Greater University Circle Neighborhood Voice

GREAT LAKES SCIENCE CENTER RECEIVES $300,000 PNC GRANT TO EXPAND SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR LOCAL PRESCHOOLERS

kamen — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:04:53 +0000

CLEVELAND, May 14, 2013 – Great Lakes Science Center has been awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant from the PNC Foundation to help enhance education for Cleveland pre-K students and their families. The new initiative uses a hands-on, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum to engage children, ages 3 to 5, who attend Head Start centers operated by the Ministerial Day Care Association (MDCA). Great Lakes Science Center educators deliver the comprehensive program through in-classroom, afterschool, and science center-based experiences. Components [...]

No Place Like Home

NRudd — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:27:00 +0000

A coworker just walked in my office and said, “It is nice to have you back!” to which I replied, “It is good to be home!”

You see, I started another job this past January, but it wasn’t actually a new job, because I had worked in the same department back in 2006. I left in 2008 for a couple of years to explore other career opportunities.

When my previous boss approached me about coming back to the department, I leaped at [...]

Family Center Supports Youth

lmills — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:12:23 +0000

Lajean Ray is proud of the young people in her neighborhood and is working to make sure they get the support they need to succeed.

Ray is the executive director of Catholic Charities’ Fatima Family Center, 6600 Lexington Ave. The family center offers a variety of programs for children ages 5 to 18. Programs include an afterschool teen leadership group and a summer camp.

“If you give kids positive things to do, if you invest in them, the returns are wonderful,” Ray [...]

Poetry Corner

lmills — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:01 +0000

She Likes to Swallow Blood

I hold her tightly

While the darkness creeps in slowly.

My arms can’t protect her

From nightmares, her past,

And the clouds approaching

Laying restless from awaiting

Revelations. The ticking clock syncs

Our breath and tears.

Because she cries silently,

Weeping pillows wet

Is a haunt that makes me hold her firm

Never feeling her pain from the day before.

I never see the bruise and tears through the beauty

Of her smile. The strength of her forced laughter

And grace, because she swallows her own blood

~ Poem by D.L. [...]

Film Class at Glenville Rec

lmills — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:20:05 +0000

I was recently challenged to design a five-week film course. My thought process for completing the task became molded from the idea, “What if I had a budget and only five weeks to prepare writers and a film crew?”

I did it. Our course says film skills are fast, easy-to-learn, marketable skills that can be acquired in five weeks. Our program is a hands-on education in the use of film cameras, camera equipment, lights, editing systems, Hollywood’s story-writing format and key [...]

Resident Publishes Book

lmills — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:45 +0000

Carol Jones grew up in a house full of trouble, but she found peace. And now, she hopes her story — documented in the new book “Letting Go of Yesterday’s Pain” — encourages others to find better days ahead.

Jones’ church friend, Vivian Cox, wrote the book published in December. Jones had a book signing at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in University Circle earlier this year.

She said she wanted to tell her story to inspire others who are struggling to “seek refuge.”

“Don’t [...]

Knitting Together Friendship

M. LaVora Perry — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:02:34 +0000

A group of knitters in the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood have transformed into friends in recent months.

Eleanor Bergholz, 69, started the knitting circle in September at the Rice branch of the Cleveland Public Library.

With outside temperatures creeping upward, Bergholz polled members of the knitting circle to see if they needed a break over spring and summer.

Their response? “No way!”

To get the group going, Bergholz originally asked a couple of women she knew if they would be helpers — Betty Durham, 69 and [...]

Reading the News

LIngram — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:07 +0000

I was moved to tears by the issue of Shawken News that was inserted into the April issue of Neighborhood Voice last month and produced by stalwart, hopeful and brave students from Shaw High School and Hawken School. I wonder how hard is the fight for equality gonna get? What will be the prize? It inspired poetry that seldom comes to me now.

Reading the News

I remembered what started me to

Write poetry in the first place…

In [...]

A Pot O’ Gold at Friendly Inn Settlement

lmills — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:01 +0000

“Are leprechauns real?” a curious second-grader asked me as I strolled around the St. Patrick’s Day-themed Family Night at Friendly Inn Settlement on March 12.

The holiday-themed event culminated the Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities program taught by Mallory Salvi, an AmeriCorps member at Children’s Hunger Alliance. The curriculum combines 12 hands-on nutrition education — or Food Folks — lessons, in conjunction with 20 hourlong moderate to vigorous physical education activities lessons — called CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Childhood Health and Physical Activity).

About 20 children [...]

Where Art & Community Intersect

lmills — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:00:03 +0000

Architect Mark Lakeman stood inside Trinity Cathedral last month and spoke like a preacher — bringing a message of hope and inspiration to a capacity crowd of about 160 Clevelanders who came to hear him speak.

“Even though we are surrounded by so many disparaging stories, our hearts are still beating,” Lakeman said as he introduced the citizen-driven movement called City Repair that began in a Portland, Ore., neighborhood 17 years ago.

City Repair’s mission is to educate and inspire people to “creatively [...]

Check Out Our May Issue!

lmills — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:30:15 +0000

Our May issue is being delivered this week. Pick up a copy near you or click here to read it online.

Elaine Siggers on Heroes

M. LaVora Perry — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:46 +0000

My 17-year-old middle son was walking home from school one day when he observed a man tussling with a woman sitting in the bus stop. The man was trying to snatch the woman’s purse from her. No one else would step up to assist this woman. My son, after assessing the situation, sized the man up and doing a quick scan to see if he had a weapon, stepped in and intervened. My son walked up and told the man to [...]

Get Ready for Summer Basketball!

Shardé Lackey — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:00:06 +0000

James Reid had the opportunity last summer to stand back and watch what was once just an idea in his head become reality. The last day of the eight-week double elimination Glenville Summer Basketball Tournament was coming to a close, trophies and medals were given and children softened their faces with proud smiles.

Glenview Park, 10701 Dupont Ave., was filled with laughing children, joy-filled teenagers and adults with their chests extended because they still “got game.”

Reid is the man bold enough [...]

How to Live Abundantly

lmills — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:00:35 +0000

Michele Hill used to worry about money, but not anymore.

She didn’t win the lottery or inherit a windfall. She read a book: “The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods” by Peter Block and John McKnight.

“The book changed my entire perspective,” Hill said. “It’s nice to know now that there will always be enough.”

Block, who lives in Cincinatti, was in Cleveland in February with like-minded economist Olivia Saunders to talk with a group of some 150 people at [...]

Poetry Corner: Today

lmills — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:00:12 +0000

Today

Today I display happiness because yesterday taught me a lot.

Respectfully now I take one step at a time cautiously, I must say.

For me to get a second chance in society a question was asked, “Did I learn my lesson from the punishment I received?”

I reply, “No lesson have I learned, punished I was not.”

The only ones that were punished were my friends and family who loved, trusted and believed in me.

The ones that I betrayed.

I was in denial because of [...]