REALNEO for all - Education

GCLAC meeting offers illuminating insights on Lead Safe Living

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:21:02 -0400

The lastest GCLAC Lead Safe Living meeting this past Monday, July 14, at the Lutheran Ministries building on the west side was an informative and particularly timely session, given the imminent arrival of Ohio Lead Awareness Week, July 21-25. Events have been planned in conjunction with this statewide effort by various collaborators comprising the GCLAC to offer important educational and testing services. All children 6 and under will receive free lead screenings throughout the week and a special press conference, featuring Mayor Eric Brewer of East Cleveland, (among others) will kick things off.

Frog Went a Beggin'

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:06:09 -0400

(Or scraping the bottom of the pond)

Press Conference in recognition of Ohio Lead Awareness Week

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:50:14 -0400

Start: 2008/07/21 - 11:00am

End: 2008/07/21 - 12:00pm

The Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council (GCLAC) will be holding a Press Conference in recognition of Ohio Lead Awareness Week, which will take place the week of July 20th – 26th, 2008. Scheduled speakers will address the significant progress made in reducing the number of children affected by lead paint hazards, as well as the importance of continued vigilance and prevention in light of new evidence linking childhood lead exposure to crime, low school-performance, as well as numerous lifelong health problems. Scheduled speakers, representing a City, County, and State unified effort to eliminate the dangers of childhood lead poisoning are:

Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners
Mayor Frank Jackson, City of Cleveland
Mayor Eric Brewer, City of East Cleveland
State Representative Mike Foley, District 14
Stuart Greenburg, Executive Director, Environmental Health Watch
Nakiaa Robinson, Program Manager, Office of Early Childhood, Invest in Children

A Star is Born: Community Transformation at the Nexus of Social and Environmental Justice

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:44:49 -0400

Back in January of 2007 I first proposed the application of innovative, sustainably powered aquaponics in tandem with organic farming to uplift underprivileged communities and resolve urban blight. East Cleveland, where we have worked for years now, to facilitate positive change, remains a tremendous opportunity for Urban aquaponics integration, especially given the extraordinary connections falling into place recently toward the Star Neighborhood Vision. A two-year quest to secure financially viable and socially redeeming use for the old Hough Bakeries building has finally manifested, through trial and tribulation, with the likely emergence of multiple schools at the Star Village, as it is now called, on Lakeview in East Cleveland. REALNEO and Star Neighborhood Development founder Norm Roulet deserves kudos for perservering through political turbulence and facilitating the key connections to make this work.

Ingenuity Cool

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:47:07 -0400

Graphics speak louder than words, but, of course, the kids know that!!!

I GRO Cuba to Grow NEO?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:36:37 -0400

Start: 2008/07/15 - 6:00pm

End: 2008/07/15 - 7:00pm

I thought perhaps I could stump City Fresh's Maurice Small with the question "what county in the world is the leader in urban farming?", but he didn't hesitate responding Cuba. And the July 8, 2008 I GRO EC roundtable concluded we need to plan a best practices mission to Havana. Next Tuesday, July 15, 6-7 PM, come to the Independent Green Republic Of Star Village, at the Star/Hough Bakeries Complex, to help plan our mission to Cuba and discuss other plans for transforming our region through urban farming.

Let Them Eat Fresh, Local, Organic Raspberries and Blackberries They Picked In Their Neighborhood For Free

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:08:10 -0400

Start: 2008/07/08 - 6:00pm

End: 2008/07/08 - 7:00pm

When our neighbor Dr. Pat Blochowiak told us to stop by her garden and pick some raspberries, blackberries and snow peas, I didn't realize the depths of her bounty... or how great blackberries may be. As my kids picked through nature, they chomped down probably $50 worth of the best food in town, when you may find food so good. As I looked at the bowls of berries collected in short time, I felt blessed by my community and nature. Over a fresh berries and whipped organic cream desert, our family celebrated Summer and life in the best way. All that is the certain promise of East Cleveland, with community farming. Help plan that reality with Maurice Small and others as we meet again, today, for what has become an every-other-Tuesday City Fresh I GRO EC brainstorming session, in East Cleveland. This week, we'll meet at the Hough/Star Bakeries complex, and also visit Brown's Market, which we plan to convert into a pilot City Fresh Market.

Congratulations to Shaw's 'Best Band In The World'

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:06:32 -0400

When people wonder what is the value of a local daily newspaper, I must point to the story of Shaw High School Band, which was invited to China to perform but could not afford to do that. The Plain Dealer article "Bang a Drum, Proudly", by Connie Schulz, raised enough attention and funding to get them there, from where they just returned in triumph (nicely covered in the PD here, today)... a $500,000 whirlwind phenomenon all occurring in less than 6 months!

Question of the Day: How Is Your Victory Garden?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:40:56 -0400

Now that my family has land that we may use for a while, we are growing our own food... and enough for many other families, it seems. One $1.07 packet of radish seeds planted in May is already many pounds of crisp, bright, beautiful, healthy fresh veggies... and eating my first fresh radish of my life taught me radishes are actually delicious. Same for Kale, and all the varieties of lettuce covering our farmland... really fresh pesto is to die for... can't wait for the carrots and shallots!

NEO Excellence Roundtable: Urban Farming with Maurice Small

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:35:35 -0400

Start: 2008/06/24 - 6:00pm

End: 2008/06/24 - 7:00pm

Two weeks ago, City Fresh's Maurice Small met with friends in East Cleveland to discuss City Fresh, urban farming, and how we may convert a typical urban convenient store, Brown's Market, into a pilot City Fresh local foods market. During our discussions, Maurice mentioned that a dedicated urban farmer may earn more than $30,000 per year from sales of food grown on one typical urban lot (say 1/10th an acre). That being the case, and considering our ever-growing need and realigning demand for locally grown food, and the fact food may be grown locally as cost effectively as elsewhere in the world, it occurred to me that the highest and best use for most of the land now cleared, abandoned, blighted and wasted in our urban neighborhoods is for urban farming. So that is a use we are now planning to be core to redevelopment of the Star Neighborhood. Intrigued? Discuss and plan for this reality with Maurice and friends this Tuesday, from 6-7 PM, at that house on Roxbury, in East Cleveland. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

Update on Plain Dealer, Free Times & Scene Happening

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:32:10 -0400

Here is a good account of the alternative newspaper sale from John Ettorre on Working with Words. It helps fill out the details of the story:

The Gulf in Golf

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:20:10 -0400

Not only does the PD take on golf, Page 1 - front and center But Scene pitches in (sorry) with a story on the changing face of highschool baseball.

I GRO EC for City Fresh

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:46:05 -0400

Maurice Small is the most economically and ecologically sensible planner I know.

Joe Stanley, Sudhir Kade and I have been brainstorming with City Fresh's Maurice Small about "I GRO EC" - Independent Green Republic Of East Cleveland. City Fresh already operates a Fresh Stop at Huron Road Hospital - which Maurice reports is doing great - and is active in community farming in East Cleveland. Recently, we've been discussing City Fresh having an involvement converting Brown's Convenient store into a pilot City Fresh Market, which could offer a paradigm-shifting model for bringing local food, farming and their economies into very needy urban neighborhoods, in very innovative and important ways.

community development lessons from rough rider, James Levin

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:07:00 -0400

James Levin (seated) with the Brew Crew at Carnegie Hall - photo by Sandy Kish

Could we have this much fun in Cleveland???

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:18:35 -0400

Solar Cup 2008......

The Solar Cup Program

Solar Cup is a seven-month program that begins in the fall, in which high school teams totaling about 900 students build and race solar-powered boats at Lake Skinner, in Temecula Valley, learning about conservation of natural resources, electrical and mechanical engineering, problem solving and much more.