The Cleveland Green Transformation Initiative is a three-year focused application of Groundwork in Hough and St. Clair-Superior, supported by the Bezos Earth Fund. It’s led by Western Reserve Land Conservancy with the City of Cleveland, community development corporations, health institutions, and residents.
Over the past few decades, one out of three parcels in Hough and St. Clair-Superior have moved into public ownership. This opens an opportunity for the city, organizations, and residents to partner in stewarding a shared landscape. The city provides basic maintenance across thousands of acres, and community groups steward a few places deeply, but much of the work that this landscape needs still goes unmet. Groundwork addresses those needs. We invest in simple acts of care across many places, extending the city’s resources and helping the community’s efforts go further and last longer.
Interventions include nuisance abatement and naturalization of neglected parcels, tree canopy expansion, and sidewalk and connectivity improvements. These efforts will take place in alignment with strategic land disposition in amenity-rich areas for infill development.
At least 2,400 trees will be planted across the neighborhoods, with three years of professional maintenance until established. Most parcels become naturalized green space; select sites include gathering areas, pocket parks, or urban agriculture as determined by the Public Land Advisory Council (PLAC).
Local contractors handle site preparation: debris and old fence removal, regrading uneven terrain, sidewalk restoration, and pruning of overgrown vegetation. A paid Community Resilience Corps engages residents in stewardship and monitoring. The City will shift its land management model from reactive mowing to purposeful, health-driven stewardship aligned with each site’s design.
Residents can apply for microgrants administered by Neighborhood Connections, with technical assistance from Food Access Raises Everyone (FARE), to lead complementary public land stewardship projects like urban agriculture.
A Public Land Advisory Council composed of City of Cleveland departments, CDCs, philanthropic partners, developers, and residents reviews parcel selection, ensures alignment with redevelopment plans, and oversees long-term stewardship.
Year 1 (2026–2027)
Years 2–3 (2027–2029)
