The nonprofit University Settlement has been providing much-needed social services to residents of Cleveland’s Broadway-Slavic Village neighborhood since 1926. A new era of support began in August with the opening of 5115, a mixed-use development that houses the organization’s programming space along with 88 apartments and townhomes.

Resident Jeffery Mills, 70, uses the food pantry at the 20,000-square-foot complex, located at 5115 Broadway Ave. on the site of the former St. Alexis Hospital. The building replaces a smaller facility across the street that University Settlement has inhabited since 1983—a site with frequent roof leaks and the occasional rodent invasion.

“This is a breath of fresh air compared to what we had,” says Mills, a lifelong Slavic Village resident who also volunteers at the food pantry. “We made it work the best we could, but we couldn’t make it new.”

Slavic Village residents Jeffery Mills, left, and Joseph Turnage are hopeful about Slavic Village’s future with the new University Settlement headquarters as a hubFellow Slavic Village native Joseph Turnage began using University Settlement food services in his early 20s to support his mother. Turnage, now 43, leaned on the nonprofit again in April following a devastating house fire. Food assistance and clothing for his two school-aged daughters helped stabilize a dire situation, he says.

“It feels good to have somebody have your back at a time of need,” Turnage says. “The aura [here] brings good vibes to everybody. You put out good vibes, you’re gonna get good vibes.”

Stories like these are why University Settlement exists, says executive director Richaun Bunton. Now, the community has a shining beacon of what can be achieved.

“We’ve seen so many kids and families grow up here,” she says, “but now we can do that with a stronger sense of safety and security.”

University Settlement and Cleveland real estate developer NRP Group broke ground on the $20 million complex in October 2020. The centralized location provides an improved platform for programs focused on addiction, hunger and youth outreach, Bunton says.

The building is also home to the Tri-C Access Center, a Cuyahoga Community College program dedicated to community-based educational and workforce training. Alongside basic computer skills and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, the center offers an Entrepreneur-in-Residence program aimed at would-be business owners.

Ultimately, University Settlement is a resource hub for individuals and families in crisis, says Bunton.

“Our expertise is in social services and helping people get stabilizing support,” she says. “We’re not experts in behavioral health or addiction, so we want to make sure we have valuable relationships with organizations that address those needs.”

Holiday Gift Distribution at University SettlementAn ecosystem of support

The transition to 5115 has been seamless as nonprofit officials prepare to serve a region deeply impacted by the 2008 mortgage foreclosure crisis and decades of prior disinvestment. Even before the onset of the pandemic, Slavic Village had a poverty rate of 43%, with 23% of residents languishing in deep poverty.

University Settlement delivers services to more than half the neighborhood’s 20,244 residents, although the organization’s reach extends to 14 Northeast Ohio zip codes encompassing Parma, North Olmsted, and Middleburg Heights.

“Looking at the continuum of care, we are a strong aspect of that,” says Bunton. “If people don’t know where to go, they can start here, and we’ll know someone in the area that can help them.”

Former University Settlement executive director Earl Pike recently toured the fresh digs, lauding it as a “gorgeous space” that reflects the dignity of its clientele. As someone still active in the region—Pike is board chair with The Haven Home, a shelter for unhoused pregnant and post-partum women—he says he is pleased to see the change.

“The old place was falling apart—when you walked across that threshold, it couldn’t help but affect you,” Pike says. “It made you think how far down you’d come, just telling you something that wasn’t true. It was more a failure on the community’s part to provide services in a way that was dignified.”

In contrast, the new facility is modern, well-lit and appointed with amenities like a food pantry that resembles a grocery store. 5115 is also the first phase of Broadway Rising, a multi-phase project encompassing affordable housing and mixed-use apartments.

“What we don’t need is more dollar stores and bail bondsmen,” says Pike of the large-scale proposal for Slavic Village’s North Broadway corridor. “How about hair salons and coffee shops that make the community more walkable? University Settlement needed a new home no matter what, but it will take 30 to 40 years to completely revitalize the neighborhood.”

University Settlement has been offering individuals and families resources by which they can learn, grow, and thrive since 1926A little bit of hope

Mills, local resident and University Settlement volunteer, has already noticed a more hopeful attitude among those seeking assistance at the new building.

“It humbles me, because when you think you have the blues, somebody else has a more severe case,” Mills says. “We’ve got people coming in and saying thank you for being here. People don’t like asking for help, but sometimes you need it.”

That is not to say 5115 is a finished product. Mills would like art classes and more senior-focused programming, while his neighbor Joseph Turnage is keen on starting a chess club. Mills says he also hopes for continued growth around 5115, whether through Broadway Rising or a similarly ambitious community improvement plan.

“I’m all for seeing this neighborhood grow and not stagnate,” he says. “If something happens to you, then you’ve got the neighborhood there for you.”

Although the Broadway Rising project holds exciting possibilities, University Settlement director Bunton is content for now with her modern headquarters acting as a local cornerstone.

“Our new home shows we are committed to nurturing folks within the neighborhood,” says Bunton. “It’s about being a healthy part of that ecosystem of support.”