Creating activity opportunities in Cuyahoga County

From Cafeteria to Zumba Studio

Communities, such as those within Cuyahoga County, are looking at opportunities to develop partnerships with schools, faith-based organizations, and other entities to use their property to promote physical activity. These properties can be a valuable resource for the community that will allow for activities before, during, and after school hours, as well as on weekends.

Making healthy choices and raising healthy families requires more than individual effort. Health is shaped by where we live, who we know, and how much money we have. Limited choices and lack of access to public facilities make it hard to get the exercise we need to be healthy.

We need safe places to play.

A good place to start is to use what we already have in our communities: schools, faith-based organizations, public buildings, playgrounds and parks, as well as private facilities. Yet these places are often closed in the evenings and on weekends. Facilities are locked because of concern about costs, vandalism, security, maintenance, contract issues, and liability in the event of injury. We all need to keep people and property safe. Recognizing the community benefits of using public resources, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation making it easier for school districts to open their facilities to community use. To make use of community resources we need to agree about how to do it. Our agreements are called shared use and they range from simple to very complex. They require a lot of thought, effort, and cooperation and differ depending on the range of issues that are being addressed.

 
 

Policy and Agreement Development Resources:

Shared Use Resource Guide

In 2015, HIP-Cuyahoga hosted a Shared Use Agreement workshop. ChangeLab Solutions provided technical assistance and training to local facility operators, who were interested in opening their doors to health opportunities in their communities. Participants also learned abouit laws in Ohio that pertain to shared use agreeements. ChangeLab Solutions also provided a shared use resource document.  

Shared Use 101 training presentation

Model Open Use Policy for School Districts

Shared Use Policy Template

Model Open Use Policy for Faith-Based Organizations

 

Planning & Implementation Resources:

In 2017, HIP-Cuyahoga brought partnered with the Safe Routes To School National Partnership to provide a Shared Use 2.0 workshop, to provide training to faciliaty managers and connect them to community based resources to plan for increasing healthy opportunities for residents.

Shared Use 2.0 workshop presentation 

Shared Use 2.0 Workbook

HIP-Cuyahoga Shared Use Resource Guide

 

HIP-Cuyahoga held a promotional zumba class to promote the shared use sites, or sites that have pledged that “health matters here.” The class was promoted by DJ RoDigga from Z1079 on Facebook Live. Two of the videos are below.

Health Matters Here on the Radio

This radio advertisement aired on Z107.9 and WZAK

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Shared Use Facilities Near You

Central Neighborhood

Alfred A Benesch
5393 Quincy Ave, Cleveland, OH 44104
Garden Valley Neighborhood House
7100 Kinsman Rd, Cleveland, OH – 44104

Old Brooklyn Neighborhood

Central Korean Presbyterian Church of Cleveland
4838 Pearl Rd, Cleveland, OH 44109

Cudell – Edgewater Neighborhood

Salaam House
9302 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102

Parma

Islamic Center of Cleveland
6055 W 130th, Parma, OH 44130
PASO Cultural and Civic Center
1975 W Ridgewood Dr, Parma, OH 44134

Downtown Neighborhood

YMCA-Downtown
1301 E 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114

Saint Clair Superior Neighborhood

ASIA Inc
3631 Perkins, Cleveland, OH 44114
AsianTown Center
3820 Superior Ave E, Cleveland, OH 44114
St. Clair Bikeworks
6408 St. Clair Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114

East Cleveland

Lakeside Baptist Church
12600 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44112
MLK Civic Center
14801 Shaw Ave, East Cleveland, OH 44112
Mt. Nebo Baptist Church
12701 Superior, East Cleveland, OH 44112
Salvation Army
1507 Doan Ave, East Cleveland, OH 44112

Solon

Arthur Road Preschool
33425 Arthur Rd, Solon, OH 44139
Solon High School
33600 Inwood Rd, Solon, OH 44139

Glenville Neighborhood

Franklin D Roosevelt Investment School
800 Linn Dr, Cleveland, OH 44108
Glenville High School 
650 E 113th St, Cleveland, OH 44108
Vicky Trotters Juice Bar
11401 St. Clair Ave, Cleveland, OH 44108

South Collinwood

 Collinwood High School 
15210 St Clair Ave, Cleveland, OH 44110
Siggy’s Village
15416 Saranac Rd. Cleveland, OH 44110

Hough Neighborhood

Lexington Bell
7724 Lexington Ave, Cleveland, OH 44103

Union Miles Neighborhood

John Adams High School 
3817 Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Cleveland, OH 44105

North Olmsted

John Knox Presbyterian
25200 Lorain Rd, North Olmsted, OH 441070

Westlake

Lee Burmeson Middle School
2240 Dover Center Rd, Westlake, OH 44145

Community Ambassadors and Shared Use

Key to Success

Community Health Ambassadors play a key role in increasing activity opportunities in Cuyahoga County through Shared Use Agreements. Community Ambassadors are active members of the communities that they live, and help determine which facilities could benefit the community to develop a shared use agreement. They also assist with identifying neighbor interests, to see which activities would have good participation.
Ms. Lean, Zumba instructer leads a class at Friendly Inn Settlement.