One third of children in the U.S. live at home without their biological fathers. In turn, these children are five times more likely to live in poverty than children whose dads are fully present in their lives.

A feature length film that is currently being filmed in Northeast Ohio will explore the crucial role that dads play in their children's lives. It is documenting the journey of fathers as they seek to become better dads by attending programs sponsored by the Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative and The Center for Families and Children of Northeast Ohio.

Despite these harsh statistics, some nonprofit leaders say that Cleveland, which has a very high poverty rate, is making progress towards building better fathers.

"Public perception would have you believe that fathers are a vanishing species," says Kimberly St. John-Stevenson, Communciations Officer with the Saint Luke's Foundation, which provided funding to the Center for Families and Children in support of the film. "The Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative is working to dispel that myth through a variety of programs and partners that all focus on building better fathers."

Director Marquette Williams, a Cleveland native who currently lives in Los Angeles, has created a film company called Cinema:216 with a primary focus on film production in Cleveland. "We hope all of the information that we collect through the filming of the documentary will assist in the ultimate goal of bringing more fathers and children together," said Marquette in a news release.


Source: Marquette Williams, Kimberly St. John-Stevenson
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Cleveland Foundation recently awarded $19.9 million in grants, the second highest amount the foundation has awarded in a single quarter, including $2.25 million to strengthen college readiness and graduation rates among Cleveland students.

“Only 11 percent of Cleveland residents 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher,” said Robert Eckardt, executive vice president at the Cleveland Foundation, said in a news release. “Our team created a strategy last year to bolster secondary education success among local students. This quarter’s series of grants is a reflection of that commitment.”

The foundation's grants in this area include $1.01 million to College Now Greater Cleveland, $750,000 to Cuyahoga Community College for the College Success Program and $210,000 to support scholarships for nontraditional students.

The foundation also awarded $2.2 million to support economic development and $1.425 million to support the next phase of the Engaging the Future project, which is an initiative to attract a younger, more diverse audience to the arts.


Source: The Cleveland Foundation
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Groundworks Dance Theater recently presented an original work choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett that featured rousing Broadway-style choreography set to the music of the 80s band the Pretenders.

The show wasn't exactly what comes to mind when one thinks of contemporary dance, and audiences loved it. Groundworks General Manager Beth Rutkowski says her organization is using performances like this to reach new audiences in Cleveland.

"There are a lot of people who say, 'I'm not really a modern dance person and modern dance is weird,'" says Rutkowski. "Yet if we're able to get them in the door, they find our work is extremely accessible. It's getting past that barrier."

Connecting diverse, new audiences to Cleveland's rich arts and culture groups is the purpose of Engaging the Future, an initiative by the Cleveland Foundation to help arts organizations think differently about how to grow their audiences.

"It's about more than just putting butts in seats," says Rutkowski. "We're looking at ways to engage different people and a more diverse audience. Audiences for many arts organizations in Cleveland are getting older and are for the most part white. We want to look at new ways of thinking and share best practices."

Some of the new ideas Groundworks is considering include collaborating with other groups; stressing a more interactive relationship with its audience; offering performances online for younger audiences that want to "self-curate"; hosting evening gatherings of creative individuals, including entrepreneurs, to explore the relationship between art and creativity; and developing a series of videos called "It's Your Move" that connect dance to regular, everyday body movements.

Engaging the Future recently released a survey and hopes to glean audience information from it that will help organizations to chart a course in the future.


Source: Beth Rutkowski, Kristin Puch
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Before a packed house at Severance Hall, Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard touted the city's accomplishments in becoming a hub of innovation and taking bold steps to address big problems at the foundation's annual meeting this Tuesday.

Waxing poetic on the gilded stage for a moment, Richard harkened back to the foundation's early days in the 1910's as a time of tremendous innovation in Cleveland. "I still wonder if the past might be prologue," he mused, noting that the foundation's centennial is just two years away. "Can we envision the spirit of a second renaissance in Cleveland?"

Richard also posed a challenge to civic leaders to remain focused on true economic development and social change within the city. "Physical development, as wonderful as it is, must be coupled with investment in people and placemaking," he said, noting that the building spree of the 1990s was too focused on bricks and mortar projects. "We need to invest in connecting communities."

Among the foundation's projects, Richard touted the Cleveland schools plan that recently passed the state legislature, ongoing investments in high quality urban education, economic development programs such as the HealthTech Corridor and the Evergreen Cooperatives, and programs to connect new audiences to the arts.

Richard also told the audience that later this year the Cleveland Foundation will unveil a new microlending program for entrepreneurs seeking loans under $50,000 to help spur job creation and assist the creation of startups.


Source: Ronn Richard
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Cleveland Carbon Fund has announced three grant awards totaling $15,000 for 2012, including an ambitious effort to increase the number of bike commuters in Cleveland, a backyard composting initiative in Tremont, and a project to make homes in the Central neighborhood more energy-efficient.

Bike Cleveland's project, Creating a Mode Shift, will provide riders with the tools, tips and advice on how to commute to work in Cleveland. The effort includes a commuter challenge in which individuals and teams can compete and win prizes, a guide to navigating bike commuting, and outreach to employers to help incentivize more employees to ride to work.

Tremont West Development Corporation will initiate a Residential Composting Program that will distribute bins to local residents, encourage participants to reduce their waste, and track how much is saved from landfills. The program is offered in partnership with the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District.

Burton Bell Carr Development Corporation's project, Heritage View Model Block Sustainability Program, will make homes in the Central neighborhood more energy-efficient by switching out incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs, adding sink aerators, and installing low-flow shower heads.

The Cleveland Carbon Fund was created in 2009 by the City of Cleveland, Green City Blue Lake Institute at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Gund Foundation, Cleveland Foundation and Cleveland Clinic. Its goal, as Carbon Fund Fellow Joanne Neugebauer puts it, is to "think globally, green locally." The Carbon Fund is the first community-based, open-access fund in the U.S.


Source: Joanne Neugebauer
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Santina Protopapa is a self-professed high school "band nerd" who learned about hip hop while organizing a Rock Hall conference, then used it as a launching bad to start her own arts nonprofit.

Ten years later, the Progressive Arts Alliance (PAA) serves more than 1,000 students across Northeast Ohio every week through hip hop arts education.

"Our students have really grown to be leaders through hip hop," says Protopapa, a percussionist and DJ who teaches rap, hip hop, dance, film and animation. "Teachers are excited because they have no way to present this stuff in a meaningful way to their kids. They tell us, 'We could never have done this without you.'"

Last month, the PA All-Stars, a group of five high school and college students who write and perform their own original hip hop tunes, had a chance to perform on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The event was part of a program called "What's Going on Now" which celebrated the 40th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's famous album. The PA All-Stars also ended up on PBS News Hour.

"It was really cool to have the opportunity to present their work to a larger audience," says Protopapa. "Normally our shows are attended by parents."

On August 11th, PAA will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an event called Ten Years of Rhapsody at the House of Blues in Cleveland. The fundraiser will feature a tribute to Cleveland break dancing legends Project Five featuring Councilman Matt Zone, the Corporate Cleveland's Best Dance Crew crew competition, live dance performances and hands-on art experiences for people of all ages.


Source: Santina Protopapa
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The term "Rust Belt Chic" has been bandied about in urban journalism circles for over a decade. But lately, the connotation and import of that catchy phrase seem to be taking on a welcome new identity. A book in progress from Cleveland-based writers aims to take ownership of the phrase and help define what it truly means to live in a recovering Rust Belt city.

Communities in Cuyahoga County are recycling about 50 percent of their waste on average, Diane Bickett, Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, told the audience at the recent Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum.

Austin, Texas has an ambitious goal of reaching zero waste by 2040, which means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90 percent.

The question now becomes: How does our region advance those goals while encouraging communities with dismal levels of recycling to raise the bar? That was the question that Bickett posed to the crowd during the one-day examination of recycling and composting in our region.

The City of Cleveland has one of the lowest levels of recycling in Cuyahoga County at about seven percent. Cleveland Heights and Lakewood hover around 60 percent, and Pepper Pike is over 70 percent. Bickett said that Cleveland and other cities could improve recycling rates by focusing on new, automated technologies, expanding organic collection, adding more recycling in public spaces, making citywide policy changes, and better educating residents and businesses.

Beyond the sustainability benefits, recycling also creates jobs. "For every job in the disposal industry, 17 are created in the recycling industry," Bickett said.

Given the prowess of the local food and urban agriculture movements in Cleveland, Bickett cited an opportunity to create composting facilities run by volunteers and community organizations that generate nutrient-rich soil.

Councilman Brian Cummins criticized the city's one-size-fits-all disposal fee and unambitious recycling goals (the city aims to recycle up to 25 percent of its waste by building a waste-to-energy facility and rolling out curbside recycling citywide). 

Cummins also promoted the idea that recycling could generate local jobs, although he and Bickett acknowledged that recycling programs actually cost cities money.

City of Cleveland representatives were invited to attend the forum but declined.


Source: Diane Bickett, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When the Broadway Farmers Market in Slavic Village piloted a new program to offer a dollar-for-dollar match to Ohio Direction Card customers who purchase produce, it experienced a 191-percent increase in Direction Card sales in one year.

By offering incentives, the Produce Perks program helps to ensure that fresh, locally grown produce gets into low-income households where it's needed most. Many city residents do not have a grocery store with fresh produce within walking distance of their home. The program offers a dollar-for-dollar match up to $10.

This summer, the Produce Perks program is being expanded to 17 local farmers markets throughout Cuyahoga County. The program has been successful at helping lower-income residents to overcome obstacles that inhibit them from shopping at farmers markets and boosting their produce purchasing power, organizers say.

"We know that there are more people using local food assistance programs due to the economy, so how do we get them to local farmers markets?" says Erika Meschkat, Program Coordinator with the Ohio State University Extension. "This is about improving public health, boosting local food production and creating economic development opportunities at neighborhood farmers markets."

Meschkat says that the Produce Perks program helps farmers markets to profit from an untapped market. While many suburban market managers are shocked to realize that they have customers on food assistance, too, it benefits them as well.

The program is part of a regional push to address healthy food gaps by helping low-income residents to take advantage of farmers markets. Produce Perks is coordinated by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition with the support of several area foundations and Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit organization focused on access to healthy, affordable foods in poor communities.


Source: Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition
Writer: Lee Chilcote

As Yelp Cleveland community manager, native Northeast Ohioan Cara Lageson is a pro-Cleveland powerhouse. When she's not busy penning reviews -- she has logged in about 400 -- she connects "Yelpers" and local businesses by coordinating marketing outreach that extends well beyond the digital realm.

Last fall, when the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency held a hearing on the City of Cleveland's proposed waste-to-energy plant, hundreds of protesters turned out to decry the plans.

The gasification plant, which would turn trash into energy to be used by Cleveland Public Power, would result in unacceptable levels of pollution in urban neighborhoods, environmental groups said.

Since then, the city has terminated its agreement with its controversial consultant, Peter Tien. However, CPP says that it is still studying the waste-to-energy plant as well as other options to increase recycling, reduce costs and generate electricity.

To capitalize on the renewed interest in recycling and composting generated by the public meetings earlier this year, environmental groups are now pressing the city to develop a more comprehensive plan. Ohio Citizen Action, Earthday Coalition and other groups have organized the Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum on Saturday, June 2nd at the downtown YMCA.

“Clevelanders have said loud and clear that they want stronger recycling programs,” commented Chris Trepal, Executive Director of Earth Day Coalition, in a news release. “The urban gardening and local food community in Cleveland creates hundreds of opportunities for the productive use of compost.”

"We're hoping to bring in good ideas from other cities," adds Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action, who says that the local and national speakers attending the event will provide a litany of successful models.

The public forum takes place at a crucial time, as the city is gearing up to roll out its recycling program to additional neighborhoods over the course of the summer.

Brian Cummins, a Cleveland Councilman who represents the Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton and Stockyards neighborhoods adjacent to the proposed gasification plant, says that the city's recycling program needs improvement.

"The city claims this is a comprehensive system, but they haven't been able to roll it out citywide due to budget problems," he says. "We need to look at incentives to recycle, such as 'pay as you throw' fees that other cities are now using."

The City of Cleveland has stated that its goal in the next few years is to roll out its recycling program to all neighborhoods. No composting program currently exists.


Source: Chris Trepal, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote

This month Cleveland welcomes Great Lakes Courier, a high-energy free monthly paper that caters to Northeast Ohio's enthusiastic cycling community. "One of the things we hope to provide is a place for different groups of cyclists to tell stories and interact," says editor Michael Gill.

Fixing up an older home can be a daunting task. These days, many homeowners don't know a wrench from a pair of pliers, and even if they are handy, both their tools and their skills may be a little bit rusty.

That's where the Home Repair Resource Center (HRRC), a 40-year-old nonprofit organization based in Cleveland Heights, can help. HRRC offers how-to classes for residents throughout Cuyahoga County and a tool-loan program geared to residents of Cleveland Heights.

"We want to empower people to fix their own homes, especially now because there's such a need," says Kathryn Lad, Executive Director of the HRRC. "We teach people how to do it themselves or to hire the right person for the job."

Since the HRRC was founded out of a church in Cleveland Heights, the group has facilitated over $14 million in home improvements. Lad recalls with pride a class geared towards women that spurred a group of friends to build their own garage. The group also offers foreclosure intervention services, financial education and financial assistance programs for low-income homebuyers.

"Everybody is having a tough time right now, and money is tight," says Lad. "People tend to be doing more repairs in reaction to emergencies than remodeling projects. We help people take care of things they have to take care of."

The HRRC has an ongoing series of Tuesday night classes and is also offering a new series entitled "Practical Sustainability: New Thinking for Older Homes."


Source: Kathryn Lad
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Mentor native Erin Huber wasn't exactly sure how she would bring together her passion for water conservation and international development when she finished graduate school. She'd grown up in a blue collar family that spent summer weekends camping near lakes, streams and rivers, and those early experiences nourished her love of fresh water.

After completing her master's degree in Environmental Studies at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, she decided to create her own nonprofit organization to bring together these passions under a single roof.

Drink Local Drink Tap is a new organization that works to educate Clevelanders about the pollution that is created by drinking plastic bottles of water and the need to conserve fresh water locally and internationally. To educate both youth and adults, Huber creates water-themed art installations and provides free environmental education at schools.

Next month, Huber will fly to Uganda, where she and her team members will bore a 70-meter hole to provide fresh drinking water to hundreds of residents in a small village there. Currently, children must walk over a mile to find a water source near the village, and the water isn't clean or safe. Huber and her team members also are filming a documentary entitled Making Waves from Cleveland to Uganda that will be released at next year's Cleveland International Film Festival.

For Huber, the project is about sharing the water wealth of the Great Lakes -- which hold 20 percent of the world's fresh water -- with areas in dire need.

Huber, who describes her group as a "very nonprofit organization," is still raising funds for the project. You can donate to the cause on the organization's website.


Source: Erin Huber
Writer: Lee Chilcote