FutureHeights awards mini-grants to five Cleveland Heights projects

FutureHeights completed the spring 2018 round of its Neighborhood Mini-Grants Program, approving $3,577 in grants to support five neighborhood projects in Cleveland Heights.

To date, the community development corporation has awarded 23 grants—a total of $14,961. The grants are intended to spur small, grassroots projects to improve quality of life and build community. 

The mini-grants recipients are: 

CUE was awarded $1,000 for its Lower Shaker Lake Public Space Reclamation project, which seeks to restore and enhance the public space at the southwest intersection of Coventry Road and North Park Boulevard in Cleveland Heights. The site is sunken below street level and, as such, has become somewhat forgotten. The project will enable neighbors to reclaim the space in a way that honors and enhances its historical and ecological significance while adding social and recreational vibrancy.

Friends of the Delisle Center was granted $1,000 for its Beautifying the Delisle Center’s Outdoor Spaces project, which will create a Learning Circle Garden that will provide educational opportunities for students, and green space for the community. Project partners include Cleveland Heights High School students and faculty, Northern Ohio Perennials Society, Greener Heights, and Green Paradigm Partners. The CH-UH City School District, which owns Delisle Center site, in the Cedar Taylor Business District, shares the vision that a healthy habitat engenders a healthy community, and these habitats can be used for education. Friends of the Delisle Center believes that public green spaces should be environmentally healthy and used productively by the community. The group hopes the project will become a model for other public spaces in the community.

Montford Community Garden received a grant of $327 for its Gardening Set-Up Grants project. The garden was established to provide a focal point in the Noble neighborhood, where residents rent garden beds to grow vegetables and flowers. Garden members hope to draw people from the neighborhood together, to connect with one another and share gardening knowledge. With the grant, the group will provide scholarships for two new members/families. The scholarships will cover the yearly plot fee, plants, plant support and a fence. This project aims to make gardening affordable for residents, create a healthier community, and create opportunities to build community, as gardeners often serve as neighborhood ambassadors.

Noble Neighbors was awarded $500 for its Talent of the Heights project. The organization is hosting a communitywide event, We Are Noble, May 18–20, to celebrate and showcase the neighborhood. Talent of the Heights will take place on Saturday, May 19, on the vacant site that was once home to a McDonald’s restaurant in the Noble Nela Business District. The event will feature live music from local acts, and entertainment for families.

Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church was awarded $750 for its Beautify the Hill project. St Alban’s, located in the Coventry Village neighborhood, plans to update one of its most visible assets: the landscaping on the front hill, facing Euclid Heights Boulevard. The finished project will result in a space that is attractive, contains a healthy garden, and can be shared with the neighborhood.

If you have an idea to improve your neighborhood, FutureHeights invites you to apply for a grant. The next application deadline is Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. All new applicants should attend one of two information sessions, scheduled for Aug. 1 and 8, 6 p.m., at the FutureHeights office, 2843 Washington Blvd.

The FutureHeights Neighborhood Mini-Grants Program awards small grants of up to $1,000 to fund citizen-led neighborhood projects, events and activities that benefit Cleveland Heights. The program is guided by a grant-making committee comprising seven Cleveland Heights residents with a history of community involvement.

Learn more at www.futureheights.org/programs/community-building-programs or contact FutureHeights at sbasu@futureheights.org or 216-320-1423.