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I am writing on behalf
of the Board of Trustees of the Shaker Square Area
Development Corporation. For close to 35 years, our
organization has worked to revitalize and sustain
our commercial districts and neighborhoods. We have
worked to empower the people who live and work in
our community to play an active role in our work.
In 2005, in an
effort to improve our revitalization efforts, SHAD
collaborated with Buckeye Area Development
Corporation (BADC) on the Buckeye Larchmere
Community Planning Initiative. With the financial
support of Neighbor-hood Progress, Inc (NPI) and the
Saint Luke’s Foundation, these two neighborhoods
embarked on a process that has continued to benefit
the residents and merchants to this day. When you
think about Harvey Rice School and Rice Library; or
when you enjoy artistic murals and sculptures you
can look to the conversations that took place almost
a decade ago. These efforts created the results we
see today. These conversations helped our
communities learn about each other and we were
surprised at the fact that while we are each unique,
we had more in common than we ever imagined. We
realized we share community assets that we both
valued greatly - among them Shaker Square, the Rapid
Transit, and most significantly, committed,
passionate people.
Since that time,
SHAD and BADC have continued to collaborate on
several fronts. We continue to work to improve our
quality of life for residents through housing
development and home repair programs. Through the
help of our commercial development programs and
creative improvements like landscaping and public
art, our commercial districts continue to thrive. In
recent years, along with the negative downturn of
the economy, non-profit organizations have had to
struggle with funding challenges in order to stay in
business. The downturn has made it necessary for
both private foundations along with federal and city
governments to significantly cut funding to
non-profit community development groups - SHAD and
BADC included. In fact, several Cleveland community
organizations have closed or severely reduced
service in past years as a result. SHAD remains - as
always - committed to the health and sustainability
of our communities despite shrinking resources.
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So, last year, we
decided to be proactive about the situation and have
a conversation about how we can expand our
collaboration with BADC and use the limited funds to
the advantage of our communities. With the financial
support of NPI, our key funder and partner, the
Board of Trustees of BADC and SHAD created a
12-member steering committee to work with a
consultant to explore various options for
collaboration. The consultant’s task began with
several focus groups of community leaders throughout
both communities. From these meetings we learned
that people are still very passionate about our
community - whether it is preserving the identity of
each individual neighborhood and commercial
district; respecting the voice of each resident,
merchant and property owner; or upholding the legacy
of collaboration throughout the community and taking
advantage of the strength of our collective assets.
A lot of sweat, anxiety and
passion have gone into this conversation over the
last year and we still are not finished. Our
conversation must acknowledge both the financial and
business realities of funding and the essential
needs of the community. Unfortunately, the current
economic situation is causing a dramatic change in
our organizations’ future - and we think it can be for
the better. We at SHAD feel that, together with
BADC, we can create an organization that builds upon
the legacy of both organizations. But, this change
cannot and will not happen without you - the
community. Look for future communications in the
coming months for more insight into our
organizational strategy as well as our plan for a
community engagement process that will give everyone
a voice in moving our community forward.
Respectfully,
K enisha
Pierce
Board President
Shaker Square Area Development Corp. |