Lead Agency: Slavic Village Development

Transforming what was once a low-income steel mill neighborhood into a more vibrant, family-friendly and healthy place is the mission of Slavic Village Development. To make this vision a reality, leaders of this community development corporation partnered with schools and neighborhood institutions to create better access to healthy and affordable foods for children and their families.

The Cleveland Healthy Eating by Design partnership worked intensively with three neighborhood schools, providing resources and support to help them form wellness teams and complete School Health Index assessments to meet the district-wide wellness policy. As a result, Healthy Ohioans recognized these schools for their health and nutrition policies and practices. Through the partnership’s efforts, teachers at five neighborhood schools received the Healthy Learning, Healthy Eating: Integrating Nutrition into the Classroom toolkit developed by the Healthy Eating by Design partnership. The toolkit contains numerous ready-to-use, reproducible teaching materials, educational posters and DVDs.

During the course of the Healthy Eating by Design project, the partnership built and strengthened relationships with neighborhood schools and the Cleveland Municipal School District. The project director served on the district’s wellness policy committee, and the partnership worked carefully to balance the needs of the schools with their own goals. As a result, the Healthy Eating by Design partners are now highly regarded by the school system as dedicated allies who will continue to provide assistance to five neighborhood schools.

The Healthy Eating by Design partnership also worked with the Broadway Boys and Girls Club to improve access to healthy foods for neighborhood children outside of school through Healthy Habits classes, daily healthy snacks, Kids Café healthy meals and healthy vending options. The Club plans to maintain their commitment to healthy eating by distributing fresh produce provided by the Cleveland Foodbank, continuing the Healthy Habits curriculum, and supporting the Kids Café program which trains older members to prepare and serve healthy foods to younger members. Creating healthier environments in schools and in the Boys and Girls Club inspired Slavic Village Development to identify opportunities for healthy eating within their own organization. The group collaborated with City Fresh to establish Slavic Village City Fresh Stop, a weekly farmers’ market that offers locally grown, reasonably priced produce at a local park, and helps revitalize the neighborhood.