The city of Cleveland is trying to stop an auction of 14 troubled apartment buildings near Shaker Square, in a historic district that’s a gateway to the eastern suburbs.
Mayor Justin Bibb is urging Fannie Mae – a government-sponsored mortgage giant – not to sell a foreclosure judgment to the highest bidder next month. Instead, the city wants the properties transferred to local nonprofits or to a local developer that neighbors trust. Read more at News 5.
Anne Dalzell and her husband, John, decided more than 30 years ago to build a life together in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood. For almost a decade, they’ve owned a home on a quiet street, about a one-mile walk from Lake Erie.
They’ve watched the house next door change hands several times. Then the property went vacant. And a local nonprofit stepped in, buying the almost century-old house and renovating it as part of a bid to raise property values, boost homeownership and price investors out of the market.
“It’s gonna be a multi-year approach,” said KC Petraitis, vice president of real estate for that nonprofit, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. “And it should be, right?” Read more at News 5.
The Ohio property tax reform group set up by Gov. Mike DeWine is racing toward a Sept. 30 deadline.
Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano and Edward Stockhausen from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress think abatements offer a familiar model that could be retooled to deliver targeted property tax relief.
The idea, known as Residential Stability Zones, is laid out in Ohio Senate Bill 42.
Eligible homeowners get a partial tax exemption equal to the increase in their home’s assessed value — essentially holding them harmless as their home value rises.
The key, Stockhausen said, is determining who’s eligible. Read more at Ohio Capital Journal.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
Education: Master’s degree in urban affairs, Cleveland State University Levin College; bachelor’s degree, UVA School of Commerce
What Guides My Decision Making: Will my decision improve outcomes over the long term even if it is uncomfortable right now? Do I feel confident enough in my decision that I can explain it publicly?
Favorite Quote: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
First Thing I Do When I Start My Day: Work out
What Motivates Me: Place matters — the zip code where a child is raised is the strongest determinant of their life outcomes, from health to education to wealth.
Most Important Leadership Quality: Integrity
Proudest Moment: The opening of the Van Aken District
Hobby/Passion: Cooking and traveling
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, a nonprofit community development group, is getting $500,000 in state funding for its ongoing initiative to improve homes and businesses in “middle neighborhoods,” which are neither wealthy nor poor but need investment to stave off a slow decline.
In Cleveland, examples of “middle neighborhoods” include Old Brooklyn, Kamm’s Corners, and Bellaire-Puritas, said Edward Stockhausen, senior vice president of advocacy and external relations for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. Read more at Cleveland.com.
More than 180 people in a federal program that helps low-income residents with disabilities pay rent are now at risk of eviction — a crisis local officials blame on the Trump administration’s last-minute decisions around funding key programs. Read full story here.
Get ready to unwind and relax at Shaker Square! Beginning this weekend, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) will host a regular series at Shaker Square to encourage folks to get out for some fun events that encourage community bonding and interaction—all free of charge. Read the full story.
Today, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) announced a $2 million investment in Cleveland’s community development corporations (CDCs) beginning July 1, 2025. The grants made to 17 CDCs make up the core of CNP’s CDC Advancement & Resilience Initiative, which expanded from 10 to 17 grantees in its first year, 2024. By maintaining both total investment and number of grantees for this second year, CNP is empowering these independent nonprofits to work in real estate, economic development, community engagement, neighborhood planning, marketing, and partnering.
“Our grantmaking is special because we take a collaborative and flexible approach with our CDC partners,” said Tania Menesse, President and CEO of CNP. “But it’s also more than just dollars. Through professional development, advocacy, and teamwork across neighborhood borders, we increase the capacity of CDCs to meet the needs of residents and neighborhoods.”
“Cleveland benefits from an impressive network of neighborhood-based nonprofits – but their impact doesn’t happen by chance. It requires the commitment of every staff member, every board leader, and every funding partner to sustain and grow this work.” said Ayonna Blue Donald, Vice Chair of CNP’s Board of Directors and chair of its CDC Advancement & Resilience Committee, which recommended the grant awards. “Lasting change comes from investing in the people and organizations rooted in community and driving the work every day.”
“CDCs are uniquely positioned to advance revitalization for the neighborhoods they serve,” said Jason Powers, CNP’s Senior Vice President of CDC Advancement and Resilience. “Through these investments, we build resilient organizations and position them to shepherd long-term improvements and growth.”
CNP leads as an advocate for improving the funding environment for local community development and is championing a sea change for CDCs’ operations in 2025. Since 2022, CNP has supported the policy now expressed in Cleveland City Council’s Ordinance 113-2025, which would create a new, more transparent program to fund CDCs’ neighborhood-based work. It will enable the City of Cleveland, the largest funder of CDCs, to hold CDCs accountable for their full range of programs through contracts with local dollars, instead of federal funds with ill-fitting restrictions and program limitations.
The advocacy and capacity-building work for CDCs builds upon CNP’s “Advancement Model,” co-created with CDCs from 2022 to 2023 to define the core functions of CDCs. CNP aligns its support with this Advancement Model to be responsive to CDCs’ priorities, and, in this second year of CNP’s initiative, grantmaking is focused on human capital and operations. Because most funders prioritize projects, CDCs requested intentional investment by CNP in the people and tools that make those projects happen.
The pool of funding for the $2 million investment includes support from The Cleveland Foundation; the George Gund Foundation; the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation; Enterprise Community Partners; KeyBank Foundation; Rocket Community Fund; and others. The majority of the investment, 58%, supports Cleveland’s most disinvested neighborhoods through their CDCs.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress will celebrate its work with CDC partners during its Annual Meeting & Awards, which will be Thursday, July 10, from 4 to 7 P.M., at the Slovenian National Home in St. Clair Superior. All are welcome to enjoy the presentation and local food and artistry. Tickets are available at clevelandnp.org.
Continuing its commitment to transparency, CNP provides the following list of CDC Advancement & Resilience Initiative grantees and investments for the fiscal year of July 2025 through June 2026.
| NuPoint Community Development Organization | $168,500 |
| Famicos Foundation | $157,000 |
| Metro West Community Development Organization | $142,500 |
| MidTown Cleveland, Inc. | $140,000 |
| Slavic Village Development | $135,000 |
| Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. | $125,000 |
| St. Clair Superior Development Corporation | $125,000 |
| Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation | $113,500 |
| Northwest Neighborhoods CDC | $111,000 |
| Greater Collinwood Development Corporation | $100,000 |
| Tremont West Development Corporation | $95,000 |
| Jefferson-Puritas West Park Community Development Corporation | $80,000 |
| West Park Kamm’s Neighborhood Development Corporation | $80,000 |
| Westown Community Development Corporation | $67,813 |
| Ohio City Incorporated | $65,000 |
| Little Italy Redevelopment Corporation | $35,000 |
| Harvard Community Services Center | $20,000 |
| Capacity and achievement evaluations | $195,000 |
| Board development program | $44,687 |
| Operations | $986,500 |
| Community Engagement | $472,313 |
| Marketing | $327,500 |
| Development | $124,000 |
| Planning | $35,000 |
In the fall of 2025, CNP will work with CDCs again to complete organizational evaluations for the third year of the CDC Advancement & Resilience Initiative.
In addition to CDC advancement, CNP’s revitalization work in neighborhoods includes lending through its Village Capital Corporation and real estate development through its New Village Corporation. To learn more, visit clevelandnp.org.
Cleveland has struggled with population loss but is finally seeing year-to-year growth, according to the most recent estimates.
“It’s no surprise to us that Cleveland is showing growth now,” Senior VP of Advocacy and External Relations for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Edward Stockhausen said. “The estimates from the Census reflect something that we know. If you are spending time in Cleveland neighborhoods, these are quality places to live.” Read and watch the full story here.
New businesses are popping up in Shaker Square. Developers don’t want to lose the momentum, which is why they are pushing to fill the remaining vacant spaces in the square.
Rey Galindo and his nephew Jorge Sierra Galindo are back in business in Shaker Square. The former owners of Luchita’s, a long-standing Mexican restaurant in Shaker Square, are opening a restaurant in early June. Different from Luchita’s and under a new name called Coyoacan Taqueria & Brew. Read and watch the full story.