Friday, July 17, 2015

Dream Neighborhood initiative presented to City Planning Commission

Following a series of neighborhood meetings over the last six months, Cleveland City Councilmen Joe Cimperman and Brian Cummins led a presentation to the City Planning Commission on the Dream Neighborhood initiative.  The Councilmen were joined by Samantha Peddicord, Executive Assistant for Ward 3 and Tony Bango,  Housing Development Coordinator, Stockyard, Clark Fulton & Brooklyn Centre Community Development Office who have both been instrumental in developing the project.

Classroom. Teacher and Students at Thomas Jefferson International
Newcomers Academy, CMSD News Bureau, 3/10/2015.

The Dream Neighborhood project seeks to build off of existing community assets and strengthen a portion of the Stockyard neighborhood with a general boundary area of Fulton Road to the east, W. 58th Street to the west, I-90 to the north and Storer Avenue to the south.  The neighborhood area is centered around Thomas Jefferson International Newcomers Academy (TJ).

Target area for the Dream Neighborhood, centered around Thomas Jefferson
International Newcomers Academy located at 3145 West 46th Street


NEIGHBORHOOD ASSETS
The main neighborhood assets the project draws from are:
  1. Thomas Jefferson International Newcomers Academy & Students (over 500 plus), along with their families. TJ is a unique Pre-K to 12th-Grade Cleveland municipal school that serves as an English Immersion program for Limited English Proficiency Students.
  2. Refugee and Immigrant families already located in the area - 33 refugees settled in this area in 2014.
  3. Affordable housing and commercial space opportunities
  4. Clark Recreation Center and The Salvation Army 
  5. The presence of 850 manufacturing jobs
  6. A presence of community organizations and history of neighborhood involvement from residents.
  7. Exciting new projects in adjacent areas - La Villa, Hildebrandt Building and Gypsy Brewery
  8. Public Services - Second District police and good Public Transportation

PRIMARY PROJECT ELEMENTS
  1. Social Services and Community Inclusion
    • Refugee Related Organizations
    • Medical Organization
    • Social Services
    • Residents
  2. Housing
    • Create housing opportunities for refugees
    • Reduce vacancy of existing housing stock
  3. Economic Development

    • Low interest loans for new small businesses
    • Directly addressing vacant commercial space
(See presentation document below for more details)


PROJECT PARTNERS




The initiative represents an unprecedented collaboration between government, non-profit, for-profit and faith-based organizations that include:

A visit to the International Newcomers Academy.  By Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer, 12/9/2010.
Housed in Thomas Jefferson School on West 46th Street, the International Newcomers Academy is one of Cleveland's newest schools, and perhaps its most unusual. Its 200 students are all new to this country, and come from countries across the globe. From pre-K through 12th grade, they learn English through total immersion. The goal is to acclimate the students as quickly as possible, then transfer them to a mainstream school.



The following is the presentation provided today at he Cleveland Planning Commission.  The presentation was an advisory and informative presentation that did not seek an official approval or endorsement of the plan,  Community meetings and project partnership meetings will continue and progress will reported on as the initiative develops.



Related articles and information:

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