PRESS RELEASE issued September 19, 2018:
(CLEVELAND, OH) Enterprise Community Partners, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, and Mt. Pleasant Now Development Corporation are hosting a new interactive exhibit exploring the history of race, class and U.S. housing policy, and how this legacy continues to shape the city of Cleveland and its neighborhoods. Undesign the Redline connects discriminatory federal policies and practices from the 1930s to political and social issues of today through the powerful narratives of the people and communities most affected by the legacy of redlining.
Created by social impact firm Designing the We, the interactive exhibit uses maps and other documentation to trace the enormous role that race played in determining where people were allowed to live, and how government policy, known as “redlining,” created segregation and disinvestment in communities that continue to persist to this day. Undesign the Redline seeks to inspire a new conversation about how we can “undesign” these systems with intentionality and urgency, and influence the pathways that lead to better outcomes in communities.
The Undesign the Redline exhibit will launch publicly this Friday, September 21st, 2018. A launch event is being hosted from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at Mt. Pleasant Now Development Corporation (13815 Kinsman Road, Cleveland, OH 44120). To register for the public launch event, please visit www.bit.ly/UndesignTheRedlineCleveland (case sensitive).
Mark McDermott, Enterprise Community Partners Vice President and Ohio Market Leader, states, “Undesign the Redline is a powerful way to engage with history, examine how racist policies from decades ago still impact our communities today, and to inspire action toward creating communities of equal opportunity that promote health and well-being for all.”
As a community development intermediary, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress provides operational funding to CDCs and also provides training and capacity building programs. Since January 2017, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress has led a citywide effort to build an inclusive, interdisciplinary coalition of civic stakeholders, community development practitioners, and grassroots leaders committed to advancing Racial Equity & Inclusion.
Neighborhood Progress President & CEO, Joel Ratner, notes, “This exhibit is an extension of our Racial Equity and Inclusion efforts. We are honored to bring this to Cleveland and look forward to continuing to engage partners in this work.”
Beginning September 24th, the exhibit will be on display at Mt. Pleasant Now Development Corporation and is open to the public between 9:00am and 8:00pm, Monday through Friday. Attendees may choose to engage in a self-guided manner with the exhibit or, for a more in-depth experience, may opt to be part of a group tour. Tour guides will be available on-site beginning on Monday, September 24th and can provide tours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 10:00am – 12:00pm, 1:00pm – 3:00pm, and 4:00pm – 6:00pm. For more information, please visit http://www.clevelandnp.org/undesigntheredline/.
Nicholas Perry, Executive Director of Mt. Pleasant Now Development Corporation, explained, “This exhibit is a diagnosis that helps us understand the root cause of many of the issues confronted in neighborhoods like Mt. Pleasant today. With this understanding we can better develop strategies that help revitalize our community.”
To schedule a private tour of the exhibit or hold a meeting or program in the space, please contact Devonta Dickey at DDickey@ClevelandNP.org or by phone at 216.453.0487.
About Enterprise Community Partners Inc. and Enterprise Green Communities
Enterprise is a proven and powerful nonprofit that improves communities and people’s lives by making well-designed homes affordable. We bring together the nationwide know-how, partners, policy leadership and investments to multiply the impact of local affordable housing development. Over 35 years, Enterprise has created nearly 529,000 homes, invested $36 billion and touched millions of lives. Since 2004, Enterprise has led the effort through Enterprise Green Communities to integrate green practices into the affordable housing development sector, investing $3.9 billion to create or preserve more than 127,000 green, healthy homes while transforming policies at the state, local and national level.
For more information on Enterprise Community Partners, please visit www.EnterpriseCommunity.org
About Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
Neighborhood Progress is a local community development funding intermediary with thirty years of experience investing in community revitalization work in the city of Cleveland. It serves a unique function as the only local intermediary in the region and is proud to be nationally highlighted as a leader for engaging in best practices in various facets of nonprofit programming. The Board and staff strive to lead industry partners on new and existing initiatives to improve the quality of Cleveland’s neighborhoods and the quality of life for Cleveland’s residents.
About Mt. Pleasant Now Development Corporation
The mission of Mt. Pleasant Now Development Corporation is to develop and implement programs, projects and initiatives that benefit residents and businesses primarily in the Mt. Pleasant community in order to revitalize, stabilize and make Mt. Pleasant a desirable neighborhood.
For more information on Mt. Pleasant Now Development Corporation, please visit www.mtpleasantnow.org