That's no crass come-on, but rather an effort to advocate for a Cleveland-based bike-sharing network that has become popular in a number of U.S. cities. For a small fee, bike sharing allows patrons to rent a bike at self-service sites scattered about a city, then return the bike to another site.
 
Cleveland's Office of Sustainability recently issued a request to conduct a feasibility and implementation study on the service. Minneapolis, Chicago and Chattanooga, Tenn., are among the cities that have recently launched a bike-sharing network.
 
The local push is being fronted by Bike Cleveland, a group that advocates for the rights of the local cycling community. Earlier this year, the organization teamed with University Circle Inc. and other groups to form a Bike Share Task Force.
 
By providing greater access to bikes, bike-share programs can help increase the number of people biking, decrease the amount of pollutants in the air and improve community health, says Jacob VanSickle, executive director of Bike Cleveland.

"The city has stepped up," he says of the effort. "We have to determine the model that would work in Cleveland."
 
VanSickle would like to see bike-sharing docks placed at locations with high-density populations and job rates, including rapid stations, Public Square, college campuses and the Cleveland Clinic. The bikes would typically be used for short trips -- an office worker taking a bus to Public Square, for example, could use the automated bike station instead of taking another bus to his ultimate destination.
 
Trips of less than 30 minutes would be free of charge. Those using the service more frequently could pay $50 to $70 become annually. They would be charged a fee for treks longer than a half hour.
 
Promoting bike sharing is part of creating a culture that makes a city more attractive, says VanSickle. Along with the bike-sharing program, Bike Cleveland has been advocating for bike lanes and other cycling-friendly amenities. The group plans to keep the wheels turning until more progress is made.
 
"Cities with the bike-sharing program are seen as more livable and friendly," says VanSickle. "That's something we can gain from in Cleveland."

 
SOURCE: Jacob VanSickle
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

At most full-time jobs, one is going to be spending eight hours a day sharing the same bit of carpet with a group of people who are tantamount to strangers. With luck, those strangers will become like a second family, one willing to lend a hand when times are tough.
 
Cleveland Clinic affiliate Fairview Hospital has taken that notion to the next level with the Employee Care Fund, a staff-funded repository of donations established to help hospital workers going through financial hardships. The fund was founded in 2005 at Fairview, and is now active throughout the Cleveland Clinic system, says Fairview president Jan Murphy.
 
On October 24, Fairview raised almost $1,500 toward the fund during a cupcake bakeoff. The figure was matched by the facility's corporate sponsors to bring the total to $3,000. The funds will be used to assist Cleveland Clinic employees enduring all matter of money problems, be it facing eviction or needing help to pay for such basic items as food and clothing.
 
 "We had one employee whose home burned down," says Murphy. "We are one big family and want to take care of each other." 
 
Fairview's Employee Care Fund raised $25,500 in 2011. Since its inception, the fund has garnered over $220,000 for 342 hospital employees, Murphy reports.
 
Donations are given to the Community West Foundation. The Cleveland-based grantmaking organization is then charged with disbursing the funds. Employees in need must fill out an application to qualify. Those who are ineligible or who have dipped into the fund multiple times may receive financial planning assistance from the Clinic's human resources department.
 
"We just want to get our people help," Murphy says. "We're not looking to make them feel bad or guilty."
 
Money is just one option for struggling Fairview families. The hospital also runs "Mom's Cellar," a constantly replenished storehouse of diapers, baby formula, food and supplies that employees can access.
 
Ultimately, both the care fund and Mom's Cellar run on the generosity of the Cleveland Clinic "family," says Murphy.
 
"We plan to keep it going," says the hospital president. "There's always going to be a need."


SOURCE: Jan Murphy
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

In this video, Chris Coburn, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, explains how the organization takes the intellectual assets of the Cleveland Clinic -- be they medical devices, diagnostics, or drugs -- and turns them into commercial products. With names like Cleveland Heart, Explorys, and Juventas Therapeutics, its track record is impressive.

Let's imagine that the Northeast Ohio healthcare innovation community is a football team. That would make business recruiter BioEnterprise the quarterback, "handing off" startup companies to Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, with an aim of scoring funding and resources a company needs to succeed. 
 
Strained metaphors aside, BioEnterprise and Austen are two local groups working as a team to push a regional economic transition from staid manufacturing to the more vibrant realm of healthcare and innovation technology. What exactly do these groups do and how do they do it? How do they work together to achieve their goals? Key members from each organization share their connected strategies.
 
Providing a guiding hand
 
BioEnterprise is a Cleveland nonprofit tasked with growing healthcare companies and commercializing bioscience technologies. The early-stage firms BioEnterprise assists are seeking to produce medical devices and biotechnology, or developing drugs for commercial use.
 
The economic development group was founded in 2002 by the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University as a way to harness area strengths in medical devices and healthcare technology. The nonprofit's foray into a potentially lucrative "innovation economy" is built by guiding new companies, not funding them, says interim president Aram Nerpouni.
 
Read the rest here...

Whether it is health care, information technology, clean tech or business and consumer products, our region’s increased level of startup activity is attracting funding from venture capital firms both here in Northeast Ohio and beyond. But experts say there's a ways to go before the Silicon Valley comparisons stick.

Saint Luke's Foundation's stated mission is to move the needle in the area of healthcare, effectively impacting the root causes of what the organization deems as inequities in the quality of care received across all economic and social sectors.
 
The foundation has a long way to go to achieve its goals, but at least it knows it has a champion in former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, who spoke to foundation trustees and staff at The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland on October 4.
 
Eliminating care disparities in regards to health insurance, for example, would cut down African-American mortality rates in diabetes, heart disease and HIV/AIDS, Satcher said during his visit, part of the St. Luke's refined grantmaking philosophy that ties funding directly to three main priorities- health, community and family.
 
The talk "was a great opportunity for learning," says foundation president and CEO Denise San Antonio Zeman. "Dr. Satcher is putting these notions into the national limelight and giving them stature."
 
Satcher, who served as surgeon general from 1998 to 2001, is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University.  During his tenure, he wrote "Healthy People 2010," a document written with two goals; to increase the quality of life for all Americans and reduce the inequities keeping all U.S. citizens from getting proper care.
 
Some progress in that department has been made in the years since Satcher stepped down, says Zeman. Still, as highlighted by the recent presidential and vice presidential debates, health care is still top mind for many Americans.
 
"There is more work that needs to be done," she says.  

 
Source: Denise San Antonio Zeman
Writer: Douglas Guth

The Cleveland Foodbank has a message for Cuyahoga County children as they head into another school year: "You will never go hungry."

The nonprofit food distributor is fulfilling this promise through its annual "Backpack for Kids" program. Throughout the academic year, the Foodbank will partner with 30 schools and afterschool programs to provide children with nutritious meals, says Karen Pozna, the organization's director of communications.

"There are too many kids in Cleveland who don't know where their next meal is coming from," says Pozna.

The program works like this: At the end of each week, backpacks filled with healthy food are discreetly handed out to school children to take home over the weekend. The packages are made up of a variety of items -- cereal, tuna, peanut butter, beef stew, canned vegetables and fruit, soup, pasta, and a kid-friendly treat like peanut butter crackers or yogurt snacks. Each child receives enough food for six full meals.

Food banks across the U.S. are involved with the initiative, notes Pozna. On average, the Cleveland chapter's Backpack for Kids program provides about 3,000 backpacks each week.

Good eating habits are a critical facet of academic success, Pozna says. The backpack program began after teachers noticed their students were coming into school on Mondays feeling sick from lack of proper meals over the weekend.

Statistics further reflect the need for the program, says the Foodbank spokesperson. About 28 percent of Cuyahoga County children under the age of 18 lived in poverty last year, says Pozna. In addition, one third of recipients at local hunger centers are children.

Back-to-school season can be a particularly difficult time for low income families trying to put three square meals on the table each day. "Kids are getting lunch and breakfast at school, but they don't always get proper nutrition at home," Pozna says.


Source: Karen Pozna
Writer: Douglas Guth

The Cleveland Foodbank has received a $325,000 grant from the Cleveland Foundation that will go towards the cost of expanding its freezer and cooler to provide more fresh produce to families in need.

"Clearly, there's a need and gap in our area," says Karen Pozna, Director of Communications with the Foodbank, citing an annual "meal gap" of 57 million meals in the six Northeast Ohio counties the nonprofit serves. "One of the ways to address it is to distribute more fresh produce, because it's more available and it's also more nutritious."

Food banks across the U.S. have evolved a great deal in recent decades, Pozna says. Although donations of canned goods are still very much needed and accepted, these nonprofits have shifted their focus to trying to get fresh produce into the hands of the families that would benefit from it most. The Foodbank accepts donations from farmers and purchases some produce wholesale.

"Last year, we distributed over 11 million pounds of produce," says Pozna. "We work with over 600 food pantries across Northeast Ohio. We also have 12 trucks at our facility that help distribute produce and other foods to various locations."

The Cleveland Foodbank built a new facility in North Collinwood in 2005, yet it has outgrown its cooler and freezer space as the number of families in need has continued to rise throughout the recession. The Foodbank has the room to expand at its current location, and plans to build an addition to its current building.

Pozna says that Foodbank hopes to raise another another $400,000 this fall so that it can break ground before the holidays. The total cost of the project is over $2 million, and leaders would like to raise $1 million before starting the project. The nonprofit's goal is to have the new freezer and cooler open by June 2013.


Source: Karen Pozna
Writer: Lee Chilcote

At the corner of E. 83rd and Carnegie Avenue, a dilapidated building has been transformed into a contemporary, glass-walled resource center. Inside these walls, youth will be mentored, adults will receive financial education and job skill assistance, and seniors will record their history within the community.

This is no ordinary redevelopment project. The PNC Fairfax Connection was designed with maximum community input to address the needs and aspirations of the Fairfax neighborhood, which lies just south of the Cleveland Clinic campus.

“We celebrate the opening of the PNC Fairfax Connection as a demonstration of what it truly means to work together to create a new relationship and a new bond between a bank and its community,” said Cleveland native James Rohr, Chairman and CEO of PNC Bank, in a press release. “PNC closely collaborated with the Fairfax community at every step to ensure the center's design and programs meet the interests and needs of this proud and historic community.”

The $5 million center, which was sustainably built and will likely receive LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), is a 6,400-square-foot space that is flexibly designed to meet the needs of the community. Two full-time coordinators, Susan Blasko and Brandon Lipford, will staff it.

Upcoming programs include SPARK, a web-based literacy initiative provided in cooperation with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Cleveland; Senior Compass programs that help seniors with help and wellness and technology skills; and Financial Connections, which are weekly financial wellness workshops.

The PNC Fairfax Connection is open daily from Tuesday through Saturday, and programs are offered in the day as well as the evening.


Source: PNC Bank
Writer: Lee Chilcote

If someone loses a leg or arm due to war or accident, a recent endowment from Parker Hannifin Corporation to Cleveland State University is aiming to place the school among the top national options for replicating that lost limb.

Parker Hannifin, a manufacturer of motion technologies, has pledged $1.5 million to CSU for a professorship and the overall study of human motion and control. The money will be spent on a new laboratory in human motion. The lab will include treadmills, motion sensors and three-dimensional imaging equipment, all targeted at developing improved methods to duplicate healthy limbs in prosthetics and orthotics, says Joe Mosbrook, CSU's director of communications.

Working in the laboratory will be biomechanics researcher Dr. Antonie van den Bogert, named the Parker Hannifin Endowed Chair in Human Motion and Control. Van den Bogert began his tenure this fall in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at CSU’s Fenn College of Engineering.

The researcher is known for the development of computer simulation methods studying the effects of neuromuscular control and mechanical devices on human movement. Much of his prior work concentrated on the mechanics of sports performance and injuries. "He's a leader in this field," says Mosbrook. "We are very grateful to have someone of his caliber at the university."

Long term, the Parker Hannifin endowment could make CSU an epicenter for critical prosthetics and orthotics technology and research. The company "has been a great partner and benefactor to us for a long time," Mosbrook says. "This [endowment] is an important step forward for the university and the entire region."

  
SOURCE: Joe Mosbrook
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

A parent can cover their child's eyes when there is violence on television, but who will do that for a child when they're exposed to real-life trauma? That is the question United Way is answering with its 2-1-1 community access line, a 24-hour help number that's part of Cuyahoga County’s Defending Childhood initiative.

United States Attorney General Eric Holder and Cuyahoga County Executive Edward FitzGerald hosted a news conference September 28 at Martin Luther King Jr. High School to announce a $2 million Justice Department grant that will aid Defending Childhood programs including the community access line.

The phone line is manned by United Way staff members. These trained staffers determine if Defending Childhood services can help a child who has witnessed violence or experienced trauma. Diagnosing and treating children who have lived through violence can be a significant step in helping them avoid trouble later in life, says Stephen Wertheim, president/CEO of United Way.

 "The trauma a kid goes through can impact their function in society," Wertheim says. "We're trying to get to these problems at the root."

While at the high school event, Holder participated in a round-table discussion with students and teachers. He later met with a group of law enforcement officers and social workers that were also on hand.

The impact of violence on children has reached "national crisis" proportions, Holder told the audience during the Sept. 28 conference. Assessing and screening the young people victimized by violence must take precedence over merely prosecuting those perpetrating the trauma.

Studies have shown how post-traumatic stress can negatively effect children, says FitzGerald. 

"If a child witnesses horrific acts of violence, they're more likely to be involved in the justice system themselves," says the county executive. Through a preventative measure like the 2-1-1 help line, "the idea is to increase public safety rather than just incarcerating everyone."

 
SOURCE: Stephen Wertheim, Ed FitzGerald
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

The Intergenerational School, a high-performing charter school that is part of the Breakthrough Schools network, recently signed on to become part of the redeveloped Saint Luke's Hospital campus at Shaker Boulevard and E. 116th Street.

The highly-rated school, which has operated out of the nearby Fairhill Center for the past decade, will have the opportunity to grow within the Buckeye-Shaker Square community, customize classroom space to meet their unique needs and engage the seniors living at Saint Luke's.

"It's a great school and this will be a catalytic project for the community," says Joel Ratner, President of Neighborhood Progress Incorporated (NPI), the nonprofit developer of the Saint Luke's project. "Their model is to create intergenerational learning opportunities for kids, and now they'll be able to physically do that."

TIS is part of Phase III of the Saint Luke's project, says Ratner. Phases I and II are low-income senior housing. This final phase will complete the redevelopment of the historic, red brick hospital, which has been badly vandalized since it closed over a decade ago. Ratner also expects the Boys and Girls Club to open a small space in the building, and NPI will move its office headquarters there, as well.

NPI is now in a frantic push to complete the project by July 1, 2013 so that TIS can move in before the start of the 2013-2014 school year. The organization must raise another $3 million by May of next year in order to make that happen.

So far, the Cleveland Foundation, Saint Luke's Foundation and several private individuals have contributed to the project, which will cost a total of $6 million.

"We've already ordered the windows," says Ratner. "That alone was half a million dollars, including installation, because there are literally hundreds of custom windows. We're doing this project because it's the right thing to do."

Ratner also hopes the presence of TIS will help improve Harvey Rice School, a newly built K-8 school that is not performing well. "We'd like to get mentors there like they have at TIS, and potentially do programming together," says Ratner. "The Cleveland schools say they're open to it. This will be a huge lift."


Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The West Side Market is celebrating its Centennial year, prompting much discussion of the institution's past, present and future. Among other things, city leaders are discussing how best to ensure that the market remains successful for another 100 years.

Last week, however, the best ideas seemed to come not from local leaders but from others in Detroit, Santa Monica and Hong Kong as 250 market leaders from around the world attended the three-day International Public Markets Conference in Cleveland.

"The roots of our market are in local farmers selling their produce during the growing season," said Dan Carmody, Manager of Detroit's Eastern Market, during a panel discussion on the role of markets in the future of cities. "When I started there, it was a place where wholesale grocers dumped their product at the end of the week. Now we're trying to envision it as a revitalized local food system."

Eastern Market now sells locally-grown produce raised by urban farmers in Detroit, unlike the West Side Market, which only has a handful of vendors selling local produce.

Santa Monica's public market also was held up as an example. It offers valet parking for bicycles, works with a nearby cooking school to do demonstrations, and hosts "Meatless Mondays" to educate people about how to cook vegetarian.

And if you're looking for fresh, you can't get much more so than Hong Kong's Tai Yuen Market, which has fish swimming in tanks and live chickens. (The market recently installed a state-of-the-art ventilation system to deal with the offending odors.)

Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman, who touted his experience working in his uncle's butcher shop as a young man, said that change is coming to the market.

"People at the West Side Market are looking too much at last year's calendar," said Cimperman to the audience. "It won't survive unless they look at tomorrow."

Among the changes that have been recommended at the market are adding more local foods, creating more convenient hours and charging for parking. There is a proposal for a parking fee, but city leaders are still negotiating with vendors.

Cimperman vowed to continue the fight for change. "The city's lease with vendors runs out in 2014,"he said. "It's time to look at the market for the next 100 years."


Source: Joe Cimperman, International Public Markets conference
Writer: Lee Chilcote