Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Announces 2017 Vibrant City Awards Finalists Winners to be announced May 24, 2017 at third annual Vibrant City Awards Lunch
CLEVELAND – Today, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress announces 19 finalists for its Vibrant City Awards. Winners will be announced on May 24, 2017 at the third annual Vibrant City Awards Lunch, hosted by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and presented by Key Bank.
“It is an honor to host this annual gathering of city leaders, community partners and stakeholders to celebrate the neighborhood revitalization that is taking place in the city of Cleveland. Efforts from community development corporations, as well as other public and private partners, are instrumental in creating a vibrant city. The Vibrant City Awards Lunch showcases these efforts” says Joel Ratner, President & CEO of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. “The organizations and individuals being honored have displayed tremendous vision, passion and dedication. We’re excited to recognize them for their successful efforts in community development and are pleased to highlight these valued programs and initiatives to the entire community.”
For these awards, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress received nearly 100 nominations from the community. Jeff Kipp, Director of Neighborhood Marketing for the organization, says “this impressive list of nominations still only tells a fraction of the story behind the neighborhood transformation that is taking place in Cleveland. There are amazing people, companies and organizations performing incredible work in our neighborhoods.”
The 2017 Vibrant City Awards finalists are:
CDC Community Collaboration Award:
Metro West Development Corp. – Stockyards Bike-a-thon
Northeast Shores Development Corp. – Ballot Box
Old Brooklyn Community Development Corp. – Horizon Education Center & Old Brooklyn Families Group
CDC Placemaking Award:
Campus District Inc. – A Bridge that Bridges
Ohio City Inc. – Creative Fusion
Slavic Village Development – Fleet Ave. Streetscape & Programming
CDC Economic Opportunity Award:
Famicos Foundation – Stonebrook Montessori Partnership
Metro West Development Corp. – Build Health Challenge
Northeast Shores Development Corp – Lakeshore Intergenerational School Partnership
CDC Neighborhood Branding & Marketing Award:
Detroit Shoreway Community Development Org. – Cleveland Hustles
Old Brooklyn Community Development Corp. – #whatsyouroldbrooklyn
St Clair Superior Development Corp. – Year of the Zodiac
Urban Developer Award:
Ariel Ventures – Pearl Street Savings & Trust
Mustard Seed Development – Refugee Housing
Sustainable Communities Associates – Wagner Awning
Civic Champion Award:
Shemariah J. Arki – Educator, Activist, & Organizer
Dawn Arrington – Buckeye Neighborhood Resident & Activist
Alex Robertson – Founder; Recess Cleveland & Cleveland Youth Landscaping
Sean Watterson – Community Advocate; Happy Dog/Detroit Shoreway & University Circle Neighborhoods
Additionally, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress will present the Morton L. Mandel Leadership in Community Development Award and the Vibrant City Impact Award at the luncheon. In 2016, Joe Cimperman was the recipient of the Mandel Award and Cleveland MetroParks received the first-ever Impact Award.
All of the finalists will be recognized at the Vibrant City Awards Lunch, when civic leaders, community development professionals, local developers, investors, realtors and passionate Clevelanders will gather to celebrate city neighborhoods at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park. This is the first time this event will be hosted outdoors. Local chef Chris Hodgson of Driftwood Catering will be coordinating an innovative food-truck lunch.
The event is open to the public. More information concerning event details, tickets and registration is available at www.ClevelandNP.org/VCAL .