Registration now open for Common Ground – a day of community conversation

Sign up to attend or host July 30 mealtime conversations at Public Square and dozens of other public spaces, neighborhoods and individual homes throughout Cuyahoga County

RELEASE DATE: 06.08.2017

CLEVELAND – The time has come to reserve your seat at the table. Individual registration opens Thursday, June 8 for “Common Ground” – a community conversation event scheduled to take place Sunday, July 30 at various locations throughout Cuyahoga County. Developed by the Cleveland Foundation in partnership with nonprofit and civic organizations across the region, Common Ground is focused on building connections, valuing all voices and sharing ideas on how to move Greater Cleveland forward.

The day’s discussion centers around a singular, open-ended question: “What can we do together to create a more equitable and resilient community?” Common Ground is designed to encourage individuals, organizations and community leaders to think creatively and reflect on possibilities while making new connections.

“We must work together in order for Cleveland, and all of Northeast Ohio, to continue to grow and thrive,” said Ronn Richard, Cleveland Foundation president and CEO. “Common Ground is a unique opportunity to bring people together from a wide variety of backgrounds to achieve a unified goal of building social capital for participating neighborhoods, organizations and community members.”

On July 30 at 2 p.m., Public Square will transform into Cleveland’s largest outdoor conversation space, with the aim of bringing more than 1,000 residents together. This location will be just one of numerous options throughout Cuyahoga County at which residents can break bread together. Along with resident-hosted sites, Common Ground partners will be holding open conversations in neighborhoods, places of worship, libraries, recreation centers, parks and more – to invite new relationships and new ideas to be formed. Public locations will be regularly updated on the website for those wishing to take part.

Common Ground: Public Square event partners include (as of June 7):

The following organizations and individuals will be hosting conversations as a part of Common Ground (as of June 7):

In addition to registering for a spot at a table, individuals, organizations and communities are encouraged to host their own gatherings that day – with the goal of inclusive, open dialogue. Hosting kits, registration and additional information on Common Ground can be found at www.clevelandfoundation.org/commonground.

As a lead-up to Common Ground, The City Club of Cleveland will host “For the Love of Cleveland,” a free series of neighborhood dialogues presented by the Cleveland Foundation. Scheduled every Tuesday at noon on Public Square from June 13 – July 25 (with the exception of July 4), For the Love of Cleveland will focus on issues of importance to the broader community through the lens of different neighborhood pairings each week, highlighting emerging placemakers and neighborhoods throughout the city of Cleveland. The tentative schedule is as follows:

  • June 13: The Evolution of a City: From White Flight to the Fifth Migration (Goodrich-Kirtland Park and Hough)
  • June 20: Reinvestment and Opportunity (Clark-Fulton and Fairfax-Hough)
  • June 27: Too Many Houses, Not Enough Homes (Slavic Village and Kinsman)
  • July 11: The Geography of Gentrification (Glenville and South of Lorain [SoLo])
  • July 18: It Takes a Neighborhood (Lee-Harvard and Detroit Shoreway)
  • July 25: The Challenges of Success (Downtown and Ohio City)

“The newly reimagined Public Square is a perfect setting for the City Club to convene a forum on the issues facing Cleveland’s neighborhoods,” said Dan Moulthrop, The City Club of Cleveland CEO. “Whether you’re a city dweller or suburban homeowner, a life-long Clevelander, boomerang or transplant, we all benefit from a thriving urban core and we’re looking forward to the insightful, thoughtful and open discussion that will come out of this series and the Common Ground gatherings on July 30.”

For more information on the For the Love of Cleveland series, visit www.cityclub.org.

To become a partner in Common Ground, please contact Cleveland Foundation marketing & communications officer Stephanie Hicks Thompson at 216-615-7148 or SThompson@CleveFdn.org.