase CDCs’ access to commercial projects and planning support.
4. Main street development is a real estate issue more than a business attraction issue. CNP is attracting and administering funds for main street investments with CDCs through our Middle Neighborhoods Initiative and the City of Cleveland’s Southeast Side Promise.
5. Some CDCs are not trained in market analysis for neither housing nor commercial. CNP will provide analysis tools and training to supplement CDCs’ understanding of their local economies and housing conditions.

Explore more details of our initiative and the CDC network’s achievements and capacity in the Year 1 report below.

Download the ARI Year 1 report.

Today, the Board of Directors for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) unanimously endorsed two important issues in the November 5^th General Election: the new levy in support of Cleveland Metropolitan School District (Issue 49) and the renewed cigarette tax to support Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (Issue 55). CNP encourages voters to vote YES on both issues to support the revitalization of Cleveland’s neighborhoods. 

Members of the CNP Board of Directors and the organization’s President and CEO shared the following statements after today’s votes in favor of the issues: 

Teresa Metcalf Beasley, Chair of the Board of Directors: “Schools and the arts bring life to Cleveland neighborhoods, and our votes today demonstrate Cleveland Neighborhood Progress’s commitment to investing in the quality of life across all neighborhoods. As Board Members of the nonprofit dedicated to strengthening Cleveland neighborhoods and strengthening the CDCs that serve those neighborhoods, it is incumbent on us to declare our support for these issues.”  

Fred Bidwell, Board Member and Chair of CNP’s Policy and Advocacy Advisory Committee: “As a longtime advocate for the arts and neighborhoods, and with today’s unanimous votes from the CNP Board in support of these issue campaigns, I have confidence that voters will approve these measures in November. As a member of the Arts & Culture Action Committee and the Assembly for Action, I cannot overstate the importance of the arts to quality of life in Cleveland and to the economies of Cleveland neighborhoods. All these things – CDCs, the arts, and schools – bring our neighborhoods to life. We need to support them this November.”  

Tania Menesse, President and Chief Executive Officer: “To so many residents, their community is reflected in both the education their children receive in school and in the vibrancy of the arts around them. Our CDC partners rely on CMSD’s strong educational systems and supports to keep children safe, learning, and engaged throughout the year. And they rely on Cuyahoga Arts and Culture to provide funding for arts-based programming that otherwise wouldn’t be possible in their communities. That’s why endorsing both ballot issues was important for our Board and our broader community. I’m proud to work with a Board that understands how these issues impact CDCs and the neighborhoods they serve.”