Set back on E. 185th St. in the Collinwood neighborhood, Marlene Gatewood-Allen’s family’s building looks fairly nondescript from the street. Inside, though, the former F.O.E fraternal hall is a hive of activity. There’s hospitality, with Marlene providing a rentable full-service catered social venue for up to 50 guests. There’s karaoke, social hours, and shows open to the neighborhood. There are pop-up flea markets and community festivals in the front parking lot.
“It’s how we live as African Americans, sharing our home and life; that’s why it’s Gatewood Home/Share,” explains Marlene, wiping her hands after straightening up at Gatewood Home/Share, which the family describes as “community-focused support and event services.”
The Home/Share has a rich history that dates back to the 2000s and Marlene’s son’s idea of opening GamerHaven, a creative coworking space in the now-demolished LaSalle Tavern on E. 185th St. After a costly renovation fell through, Robert Gatewood joined forces with his parents and took on the lease of a struggling coffee shop across the street. The resulting businesses, GamerHaven and the Allen Wine Bar, operated until street construction projects forced them to close in 2020.
Since 2020, the Gatewood family has owned their own space at 532 E. 185th and has expanded their business offerings with the Gatewood Home/Share, which offers flexible space for gatherings as well as co-working space. Marlene does the event planning and hospitality, her husband Don cooks and handles construction and renovations, and Robert does the marketing and manages the basement coworking, tech, and maker space.
Finding a just-right location
Finding the right place to take root took years, though the family never looked outside Collinwood.
“We looked at the old Slovenian Home (on Waterloo), Fanny’s (formerly on E. 156th), even at our current building once before,” said Marlene. “All we saw was the asphalt out front and turned around. But now, we like the asphalt. We’re turning it into a weekly market park and have plans for a night market.”
Inside, the Home/Share feels relaxed. It’s not sterile and characterless, like many community centers and rental spaces. Just walking inside, you can picture music pumping from the speakers on stage, the dance floor crowded with people, and drinks flowing at the bar.
“We make people feel like home here,” said Marlene.
All of this is by design, as the trio have worked hard to create an open, flexible space that can easily be reconfigured into a medium-sized event hall, board meeting space, or birthday party setup. Outside, in addition to paved event and market space out front, the rear of the property has a deck and an urban garden.
The family’s entrepreneurial journey started in 2017, when Marlene’s employer wanted to move her and her family to Chicago. Instead, she decided to stay put and “took a leap of faith and became an entrepreneur.” Her background in event planning and hospitality, as well as her love of Collinwood, became the inspiration for what eventually became Gatewood Home/Share.
“Over the years, I’ve given tons of parties and by the end of the party, I was sleeping in a chair, hadn’t gotten anything to eat, I was tired,” she said. “People with large families tend to do that. That’s why we built an all-inclusive service for anything – repast, birthday party, baby shower, whatever it is.”
Gatewood Home/Share’s services include setting up the space, serving food (guests can use their own caterer or Marlene can do it), and cleaning up afterwards. The team also has the capacity to handle invitations and photography. Marlene’s famous-in-the-neighborhood artichoke dip is part of what keeps people coming back, she said. Individual memberships are available starting at $50 per month, which includes access to the coworking space, free wi-fi and coffee/tea/water, and discounts and passes for food and beverages every month.
Supporting local business owners
Marlene said the family enjoys helping other entrepreneurs along their journeys. Her experiences, along with Robert’s background in graphic design, gaming, and tech, have become a way for them to help other business owners. “We walk them through the steps we took on our way,” she said. “We’ve evolved into a community resource.”
Robert’s role at Gatewood Home/Share is the tech and entrepreneurial side of the business. For $50, anyone with a business idea can walk in and gain access to the co-working space three days a week for a month, along with services that are designed to help them succeed. The basement offices offer creative tools such as Adobe Creative, a vinyl cutter, and screen printing. There’s also a full kitchen and bar, and the large space seats up to 25 people. Robert also offers packages for design consulting through his company, Master Collective.
“We provide space and access to resources fast enough that you can fail without it killing you,” said Robert, adding that he works to connect local business owners with potential sources of funding or mentoring. “That’s one of the things that stops entrepreneurs or small businesses from ever having a chance. If you leverage your entire life savings to start a business the first time and it doesn’t go well, which most businesses don’t, you’re dead in the water before you even start.”
When League of Women Voters activist and Buckeye-Shaker Square resident Michelle Jackson was scrambling to find a space for a civic engagement forum before the 2021 Cleveland Council elections, she landed at the Gatewood Home/Share at the last minute after two other spaces fell through right before the event.
“Marlene was so lovely, so accommodating. Once you get in, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m in somebody’s home,’” said Jackson. “This space is very different than any coworking/meeting space I’ve ever been in. Usually they’re very modern and techy, even sterile, but here, there’s a great vibe. Marlene advised us how to set up and had all of the tables, chairs, and stage ready, as well as the needed technical support. Oh, and she gave us the most amazing spread of food and her price point was fantastic for total turnkey service.”
Musician and entrepreneur Donnie Lynee held several concerts at Gatewood Home/Share. “It’s always been excellent customer service, excellent food,” she said, also throwing in a plug for Marlene’s artichoke dip. “The whole place definitely feels like community, it feels like family.”
Community connections
It’s not only entrepreneurs who benefit from the co-working space and its resources, Robert says. He also teaches design and computer coding classes for kids. At Gatewood Home/Share, kids and young adults come in for workshops to learn software and advanced computer skills to gain a foothold in industries that might be hiring creatives.
Outside their doors, construction on a new E. 185th St. streetscape continues, and the work poses a challenge for local businesses that rely on drive-by and walk-in traffic. Some have closed in recent years, and vacancies are high, but Robert remains hopeful.
“The neighborhood is headed in the right direction,” he said. To help move the needle, Gatewood Home/Share offers a range of neighborhood programs.
“We know our poverty rate is high, we know some of our neighbors can’t read well, and we know how difficult it is,” said Robert, adding that there’s nothing else in the Collinwood area like what the family is offering. (The neighborbood’s poverty rate is higher than the city’s overall rate, according to the Center for Community Solutions.) “Location matters. The positioning matters, as does the fact that we’re from here (Collinwood),” he said. “We’ve been here, whatever happens, we’ll still be here.”
Funding the future of Gatewood Home/Share
Marlene said her team often sees repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals as a result of their dedication to building trust and relationships with the people they serve, yet financing the business has proved a challenge. The lending arm of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Village Capital, helped them acquire the building, and CNP has provided grants and business education, Robert said. In addition to that, most revenue comes from events and neighborhood support.
Robert said crowdfunding appeals have also generated some support from the neighborhood. In 2019, the family won the local Collinwood Family Feud game hosted at the nearby newly-renovated LaSalle Theatre by the Greater Collinwood Development Corporation. Competing families had to present an idea for bettering the neighborhood with their prize money. The family’s proposed project was an E. 185th Street Market Park, envisioned for the huge asphalt area in front of the Home/Share.
With the prize money, the family purchased canopies, tents, tables, and weights now used for outside community gatherings, such as flea markets featuring many local businesses. This year, Marlene applied for a grant for an outdoor stage that can be put up and taken down for outdoor events.
“We’re using what we can, where we can, and from the money we make. We still need food and utilities,” she said. “Sometimes people don’t understand we’re not tax-funded, like the rec center. If we were funded like that, I would have fewer gray hairs.”
The family keeps their prices and services affordable to help people in the neighborhood access them. “We know what our people need, and we work with our clients,” she said. “A lot of people don’t have money but they deserve to have life celebrations like everybody else.”
She recalled a man who came in whose mother passed away. He was the only son, and he didn’t know what to do. Robert wrote the obituary.
“I set the space up, his family came in, they celebrated her life,” Marlene said. “It gives me a chill on my arm when I remember how people choked up saying thank you. That’s why I do it. I know it’s heartfelt.”
Vaiva Neary was a participant in The Land’s community journalism program.
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