Strengthening Central, family by family
Situated in Cleveland’s Fifth Ward, the Central neighborhood is home to some of the nation’s oldest public housing properties, established in the wake of the New Deal. This childhood home of Jesse Owens, Carl and Louis Stokes and Langston Hughes has one of the highest concentrations of poverty in the city as a result of decades of redlining and other racist policy. Since 2010, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland has worked alongside Central neighborhood residents and partners to launch and grow the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood with the goal of helping every child achieve success in learning, work and life. Simultaneously, we’ve partnered with residents and organizations in Central to address the social determinants of health, ultimately to improve health outcomes.
Concentrated poverty calls for a concentrated response -- one that matches the spirit and dedication of Central residents who have been instrumental in Promise’s successes to date; the neighborhood’s physical, social and institutional assets; and the foundation’s core competencies in engaging and empowering residents, enrolling and coordinating partners, and improving health and education systems and supports. Potential lies in supporting the whole family to break the cycle of poverty.
Our goal is to create positive outcomes for the Central Neighborhood residents through a cradle to career pipeline of support. This support touches all aspects of life, from stable housing and healthy lifestyles to good schools and safe neighborhoods. The focus is both on creating new programs where gaps exist, and ensuring the effectiveness of existing programs through communication and collaboration.