Author
Christopher Johnston
Christopher's Latest Articles
$1.25 million Edna House expansion fills recovery gap, adds long-term housing
Land conservancy wants to clean up vacant lots littering the city
There are more than 30,000 vacant lots in the city of Cleveland, many of them frequent targets of illegal dumping. A local nonprofit is trying to clean them up and help the city reclaim the title, “The Forest City.”
How can Cleveland’s nonprofits improve access to healthy food?
Rite Aid Healthy Futures is supporting three Cleveland food access programs: the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, The FARE Project, and Food Strong. With nearly 14 percent of Cuyahoga County food insecure, these efforts are fighting hunger in our area.
Cleveland working to promote convenient access to healthy foods in neighborhoods
A new Meijer grocery store on East 105th Street, a dollar store that sells groceries, and a program to bring fresh foods to corner stores are all part of the city’s efforts to bring healthy food to its neighborhoods.
Peer supporters transforming behavioral health care in Northeast Ohio
Peer supporters provide behavioral health care to people struggling with issues that they themselves have struggled with. That shared lived experience makes this approach effective, advocates say, and several Northeast Ohio service providers agree.
Neighborhood Family Practice builds trust to vaccinate near west side’s marginalized communities
Neighborhood Family Practice was born out of the need for primary healthcare on the near west side. Now, the trust they built there is helping them vaccinate the area’s marginalized communities.
HIP-Cuyahoga takes on health disparities in the community
For many years, marginalized Cuyahoga County residents have experienced significant health inequities. Many of them are a direct result of racial segregation, particularly of anti-Black racism, but other impoverished individuals and people of color within the community suffer these inequities, as well. Since 2015, Health Improvement Plan or HIP-Cuyahoga has been working with multiple community partners to resolve those challenges via direct action and collaboration throughout the county.
Nonprofit gives Cuyahoga County residents A Vision of Change
Delores Collins, a certified Community Health Worker, founded the Cleveland nonprofit A Vision of Change (AVOC) about two years ago. Since then, AVOC has provided more than 15,000 masks, 5,000 bottles of sanitizer, and approximately 3,500 boxes of food, along with diapers, cleaning supplies, soap, candles, and other items to citizens who need them.
Cleveland-area theaters take up social justice mantle in 2021-22 season
Cleveland theaters are finally emerging from a long, dark period of closure. They’re not done with the pandemic, however. Their play selections for the coming 2021-2022 season reflect continued awareness of such lingering ills as systemic racism, police violence, and wrongful incarceration.
