Stories

Government officials, nonprofit representatives, and environmental leaders gathered at the Cuyahoga Tree Symposium to discuss the status and stakes of the region’s tree canopy coverage.

When Cleveland paused its recycling program, Old Brooklyn Recycles stepped up with an alternative program. Now that the city has resumed recycling service, OBR continues to work towards sustainability.

Business incubator Central Kitchen is adding new “ghost kitchens” and retail options to its Carnegie Ave. Food Hub, expanding the menu of services it offers to up-and-coming food entrepreneurs.

With demand rising for help with depression, anger, suicidal urges, and many other behavioral problems, The Centers fills a gap in services with two urgent cares focused on mental health.

Cleveland has spent over $7 million on surveillance cameras, but doesn’t share where the cameras are or how they’re used. The city cites citizen safety as a reason for shielding information, but has no policies on use of surveillance technology.

Doan Brook, which runs from eastern Shaker Heights through Cleveland to Lake Erie, is an urban stream facing challenges of pollution and flooding from excess stormwater.  The nonprofit Doan Brook Watershed Partnership works to support the stream’s health and preservation and invite citizens to get to know and enjoy the waterway.

City leaders want federal oversight to end, but the monitor appointed under a 2015 consent decree says Cleveland police are not compliant in “significant and critical areas.”

Crystal M.C. Davis of Alliance for the Great Lakes advocates for strong action from Cuyahoga County’s next chief executive to ensure that clean, safe, affordable drinking water is available to all.

Clevelanders Mariely Luengo and Marcia Moreno have founded the Hispanic Heritage Hub, a website that lists events for Hispanic Heritage Month and also aims to be a comprehensive year-round guide to local Hispanic vendors, speakers, and other business people.

Since their local Dave’s Market closed in April, a free shuttle takes North Collinwood shoppers to its Euclid location. As the property remains vacant, residents of this food desert give feedback on the shuttle service.

Cleveland Muny League Football, a Cleveland-sponsored summer sports program serving more than 3,000 kids, has received its first funding increase in decades as Mayor Bibb made the 76-year-old program part of his comprehensive violence prevention strategy.

In the second of four events, entrepreneurs gathered at FirstEnergy Stadium on Wednesday for networking, workshops, and panel discussions with other entrepreneurs and mentors.

Cleveland’s police force remains under federal oversight mandated by a 2015 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. Consent decrees force cities to change abusive police tactics. But Cleveland still has work to do.

As the November 2022 elections approach, volunteers from many organizations are expanding registration efforts around the area, trying to bulk up Cleveland’s already strong registration rolls and bolster weak turnouts. They’re helping people fill out registration cards and absentee ballot applications at schools, festivals, outdoor shows, jails, homeless campsites, and elsewhere.

Under the H2Ohio program, the state of Ohio sent the city of Cleveland $500,000 to replace all lead water service lines to licensed child care centers. That work is now complete, but work on interior lead plumbing remains to be done.

A former community garden has expanded and evolved into Good Earth Urban Farm under the ownership of Norm and Jeanette Toms, whose farm provides both community and affordable fresh produce.

On a sticky but sunny late summer day, The Land joined in the festivities at the 76th annual One World Day on August 28, 2022. The festival, which courses through the Glenville neighborhood via Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from Lake Erie and University Circle, is hosted by the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation.

For decades, Hough resident Louis McCoy has hosted an unusual birthday party for himself: a festive gathering of hundreds that has become a celebration of the community itself.

Faced with declining membership but devoted to local outreach, the Archwood UCC congregation has entered a mutually beneficial partnership with the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center.

The Edna House for Women provides recovery services and housing to women struggling with alcoholism and substance use disorder. After noting that many women needed longer-term residential services, Edna House undertook and completed a $1.25 million expansion and renovation.