Art Exhibition & Community Health Walk

8/7/2021 10:00:00 AM
East 39th St. Community Garden - Corner of East 39th Street & Community College Avenue in Central

C.O.P.E. – Central Opportunities for Purposeful Engagement is an intergenerational summer leadership camp for Ambassadors to train the next generation of peer leaders in Central. It launched in May 2021 through an ioby fundraising campaign.
 
On August 7, COPE is hosting a health walk and art exhibit to showcase the projects developed over the summer and continue to raise community awareness about health and wellness. Below is a brief schedule:
 
All events to be held at E 39^th St. Community Garden (East 39^th St. and Community College Ave.)

• 10 a.m. – Noon: COVID vaccines available, health screenings and information sessions with St. Vincent Charity Medical Center
  • Includes free food, produce giveaway

• 11 a.m.: Art exhibits unveiled, artists present   
  • “Hands Across Central” and “Becoming Unmasked” include 50 art pieces created by a multi-disciplinary group of donors, residents and health care professionals. The pieces showcase a unified vision of health in Central after COVID.
• Noon: Health Walk led by East Technical High School students

 
The community garden on East 39^th Street is stewarded by Promise Ambassador Andrea Johnson, whose family has owned the land for more than a century. Andrea recently produced a video about summer COPE activities in the garden. https://vimeo.com/575618666/825280055c
 
“We want to get folks outdoors, foster collaboration, grow produce, have fun, and create purposeful public art,” Johnson said. The garden is operated by CIPTT, Inc., and COPE activities are developed and implemented by Promise Ambassadors, through partnership with Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood.
 
The Garden & COPE sponsor the following programs, each with a Promise Ambassador leader:
Kings & Queens of Art – led by Gwen Garth
Merges art with activism to promote community leadership to become change agents in civic engagement, community building, and healing.
 
Sources of Strength (S.O.S.) – in partnership with Kareemah Rose
Offers suicide prevention training for peer leaders that help youth spread messages of Hope, Help, and Strength, using social media, art, drama, and video presentations. 
 
Men and Women of Central – led by Charmaine Jordan and Jerome Baker
Promotes community empowerment, health and wellness, and personal growth by sponsoring health walks and screenings.
 
Create Art Not Violence – led by Walter Patton 
Uses art therapy and videography for constructive engagement, creativity and self-expression to support social and emotional development. Each participant will identify a theme of interest to create poetry, rap, and art as a form of purposeful expression.
 
Natural Investments – led by Demetrius Carter 
Employs youth for landscaping and lawn maintenance in the Central area to teach the importance of teamwork, gratitude, and determination. NI will maintain the E. 39th garden site, in partnership with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress's Clean & Green Truck.
 
Neighborhood partners include Burten, Bell & Carr Development, Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), MyCom, OSU Summer Sprout Program, Central residents, Sisters of Charity Foundation, IOBY, Resilient Youth, Men and Women of Central, Inc., Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, and CIPTT, Inc.