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Welcome to Faces of the Town, a special 2020 Annual Report from MidTown Cleveland.
These stories show how our neighborhood’s growth and success is driven not just by our tremendous MidTown team, but by the work, passion, and dedication of individual people. In this year where we are physically distanced from one another, our annual report will focus solely on the portraits and words of the people who are going above and beyond, in ways big and small, to make MidTown a better place.
Daniel Gray-Kontar
Executive Artistic Director, Twelve Literary Arts
Daniel Gray-Kontar is an artist, organizer, facilitator, and visionary who joined the East 66th Street TLCI study as one of two artist-consultants. His community-based arts practice involving youth facilitators was essential for a strong youth engagement during the time of COVID-19, and has led to the establishment of an ongoing community youth council.
Daniel, with his organization Twelve Literary Arts, is also a program partner for the international mural program hosted by MidTown and powered by POW! WOW! Worldwide.
“What Lexy and I have been able to both bring to the table is this understanding that artists are always engaged in the process of working with and through and for community. So it’s all about bringing our process as artists and doing that work [to] economic development and literal structural change. So it’s been amazing to work with MidTown in this way.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BRANDON PECK
MIDTOWN CLEVELAND
AMBER FORD
Daniel Gray-Kontar
Executive Artistic Director,
Twelve Literary Arts
Gwendolyn Garth
Founder, Kings and Queens of Art
Leo’s Listening Party Steering Committee
Gwendolyn Garth is a leader personified. Born in Hough, she now lives in the Central neighborhood and is engaged with a wide variety of arts, civic, and community causes throughout Glenville, Hough, Central, Fairfax, and MidTown.
She is part of the Leo’s Listening Party Steering Committee, a group of residents and activists who are passionate about bringing history forward. What has kept her involved with Leo’s and MidTown is the commitment to action. “I’m not big on a lot of talk, and MidTown they are action people I call em “Do it” people. People who talk a little bit and go out and do something. To improve our neighborhoods we gotta not just sit at the table we have to go outside and mingle with the people and see what works.”
COVID-19 has not stopped Gwen from her community work - she recently received a grant to hold an outdoor screening of the Harriet Tubman movie in her neighborhood. “It’s about educating people and keeping people’s spirits up because I think once we get past the safety and central needs people need to do something entertaining.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
AMBER FORD
Gwendolyn Garth
Founder, Kings and Queens of Art
Leo’s Listening Party Organizer
Dongyi Tian
AsiaTown Sweetheart Co-Founder & Resident
“I love baking and initiated the "AsiaTown Sweetheart" project with the other three moms in the neighborhood. It's a great community project… [it] gives me a lot of hope during this difficult time. It brought warmth to others, and also demonstrates another way for my kid to interact with people.”
Dongyi Tian wanted to find a way to help her community during the pandemic, and partnered with three other moms in the neighborhood on the AsiaTown Sweetheart project. With a grant from Neighborhood Connections, Dongyi and her friends made home-baked treats to deliver to isolated residents of the neighborhood. The project brought she and others hope in a dark time, connections to other neighbors and to the AsiaTown team at MidTown, and ideas of starting a baking business.
“Because of language barriers, information and community resources were not available to us (previously). But now, we have an AsiaTown team in the community, which starts to make me feel some sense of belonging here. The "AsiaTown Sweetheart" grant helped me share the desserts I made, which encouraged me to have my home business for baking.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
ASIATOWN SWEETHEART
ASIATOWN SWEETHEART
AMBER FORD
Dongyi Tian
AsiaTown Sweetheart Co-Founder
& AsiaTown Resident
Scott Mueller
Chief Executive Officer, Dealer Tire
Scott Mueller is CEO of Dealer Tire, one of MidTown’s largest and fastest growing employers. Dealer Tire has been in MidTown since 1963, and Scott’s decision to double down on the neighborhood by rehabbing the Victory building at East 71st and Euclid helped catalyze additional growth and investment into the neighborhood.
Dealer Tire decided to remain in MidTown after a national search and evaluating locations across Northeast Ohio. Since then, Dealer Tire has continued to grow with 500+ employees in MidTown.
“We recruit associates from all over the country - really all over the world. We have operations in China and Canada. We bring people here from everywhere. And our new facility, it's amazing how many people love it and feel it's got a Silicon Valley vibe to it.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BARNEY TAXEL
DEALER TIRE / FRANK MILLER
BARNEY TAXEL
Scott Mueller
Chief Executive Officer
Dealer Tire
Evelyn Burnett
Co-founder & partner, ThirdSpace Action Lab
Evelyn Burnett, Mordecai Cargill, and Maura Garven of Third Space Action Lab are entrepreneurs, thought partners, tough question askers, rabble rousers, skilled facilitators, champions for equity, and above all else tremendous friends to the MidTown team.
TSAL has partnered with MidTown for several years as MidTown wrestles with its role in undoing racial inequities, particularly around real estate development, that it historically played a role in creating, helping the MidTown team build a deeper understanding of what it means to operationalize racial equity.
“MidTown has done some really incredible creative soul-focused work to try to connect with community and try to close a gap between the institutions and the organizations and the people who will experience the decisions that are being made by MidTown and its stakeholders," says Mordecai Cargill. "I’m hopeful that this is a moment that will continue to be as imaginative, as creative, as visionary as possible for what the future of this neighborhood is going to become.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Evelyn Burnett
AMBER FORD
Mordecai Cargill
AMBER FORD
Maura Garven
AMBER FORD
Evelyn Burnett
Co-Founder & Partner
ThirdSpace Action Lab
Lillian Kuri
Senior Vice President for Strategy, Cleveland Foundation
Lillian Kuri has been a true visionary and champion for MidTown and the community, spearheading the Foundation’s move to the neighborhood and catalyzing a variety of community-focused planning efforts to strengthen the quality and connectivity of place in the neighborhood.
Lillian, along with her partners at the Cleveland Foundation, has worked to align public, nonprofit, and private sector organizations around a comprehensive set of projects to create more connected and equitable neighborhoods.
“It is such an incredible moment for MidTown, that really speaks to the leadership of the organization and the board and the staff. It’s an incredible team of people that I feel honored to work with and collaborate with in a way that I know is going to have incredible impact on the community”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
EUCLID & EAST 66TH
AMBER FORD
Lillian Kuri
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR STRATEGY
CLEVELAND FOUNDATION
Lemma Getachew
Owner, Developer, Inspirion Group
Lemma Getachew and Alexis Mendoza are putting the finishing touches on the newest project to be completed in the neighborhood - the historic rehabilitation of a long vacant former office building at 3101 Euclid into eighty apartments known as “The MidTown” which will open this fall.
The project obtained an award of state historic tax credits, something which may become more common once MidTown is designated as a historic district. Lemma, the building’s owner and developer, and Alexis, the property manager, are excited to open the doors and welcome residents. “We are definitely excited to have expanded into the Midtown area," says Mendoza. "We’re happy to be here.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BARNEY TAXEL
BARNEY TAXEL
BARNEY TAXEL
AMBER FORD
Lemma Getachew
Owner & Developer
Inspirion Group
Tiffany Graham
Senior Project Director, LAND Studio
Tiffany Graham, Greg Peckham, are Joe Lanzilotta are part of an incredible team at LAND Studio who have been helping MidTown Cleveland, Inc. and other institutions in MidTown elevate the quality of place in the neighborhood.
With an ambitious agenda to bring new parks, trails, murals, and public art to MidTown - all shaped by community voices - there is no shortage of work to do.
“I think that Midtown has a really fantastic group of people who are all working together and do an amazing job of connecting people around the community and they are an amazing asset," Graham says. "I’m happy to work with them!”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Tiffany Graham
AMBER FORD
Greg Peckham
AMBER FORD
Joe Lanzilotta
AMBER FORD
Tiffany Graham
Senior Project Director
LAND studio
Beverly Williams
Resident and Volunteer
“Before the virus we were working on getting transpiration to Dave’s Market. Getting produce delivered to the building. Volunteering at MidTown. Working on getting PPE for the seniors in the community. Bringing Jazz and black entrepreneurs back to Euclid Ave.”
Beverly Williams’s world is always bustling, and she brings a smile and a sense of history to her volunteer work in the neighborhood. A resident of the Church Square Commons apartment building and an original member of the Leo’s Listening Party steering committee, Beverly jumped at the chance to get involved with MidTown when the MidTown team presented to residents at her building several years ago. “We started from ground one and were continuing to grow. We’re building something beautiful, and that’s communication!” That communication at the heart of her efforts with MidTown.Making sure her voice and others are heard when it comes to shaping the future of the neighborhood.
“Before, it was always ‘their way.’ Now they’re getting input from me – our goals, our dreams. It can’t be their way all of the time, it has to be a mixture … ‘If you make the batter right, the cake will be perfect!’”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Leo's Listening Party
BARNEY TAXEL
AMBER FORD
Beverly Williams
Resident &
Volunteer
Carla Gervais
Centering Pregnancy Coordinator
Facilitator | Lactation consultant | Community health work student
University Hospitals Rainbow Center for Women and Children
April Owens and Carla Gervais have been on the front lines of addressing a community health crisis that predated and was exacerbated by COVID-19, helping pregnant women with intense, personalized group prenatal care.
“Centering is a platform where we have prenatal care visits, wrap-around services, an abundance of resources, you name it, and try to bring it to the patients to meet them where they are without judgment,” explained Carla. “We circle up and sit down to talk about pregnancy, concern[s], and thoughts based on where they are gestationally. So if they are all four months, we talk about things that happen during the fourth month. Usually, they're going through the same things, physical changes, emotional changes, and getting ready for the new little one that's getting ready to change everything for them,” added April.
During COVID-19, April and Carla rose to the challenge of staying connected to moms and providing support, whether that meant care packages for families with COVID-19 infections, doing grocery shopping, or dropping off supplies.
Throughout the crisis, April has been inspired by her team at UH. “When you work with people who have the same heart as you do, it makes it all the better. You can’t show your heart to people unless you’re surrounded by people who feel the same way, so when you can team up and have the support, it makes it all the better. You have other people who are willing to pitch in and help others, and that’s amazing. My centering team is like a family, and we all share the same heart, and that because a lot of us have been through what our patients are going through.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Carla Gervais
AMBER FORD
April Owens
AMBER FORD
Carla Gervais
Centering Pregnancy Coordinator
UH RAINBOW CENTER FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN
April Owens
Centering Pregnancy Coordinator
Lactation consultant | Community health worker
University Hospitals Rainbow Center for Women and Children
April Owens and Carla Gervais have been on the front lines of addressing a community health crisis that predated and was exacerbated by COVID-19, helping pregnant women with intense, personalized group prenatal care.
“Centering is a platform where we have prenatal care visits, wrap-around services, an abundance of resources, you name it, and try to bring it to the patients to meet them where they are without judgment,” explained Carla. “We circle up and sit down to talk about pregnancy, concern[s], and thoughts based on where they are gestationally. So if they are all four months, we talk about things that happen during the fourth month. Usually, they're going through the same things, physical changes, emotional changes, and getting ready for the new little one that's getting ready to change everything for them,” added April.
During COVID-19, April and Carla rose to the challenge of staying connected to moms and providing support, whether that meant care packages for families with COVID-19 infections, doing grocery shopping, or dropping off supplies.
Throughout the crisis, April has been inspired by her team at UH. “When you work with people who have the same heart as you do, it makes it all the better. You can’t show your heart to people unless you’re surrounded by people who feel the same way, so when you can team up and have the support, it makes it all the better. You have other people who are willing to pitch in and help others, and that’s amazing. My centering team is like a family, and we all share the same heart, and that because a lot of us have been through what our patients are going through.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
April Owens
AMBER FORD
Carla Gervais
AMBER FORD
April Owens
Centering Pregnancy Coordinator
UH RAINBOW CENTER FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Ron Fuqua
Resident & Creator, Leo’s Casino Radio
Executive Director, Extravagant Care Services
“I’m excited about ... the new ideas and innovation that are coming into our community. We have a lot of exciting things for the future.”
Ron Fuqua is a resident, a visionary, an entrepreneur, and an activist. A thirty-year resident of MidTown, Ron has seen a lot of change in the neighborhood, and has poured his passion and energy into ensuring the legacy of Leo’s Casino plays a role in the future of MidTown. Inspired by the energy around the Leo’s Listening Parties, Ron created Leo’s Casino Radio and is promoting the idea of a Leo’s Casino Arts and Cultural complex on Euclid Avenue.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Ron & Maria Fuqua at home on E. 75th Street
BARNEY TAXEL
Leo's Listening Party
BARNEY TAXEL
AMBER FORD
Ron Fuqua
CREATOR, LEO’S CASINO RADIO
Resident
Antwoine Washington
Artist & Co-founder, Museum of Creative Human Art
Antwoine Washington will make his creativity and artistic mark on MidTown in several ways. His original art already appears in the neighborhood in recently installed utility box wraps along E. 55th Street featuring significant Black figures such as Langston Hughes, Ruby Dee, and Carl Stokes.
A larger mural will appear as part of the international mural program hosted by MidTown and powered by POW! WOW! Worldwide, now postponed to 2021, as Antwoine is one of ten local artists selected from over 200 submissions. “Both of those [utility box wraps] I would say that this is one of the most fun projects that I’ve worked on as of today… Just trying to get my work to fit comfortably and speak comfortably to my people, hopefully so that it can raise and elevate consciousness to liberate my people.”
Antwoine is most excited about “all of the great beautification projects that you guys are working on, actually giving Black artists the opportunities to raise and lift their voices and elevate themselves in a way. Even just seeing what you guys are doing with POW! WOW! that’s coming up. With so many great black artists, artists coming nationally, internationally.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BARNEY TAXEL
AMBER FORD
Antwoine Washington
ARTIST & CO-FOUNDER,
MUSEUM OF CREATIVE HUMAN ART
Lauren Pearce
Artist, Mural festival participant
Lauren Pearce painted one of MidTown’s first large-scale murals at the intersection of E. 36th and Euclid, bringing color and life to the former Hatten’s building in 2018.
She is partnering with artist Antwoine Washington on another large-scale mural for the 2021 MidTown international mural program powered by POW! WOW! Worldwide.
“I am very excited for this mural project, I’m excited to be working with Antwoine. We’ve been talking about things that have been very important to him and I and our uprisings… our upbringing. Our upbringing! Which it feels kind of feels like an uprising too! But I think the honesty that is coming from what we want to showcase is incredibly important… I just think that being a Black woman and being a Black man artist in Cleveland where there is not a whole lot of representation there is incredibly … it’s important and I feel honored to be included in a project where we get to do that and also represent our community.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BARNEY TAXEL
AMBER FORD
Lauren Pearce
Artist & Muralist
Mural Festival Participant
Paul Deutsch
PRINCIPAL & COO, BIALOSKY CLEVELAND
Incoming MidTown Board Chair
Paul Deutsch is a relative newcomer to the MidTown neighborhood, moving here with the architecture firm Bialosky just four years ago. In that time he has brought his experience and talent as an architect and planner to MidTown, joining the board, serving as development committee chair, helping with a variety of planning efforts in the neighborhood, and stepping this Fall into the role of board chair.
Paul has a historic connection to the neighborhood as well - his grandfather worked in the Warner & Swasey factory.
“I passed this building everyday my whole adult life because my father used to work on Carnegie Avenue downtown and I remember him telling me the story of how his father, my grandfather, worked in this building during World War II. He made parts for lathes that were used to make the tank barrels for the tanks that were made at the I-X Center during the war.”
Paul is thrilled with the decision his firm made to move to MidTown, and the Bialosky team is finding ways to stay connected during the pandemic. “We are actually starting to come back to the office in small forces for meetings and all that but it's turned out to be actually a pretty positive experience. I think we’ve found new ways to work and we've managed to stay productive and stay busy.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Bialosky Cleveland
Bialosky's offices sit just down Carnegie from the Warner & Swasey complex.
MIDTOWN CLEVELAND
AMBER FORD
Paul Deutsch
PRINCIPAL & COO, BIALOSKY
INCOMING BOARD CHAIR
Akin Affrica
Owner, Angie’s Soul Cafe
Three Black Knights Real Estate Investments
Akin Affrica has been connected to MidTown his whole life – he was born and raised at East 69th and Carnegie and he and his family have owned businesses in the neighborhood on and off ever since.
A restaurateur, property owner, and developer, Akin recently purchased and rehabbed the former Hot Sauce Williams building on E. 79th and Carnegie for a new Angie’s Soul Food Cafe. “My mother and father [have] always done some type of business in MidTown and I’ve always had some type of interest in the MidTown area and I decided to come back after I got a little older and ... invest because of that personal connection and I see the potential of growth.”
Since Angie’s opened, Akin has purchased additional properties on Carnegie and Cedar and is in the process of developing them for retail and entertainment. COVID-19 came at a tough time for Angie’s, which had been open less than a year on Carnegie, but Akin was able to keep his staff on at least part time and is now back to full capacity.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
AMBER FORD
Akin Affrica
OWNER, ANGIE’S SOUL CAFE
THREE BLACK KNIGHTS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS
Lisa Litton
FRONTLINE WORKER, DAVE'S MARKETS
MANAGER, COMMUNITY TEACHING KITCHEN
Lisa Litton is one of the frontline heroes in MidTown, working tirelessly to ensure that Dave’s Market and Eatery can continue to provide safe access to food throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
A longtime Dave’s employee, Lisa works hard to make sure customers and employees feel as safe as possible in the store. She also oversees the community teaching kitchen and is excited about how the store and the kitchen bring the community together.
“I’m excited that it brings the community together, and just seeing different developments that are going on in the community, and just that it’s bringing all of the community together, and building up the city. And the fact that it’s just building up the city and the area and the community.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
AMBER FORD
AMBER FORD
Lisa Litton
Community Teaching Kitchen Mgr.
Dave's Markets
Julia Kuo
Illustrator, Mural Festival Participant
Julia Kuo’s art has helped bring vibrancy, color, and celebration of culture to the AsiaTown neighborhood.
She designed the blade signs that were installed to create a sense of place in AsiaTown as well as a utility box wrap on Payne Avenue, created multi-lingual census posters and artwork, and will install a mural as part of the 2021 MidTown international mural festival powered by POW! WOW! Worldwide.
“I’ve never been part of such a permanent, public art project before, and even seeing how it was fabricated was really exciting.”
“It’s been really great to find a home here, to feel like there is the Asian community that I missed from back home, to see investment go into it and watch new restaurants pop up and to watch the neighborhood become more beautiful too.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
AMBER FORD
Julia Kuo
Illustrator &
Mural Festival Participant
B. Landrum
Musician & Producer, LandMine Music Productions
Caffeine Beats Artist
“I am excited about the further development and for artists to connect to build a strong network that represents this culturally diverse neighborhood.”
With the pandemic causing widespread cancellations of events throughout Cleveland, MidTown moved its planned Caffeine Beats concert series to a virtual format, enlisting singer and songwriter B. Landrum to stream a musical performance on Facebook and Instagram live. The Caffeine Beats series aims to connect younger generations to the musical legacy in the neighborhood. B.Landrum, and many artists, have struggled through the pandemic but do their best to keep a positive outlook.
“[COVID-19] affected our ability to perform live. Was performing throughout the week but those events were taken from us because we had to protect us. Not going to be able to travel nationally or internationally - Americans aren’t allowed in most borders. Forced me to write more and produce more. Built a studio and working with other artists to uplift to spread a message of love, peace and unity.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Leo's Listening Party
AMBER FORD
B. Landrum
Musician & Producer
Caffeine Beats Artist
Lexy Lattimore
Multi-disciplinary artist, choreographer, social worker, entrepreneur Lattimore Productions
Lexy Lattimore is a multi-talented artist that worked closely in 2019 to help organize and facilitate dialogues for MidTown’s placekeeping efforts around Leo’s Casino. In 2020, she partnered with Daniel Gray-Kontar through a National Endowment of the Arts grant, as artist-organizers for the E. 66th Street TLCI streetscape design update, leading on virtual community engagement efforts during the challenging time of COVID-19 and introducing the “dance break” concept to lighten up and energize long zoom meetings.
“I’m excited about all the people I’m meeting. Hough, and MidTown, and just really all of Ward 7, you know, MidTown’s territory -- there are such engaged entrepreneurs, activists, artists, leaders who are out here grinding doing this work so when people ask me about my work in MidTown, I’m never inventing anything or creating anything, it’s always a matter of creating space for folks to do what they do.”
Lexy has a bevy of projects she plans to pursue with the community, each of which are aimed at lifting and celebrating the voices and talents in the neighborhood. “How are we going to come together and produce something--no matter how we feel about each individual -- how are we going to produce something collectively that can help to move our agenda forward. And so I’m interested in utilizing storytelling and the art of collective artmaking to elevate some of these conversations that are already happening in neighborhoods. I want to take our stories and put them in the spotlight – literally.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BRANDON PECK
MIDTOWN CLEVELAND
AMBER FORD
Lexy Lattimore
ARTIST, SOCIAL WORKER
LATTIMORE PRODUCTIONS
Alana Ferguson
Community Organizer, New Voices for Reproductive Justice
Hough Resident Community
Connections Committee Member
Alana Ferguson is passionate about ensuring Black and Brown people are able to take advantage of all the opportunities coming to the neighborhood, and has translated her passion into active involvement and advocacy.
A Hough resident, Alana is a member of MidTown’s Community Connections Committee, the UH/MidTown Community Advisory Board, and the University Hospitals Associate Foundation Board, and is active with Neighborhood Connections. The pandemic has presented challenges and forced her to innovate.
“During COVID-19 It has been really rough with being able to get out in the community in the way I’m used to. And really meet people and interact with them and make sure they receive the things they so desperately need. Now things have gone to digital, especially some of the organizing, so it’s been hard connecting with people.”
Alana’s involvement, advocacy, and commitment to the neighborhood has helped her make an impact despite the pandemic, and her work helps strengthen MidTown and is part of the fabric of strong communities.
“I’m really excited about the changing demographics in MidTown, and I hope that since we all have different perspectives on life that I can see more equity and more value added to the neighborhood.”
Alana Ferguson
HOUGH RESIDENT, COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
NEW VOICES FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
Joe Lanzilotta
Project Manager, LAND Studio
Tiffany Graham, Greg Peckham, are Joe Lanzilotta are part of an incredible team at LAND Studio who have been helping MidTown Cleveland, Inc. and other institutions in MidTown elevate the quality of place in the neighborhood.
With an ambitious agenda to bring new parks, trails, murals, and public art to MidTown - all shaped by community voices - there is no shortage of work to do.
“I think that Midtown has a really fantastic group of people who are all working together and do an amazing job of connecting people around the community and they are an amazing asset," Graham says. "I’m happy to work with them!”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Joe Lanzilotta
AMBER FORD
Greg Peckham
AMBER FORD
Tiffany Graham
AMBER FORD
Joe Lanzilotta
Project Manager
LAND studio
Greg Peckham
Executive Director, LAND Studio
Tiffany Graham, Greg Peckham, are Joe Lanzilotta are part of an incredible team at LAND Studio who have been helping MidTown Cleveland, Inc. and other institutions in MidTown elevate the quality of place in the neighborhood.
With an ambitious agenda to bring new parks, trails, murals, and public art to MidTown - all shaped by community voices - there is no shortage of work to do.
“I think that Midtown has a really fantastic group of people who are all working together and do an amazing job of connecting people around the community and they are an amazing asset," Graham says. "I’m happy to work with them!”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Greg Peckham
AMBER FORD
Tiffany Graham
AMBER FORD
Joe Lanzilotta
AMBER FORD
Greg Peckham
Executive Director
LAND studio
Carolyn Watts Allen
Retired Attorney, Hough Resident, Community Leader
The epitome of a leader, Carolyn Watts Allen is a longtime resident of the Hough neighborhood and former public safety director for the City of Cleveland, and has engaged with verve and passion on an array of volunteer committees with MidTown.
Her passion for the community inspires future generations, and she adds tremendous insight and value to both the Hough and MidTown communities.
Carolyn was one of 20 families who made the decision to move back into the City and put down roots in the Hough neighborhood with new homes. “It reflects a desire of a lot of people who wanted to move back into the community who moved out and come back and build their own homes and so we put together a development and built our homes here ...and we decided we wanted to help this community grow.”
She continues to work to strengthen her community through the pandemic, sending cheerful texts to her neighbors and advocating tirelessly. “We're a great neighborhood but we want people to understand that we are a gem in the middle of Cleveland and that it is worth investing in their families and bringing their finances and they will enjoy being a part of Cleveland.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
GABRIEL KRAMER / IDEASTREAM
AMBER FORD
Carolyn Watts Allen
Retired Attorney
Hough Resident & Leader
Roger Myles
Frontline Worker & Porter, Dave's Markets
“In MidTown, I like the supermarket for one – and then I get a chance to fight all the germs because of COVID 19.”
Roger Myles is another frontline hero at Dave’s Market and Eatery, working to disinfect and keep the store so clean the community can shop safely. He’s also picked up work at the neighboring UH Rainbow Center. Originally a Detroit resident, Roger enjoys working at Dave’s and his smile brightens the faces of those who encounter him in the store.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BARNEY TAXEL
AMBER FORD
Roger Myles
Frontline Worker & Porter
Dave's Markets
Maura Garven
Chief Operating Officer, ThirdSpace Action Lab
Evelyn Burnett, Mordecai Cargill, and Maura Garven of Third Space Action Lab are entrepreneurs, thought partners, tough question askers, rabble rousers, skilled facilitators, champions for equity, and above all else tremendous friends to the MidTown team.
TSAL has partnered with MidTown for several years as MidTown wrestles with its role in undoing racial inequities, particularly around real estate development, that it historically played a role in creating, helping the MidTown team build a deeper understanding of what it means to operationalize racial equity.
“MidTown has done some really incredible creative soul-focused work to try to connect with community and try to close a gap between the institutions and the organizations and the people who will experience the decisions that are being made by MidTown and its stakeholders," says Mordecai Cargill. "I’m hopeful that this is a moment that will continue to be as imaginative, as creative, as visionary as possible for what the future of this neighborhood is going to become.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Maura Garven
AMBER FORD
Mordecai Cargill
AMBER FORD
Evelyn Burnett
AMBER FORD
Maura Garven
Chief Operating Officer
ThirdSpace Action Lab
Mordecai Cargill
Co-Founder & Creative Director, ThirdSpace Action Lab
Evelyn Burnett, Mordecai Cargill, and Maura Garven of Third Space Action Lab are entrepreneurs, thought partners, tough question askers, rabble rousers, skilled facilitators, champions for equity, and above all else tremendous friends to the MidTown team.
TSAL has partnered with MidTown for several years as MidTown wrestles with its role in undoing racial inequities, particularly around real estate development, that it historically played a role in creating, helping the MidTown team build a deeper understanding of what it means to operationalize racial equity.
“MidTown has done some really incredible creative soul-focused work to try to connect with community and try to close a gap between the institutions and the organizations and the people who will experience the decisions that are being made by MidTown and its stakeholders," says Mordecai Cargill. "I’m hopeful that this is a moment that will continue to be as imaginative, as creative, as visionary as possible for what the future of this neighborhood is going to become.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Mordecai Cargill
AMBER FORD
Evelyn Burnett
AMBER FORD
Maura Garven
AMBER FORD
Mordecai Cargill
Co-Founder & Creative Director
ThirdSpace Action Lab
Shao Jia Huang
Owner, Emperor's Palace
Chinese Benevolent Association
“I am very grateful to the AsiaTown team, from the bottom of my heart. During COVID19, I felt the hearts of Karis and Cui that they have for my community. They did a lot of work for the elders and our AsiaTown community. We all saw and felt their efforts in a way that I have not seen from anyone else in more than 20 years. There is a saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I appreciate the AsiaTown team, and I hope everyone supports their work.”
Jason Lin, Ming Ho, and Shao Jia Huang serve as leaders of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which supports Chinese newcomers and senior citizens, helping them socialize, adjust to life in the United States, while celebrating their culture and heritage. Through their respective roles - the Cleveland Chinese Senior Citizens Association, Good Harvest Food Market, Emperor’s Palace, or On Leong Association - all three are community connectors and caretakers. Despite the deep impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their small businesses, Ming Ho and Shao Jia Huang have kept their businesses open to support the community. They have shared appreciation for the partnership with the AsiaTown team to support elders in AsiaTown and be there for the community as a friend in need.
“Good Harvest grocery store has been in the community for about 19 years, and it is my honor to serve my community. We give out small gifts to the elders in Evergreen senior apartments almost every year on festivals like Mid-Autumn Festival, Christmas. Why do we do this? Because people support our grocery store so much, and we want to give it back.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Shao Jia Huang
AMBER FORD
Jason Lin
AMBER FORD
Ming Ho
AMBER FORD
Shao Jia Huang
OWNER, EMPEROR'S PALACE
CHINESE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION
Jason Lin
Cleveland Chinese Senior Citizens Association
Chinese Benevolent Association
“I am very grateful to the AsiaTown team, from the bottom of my heart. During COVID19, I felt the hearts of Karis and Cui that they have for my community. They did a lot of work for the elders and our AsiaTown community. We all saw and felt their efforts in a way that I have not seen from anyone else in more than 20 years. There is a saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I appreciate the AsiaTown team, and I hope everyone supports their work.”
Jason Lin, Ming Ho, and Shao Jia Huang serve as leaders of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which supports Chinese newcomers and senior citizens, helping them socialize, adjust to life in the United States, while celebrating their culture and heritage. Through their respective roles - the Cleveland Chinese Senior Citizens Association, Good Harvest Food Market, Emperor’s Palace, or On Leong Association - all three are community connectors and caretakers. Despite the deep impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their small businesses, Ming Ho and Shao Jia Huang have kept their businesses open to support the community. They have shared appreciation for the partnership with the AsiaTown team to support elders in AsiaTown and be there for the community as a friend in need.
“Good Harvest grocery store has been in the community for about 19 years, and it is my honor to serve my community. We give out small gifts to the elders in Evergreen senior apartments almost every year on festivals like Mid-Autumn Festival, Christmas. Why do we do this? Because people support our grocery store so much, and we want to give it back.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Jason Lin
AMBER FORD
Shao Jia Huang
AMBER FORD
Ming Ho
AMBER FORD
Jason Lin
Cleveland Chinese Senior Citizens Assoc., Chinese Benevolent Assoc.
Ming Ho
Chinese Benevolent Association
President of On Leong Association
Good Harvest Food Market Owner
“I am very grateful to the AsiaTown team, from the bottom of my heart. During COVID19, I felt the hearts of Karis and Cui that they have for my community. They did a lot of work for the elders and our AsiaTown community. We all saw and felt their efforts in a way that I have not seen from anyone else in more than 20 years. There is a saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I appreciate the AsiaTown team, and I hope everyone supports their work.”
Jason Lin, Ming Ho, and Shao Jia Huang serve as leaders of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which supports Chinese newcomers and senior citizens, helping them socialize, adjust to life in the United States, while celebrating their culture and heritage. Through their respective roles - the Cleveland Chinese Senior Citizens Association, Good Harvest Food Market, Emperor’s Palace, or On Leong Association - all three are community connectors and caretakers. Despite the deep impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their small businesses, Ming Ho and Shao Jia Huang have kept their businesses open to support the community. They have shared appreciation for the partnership with the AsiaTown team to support elders in AsiaTown and be there for the community as a friend in need.
“Good Harvest grocery store has been in the community for about 19 years, and it is my honor to serve my community. We give out small gifts to the elders in Evergreen senior apartments almost every year on festivals like Mid-Autumn Festival, Christmas. Why do we do this? Because people support our grocery store so much, and we want to give it back.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Ming Ho
AMBER FORD
Shao Jia Huang
AMBER FORD
Jason Lin
AMBER FORD
Ming Ho
President, On Leong Association
Good Harvest Food Market Owner
Juthamas “Pop” Fagthab
Co-Owner and Co-Founder, Map of Thailand
Map of Thailand has been serving incredible Thai food in AsiaTown since it opened in 2011 and its loyal customer base has made this AsiaTown restaurant a popular lunch spot. Juthamas “Pop” Fagthab never closed the doors of her restaurant during the pandemic, pivoting to carryout and relying on the community to help them survive.
Pop was excited to take part in the Feed AsiaTown program, a MidTown-led effort to make bulk meal purchases from AsiaTown restaurants to feed food-insecure residents, a program that helped both the community and restaurants like Map of Thailand.
“I love how Asian people are helping each other, that’s very nice, especially during this tough time, especially you and help us, and we help each other around, you know asking how you are doing and checking in with everyone around.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
FEED ASIATOWN
AMBER FORD
Juthamas Fagthab
Co-Owner and Co-Founder
Map of Thailand
Carolina Masri
Executive Director, MedWish
“When the pandemic started we went through hundreds of pallets that were sitting here and just wanted to know – what do we have? How can we help?”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Carolina Masri recognized that MedWish, the MidTown-based organization she serves as Executive Director, could play a unique role in the response. In a typical year, MedWish processes donations of unused or unneeded medical supplies to ship around the world to meet humanitarian needs. Now with a huge need right at home, the team worked to identify what could be used in Cleveland. “During the pandemic the MedWish team has worked non-stop on sorting, packing, and shipping PPE. We have distributed respiratory supplies and ventilators to different Healthcare institutions and Frontline responders.” MedWish partnered with other organizations to secure and distribute 100,000 facemasks to nearly 100 local organizations, including social service agencies and nursing homes.
MedWish has also enjoyed its three-year old MidTown home. “We feel also that the connection to Midtown brings a flare of diversity. We welcome thousands of volunteers every year and these volunteers get the chance to explore everything that Midtown has to offer from the delicious ethnic restaurants to cultural sights while they come here they volunteer and they give back to the community.”
“We feel it is exciting to be part of a neighborhood that is rapidly changing. I mean, I've seen Midtown for the past three years and it's been amazing really to see the changes – you can feel them.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
MEDWISH
MEDWISH
AMBER FORD
Carolina Masri
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MEDWISH
Erika Brown
UH/MidTown Community Advisory Board
Community Network Manager, Special Projects & Training
Neighborhood Connections
Erika Brown’s work is all about building relationships and networks – a task made particularly challenging during COVID-19. She and the Neighborhood Connections team has had to pivot to virtual community engagement models and innovate given the evolving situation on the ground.
“We had many people with a lot of needs and a lot of people with gifts that they wanted to share with other people and not any way to put it together because people couldn't meet in person.” They helped with immediate needs around PPE as well as with creating virtual platforms for people to connect with one another.
Erika is excited about the progress and impact she’s seen in MidTown, both in her professional work with Neighborhood Connections and in her role with the UH Community Advisory Board helping to shape the UH Rainbow Center and future projects in the neighborhood. “The amount of time spent connecting with residents around [the UH Rainbow Center) and having people from the community on the community advisory board was super exciting. The next thing is being a part of the advisory board for the 66th street project … it is exciting to have watched the planning of that coming together in the couple of meetings that I have attended."
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
AMBER FORD
AMBER FORD
Erika Brown
Community Network Manager
Neighborhood Connections
Jackie Larkins
Owner, Café Phix Midtown
Jackie Larkins’s coffee shop, Cafe Phix MidTown, had been open since 2018 inside the Digital C MidTown Tech Hive and was just starting to hit its stride when the pandemic forced its doors shut. When she reopened with safety protocols in June, business was slow just as it has been for most food businesses, but a burst of social media and publicity soon brought a flood of new customers, many of whom kept coming.
“At one time, I thought our survival would be questionable, but we are now on an upward trajectory and its going great.”
MidTown Cafe Phix sees itself as more than an coffee shop - but as a community hub. “I think we need to be here as an independent coffee shop and community member so that the people who live in the area and the people who work in the area can have a community space to come and connect with each other over coffee and overall, just be a part of our community.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
BARNEY TAXEL
BARNEY TAXEL
AMBER FORD
Jackie Larkins
CAFÉ PHIX MIDTOWN
OWNER
Creative Partners
PORTRAIT ARTIST
Amber N. Ford is a photographer/artist based in Cleveland, OH. Ford received her BFA in Photography from the Cleveland Institute of Art ’16. Primarily working in photography while occasionally exploring other mediums such at printmaking.
She is best known for her work in portraiture, which she refers to as a “collaborative engagement between photographer and sitter”. While always questioning “the truth”, Ford aims to establish a platform in which her sitter may present themselves as they please. She is interested in topics such as race, and identity.
Her work has been shown in galleries such as Kent State University, Transformer Station, SPACES Gallery,
The Morgan Conservatory, The Cleveland Print Room, Zygote Press, and Waterloo Arts located in Cleveland, OH. Selected as a 2019 Gordon Square Arts District Artist-In-Residence, you may find some of Ford’s work on the back of the Capitol Theatre Building located at the corner of Detroit and West 65th. Ford was also awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for 2017.
Brandon Peck
VIDEOGRAPHY
Cleveland-native Brandon Peck is a creative director and videographer who focuses on documentary and lifestyle work. He brings thoughtful craft and human composition to his projects – creating lasting memories, capturing critical moments, and engaging with both individual subjects and larger social dialogue.
“My favorite part of the job is telling real stories,” Brandon says. “That’s honestly what inspired me to become a filmmaker: Taking life and writing it down. Helping people create a sort of legacy for themselves to look back on or sparking something inside a kid who is just realizing their own.”
A Cuyahoga Community College graduate, Peck has worked with the Cleveland Foundation, Breakthrough Schools, NASA, Jason Mraz, Tri-C JazzFest, and more – including films by Warner Bros & TriStar Pictures. He was recently awarded a photojournalism fellowship through the Cleveland Print Room’s Capturing Cleveland Initiative.
Philip McFee
PROJECT DESIGN
Philip McFee is a designer and illustrator, specializing in multidisciplinary creative projects that develop compelling voices for nonprofits and community-minded businesses.
Philip's branding work in collaboration with MidTown was honored with a 2018 Vibrant City Award from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. When working with MidTown – or any partner – he draws on historical materials, documentary sources, and stakeholder input to create a singular visual voice that rings true and can evolve over time.
The current MidTown brand was devised as an adaptable platform for showcasing the voices and views of the community. Faces of the Town is the culmination of years of efforts to realize this vision, and Philip is profoundly grateful for the artists, advocates, and supporters who have helped make this project possible.
MidTown's Supporters
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Faces of the Town & MidTown's 2020 Annual Meeting are made possible by:
Presenting Sponsor
Community Investor
Community Partner
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