Born and raised in Cleveland’s Buckeye neighborhood, an area filled with community advocates and organizations, Julian Khan was destined to be a network builder. Khan uses the information he learned from his undergraduate courses in English and the arts, 20 years working at the Cleveland Public Library, and mentorship he received working with community organizations, to bring residents and community members together to raise and resolve community issues.
Although Khan never envisioned himself working for the community in any capacity, he labels himself a “network builder” like Ohioans and authors John McKnight and Peter Block. A network builder is someone who leads the effort to identify, support and sustain natural networks in neighborhoods while challenging people to think in new ways and across lines of differences.
“I was born in Buckeye, raised in Buckeye, and my mother was a member of the Buckeye Women’s Association, which did a lot of community organizing from 1970 to about 1976,” Khan said. “I also did quite a bit of higher education in English and the arts and every course I studied, I use to this day.”
Khan’s path to being a network builder was laid as he began taking a more active role in Neighbor Night. Neighbor Night is held the last Monday of the month at Cummins Hall, 12503 Buckingham Avenue, starting at 6 p.m. Neighbor Night connects neighbors from Buckeye, Larchmere, Shaker Square, Woodland Hills, and beyond, for a night of relationship building, mutual support, and an opportunity to spark new initiatives.
The program is hosted by Neighbor Up, a non-profit organization founded in 2012 to build relationships between residents, employees of community-based organizations, local business owners, members of faith-based communities, and institutional leaders. Neighbor Up was launched by the non-profit organization Neighborhood Connections, which promotes asset-based community development through engagement, network building, and resident-led initiatives.
Saving the Bank
Last fall, after Huntington Bank notified its customers that it would be closing its Buckeye branch, community members Mary Boyle, Robert Render, and Tamara Chappell went to Neighbor Night and asked for assistance in keeping this important asset in the Buckeye neighborhood.
“Julian facilitated. He said come over and meet at Harvey Rice Public Library and we’ll talk about next steps then,” said Boyle, a former Ohio House of Representatives member who served four consecutive terms and was later elected House Majority Whip. “We ended up with around 10 people from the neighborhood with different interests who became the core group. I know he has done other things in the neighborhood but this was the first time we were involved and watching what he could do as a facilitator.”
After Huntington announced the Buckeye branch would reopen in late October, Chappell said, “Julian was our giant.” Chappell is a lifelong resident of Buckeye who operated Emerald Supply, Inc. for more than 35 years. She is a core member of the Keep Huntington on Buckeye Committee with Boyle, Render and Khan.
Around the neighborhood
Taryn Gress joined Neighborhood Connections in 2022 and met Khan when she began attending Neighbor Night. Gress says Khan organizes the monthly meetings by identifying facilitators, securing the meeting location, getting people to set up, and making sure there is food. Khan is also responsible for inviting neighbors, organizations and institutions that might be helpful for conversations that people may want to have.
Gress says Khan’s networking has led to MetroHealth and those involved in safety, such as Cleveland Council Members, the police, and Burton, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. regularly attending Neighbor Night to engage in conversations around trauma and safety in the Buckeye Neighborhood.
In his capacity as network builder for Neighbor Up, Khan also leads and facilitates the Action Clinic, Urban Forestry, and Food Access program.
The work on Urban Forestry is dedicated to increasing the tree canopy in Buckeye. A youth forest core group has started with youth “kinda” being the stewards of carrying forward trees that are newly planted to create the tree canopy that is missing in a lot of neighborhoods. This program comes after City Council established a Division of Urban Forestry under the new Department of Parks & Recreation this past summer.
The Action Clinic takes place at the Harvey Rice Library from 3-5 p.m. the Monday following Neighbor Night. During the Clinic, Khan collects attendees’ information then sends invites to continue the conversation, build on ideas, and discuss next steps.
The Food Access program brings advocates from Cleveland neighborhoods together to seek solutions to food deserts – places with limited or nonexistent fresh produce, meat and baked goods. After Giant Eagle closed its Buckeye Plaza location in 2017, Khan was instrumental in working with city officials to open Simon’s Supermarket in the vacant space.
“Food access is a key thing that people have talked about and that Julian got involved with,” Gress said. “He invites people from his neighborhood to engage in the conversations and uses his incredible ability to connect what’s important to folks to other policies and programs that are happening across the city, county, and region and get needed change.”
Neighbor Up recently added the tagline “Join in the spirit of possibility” to its mission, which is a phrase Khan says all the time during committee meetings.
“Julian often sees the positivity and possibility in everything and it got to be a joke,” Gress said. “It’s just so helpful in thinking about so many things that are quite challenging about community and the community work that we do. But then we said, “Let’s own it because that’s what we’re all about.”
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