13 CDCs WIN A NEIGHBORHOOD SOLUTIONS AWARD
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress completed the fourth installment of its Neighborhood Solutions Award funding cycle in 2016. This year’s Neighborhood Solutions Awards focused on programs or projects that were ready to launch but in need of additional financial resources. Cleveland community development corporations (CDCs) were instructed to focus on neighborhood placemaking and security for this round of funding. Presentations were made by CDCs in October and the winning organizations were announced at the Progress Institute on November 3rd. Over $140,000 was awarded for the 2016 Neighborhood Solutions Awards. To access the list of recipients, please click here.
– PROGRAM UPDATES –
CDC ADVANCEMENT
Sold-Out Progress Institute hosted in Central Neighborhood
On Thursday November 3, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress hosted 200 community development professionals at its third annual Progress Institute. This day long symposium brought together the community development field for learning, connecting, and innovation with a focus on community development through the lens of equity, inclusion, and diversity. At this year’s event, the keynote address was delivered by Manuel Pastor, director of the University of Southern California’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity. He spoke on viewing community development through the lens of equity and inclusion. Also at the Progress Institute, guests attended capacity building workshops on topics such as Attracting and Developing Strong Board Leaders, Understanding Government Relations, Visionary Leadership, and Welcoming New Neighbors. They also participated in a lunchtime plenary and took walking tours of the Central neighborhood. Click here to see a slide show of the 2016 Progress Institute.
PLACEMAKING
Legacy at Saint Luke’s will provide new housing in Buckeye
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Zaremba Homes, and Buckeye Shaker Square Development Corp. hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for Legacy at Saint Luke’s in late October. The event took place at Britt Oval, across the street from the Cleveland Neighborhood Progress offices. Construction will begin in the spring for seventy-nine new homes. Home prices will start at $170,000 and feature 2-3 bedroom options, freestanding homes and townhomes, two-car garages, contemporary urban designs, well-lit, tree-lined streets, beautiful landscaping and outdoor patio spaces. The neighborhood is also just minutes away from University Circle and homes are eligible for the Greater Circle Living program.
We were honored to have Mayor Frank G. Jackson, State Senator Sandra Williams, State Representative Stephanie Howse, Nathan Zaremba, John Hopkins, and Tanya Menesse help us welcome in this new residential development. To learn more about these homes, click here.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Growing Equity in NEO: 2017 Year of Awareness Building
In Cleveland, the inhabitants of high-poverty, racially segregated neighborhoods struggle to survive in the face of desperate circumstances-diminished resources and opportunities, underperforming schools, deteriorating physical environments, crime, and the constant threat of violence. The conditions in which they live all but predict the negative outcomes that characterize most low-income neighborhoods. Though the immediate future may seem bleak, the need for empathy, thoughtful discourse, and a commitment to justice, has rarely been more urgent.
In January 2017, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and engaged partners will embark on a learning journey to increase our shared understanding of racial inequality, to foster productive dialogue among community stakeholders and civic leaders, and to determine strategies to meaningfully address racial disparities through community and economic development.
Please stay tuned for more information, training opportunities and additional programming. We hope you will join us in strengthening our community through this initiative. For more information, please contact Mordecai Cargill at mcargill@clevelandnp.org
– DATES TO NOTE –
Jan 1 – Happy New year!
Jan 5 – Organizers & Allies
Jan 16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Jan 18 – LiveCLEVELAND! Neighborhood Marketing Working Group
Jan 19,20 – Save the Date: Racial Equity training opportunity
Feb 2 – Organizers & Allies
Feb 7,8 – Save the Date: Racial Equity training opportunity
Feb 16,17– Strategic Investment Initiative: Finalists’ presentations
Feb 20 – President’s Day
Feb 22 – Accelerate 2017: Citizens Make Change
– STAFF SPOTLIGHT –
Aida Colon
Aida Colon is the Loan Portfolio and Program Administrator for Village Capital Corp., the lending subsidiary of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. She is a longtime resident of the Westown neighborhood in Cleveland. Aida feels her neighborhood offers a family oriented atmosphere where everyone knows each other and people look out for one another. She loves being close to all the shopping plazas, including Kamm’s Corners, Ridge Park Square and Steelyard Commons, and spending time with family at the Metroparks Nature Centers, the Children’s Museum, and most of all, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.