Rally CLE 2024
A One-Day Event Part of a Much Bigger Picture
September 7, 2024
“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”
Isaiah 58:12
What is Rally CLE?
Rally CLE exists to unite and engage residents around the ideas they have for improving their communities by supporting projects & grassroots programs that promote connection, equity, and grassroots leadership.
“Rally CLE allows for the opportunity to listen to a resident leader and then surround them with resources and support. And what a great way to reconcile them to their own purpose and dignity and let them know that they matter.”
—Vatreisha Nyemba, BHITC’s Director of Leader and
Community Development
2019–2023 Rally CLE Impact Snapshot
51
Resident-Led Projects
1,100+
Registered Volunteers, Neighbors and Partners
$94K
Invested in Grant Funded Projects
$185K
Total Neighborhood Investment
Volunteer Registration
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Rally CLE will unite and engage Clark-Fulton and Stockyards residents and volunteers around ideas for improving their communities. Are you interested in helping us bring these ideas to reality? Be a part of the day by participating on one of the various projects throughout the community!
Building Hope in the City supports residents in the Clark-Fulton, Stockyards and Brooklyn Centre communities through small grants (up to $2,000 per project of program), project planning support, neighbor engagement assistance, as well as volunteer and/or professional support needed for resident-led projects to succeed.
What are some examples of past resident-led projects?
Block parties
Storytelling initiatives
Community Garden installations
Pocket-park improvements
Cooking classes
Art classes for youth
Greenspace or alley-clean up
Past Projects with Purpose
Meet Paris and Amanda
“Gardening is a healing, therapeutic space for me and connects me with God. There's a joy in being willing to step into a space that looks badly damaged and broken, even dead on the surface. But as you get close and care for the earth and the plants, you realize how much life and vitality are in store," says Paris Eble (pictured right), a community leader and a recipient of a Rally CLE grant this year.
In the early morning hours on September 10, over thirty volunteers from Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church and Credit First National Association (CFNA) gathered in the Refuge Garden in Clark-Fulton to turn soil, assemble garden boxes, build watersheds and pull weeds as a part of Building Hope in the City’s (BHITC’s) fourth annual Rally CLE, which also received significant support from Key Bank Foundation.
Meet Betty Jo
While passing through Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton Stockyards (CFSY) neighborhood, it may be easy to overlook the beauty and resilience of the residents who call it home. Oftentimes, neglect and scarcity can overshadow the true essence of what exists in a community. However, if we peer beneath the surface narratives of brokenness in city neighborhoods, we'll see the hand of God at work through the neighbors, friends and families.
As God has called Building Hope in the City (BHITC) to the diverse neighborhoods of CFSY, we are intentional about walking alongside the residents and empowering their community visions of restoration and purpose. BHITC has a physical presence in the neighborhood with our main office on West 58th Street, and beyond that the Community Development team has woven a tapestry of connections with many of the families and individuals that reside in CFSY. A much- loved name and face that comes to mind is resident leader Betty Jo Palmer… Read More
Meet Peggi Cruz
Peggi brings passion, energy, entrepreneurship and amazing food to any crowd, and through this year’s Rally CLE grant process and event day, she wanted to take her newly opened restaurant in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, Cha’firos, to the next level of welcome.
As a veteran resident leader of Rally CLE, now participating in her second annual event, the life-long Clark-Fulton resident built upon the momentum started with her project team last year.
With a Rally CLE grant in 2021, Peggi invested in starting an after-school cooking class named “Cha’firos Kids” and bought kitchen supplies and intentionally guided young people in honing their skills while making omelets and empanadas. She listened to the children sharing about their day and didn’t hesitate to let someone know how to hold a knife correctly.
Church & Corporate Sponsorship
Rally CLE provides the platform for churches to come alongside this work through strategic investment in grassroots and local neighborhood leaders. These are neighbors who know both the joys and the pains of living in this community and are best equipped to innovate new efforts that will impact their community in lasting ways.
For more questions email Nicole West at Nicole@buildinghopeinthecity.org
