Healthy Eating & Active Living in Central

HEAL is a collaborative effort of the foundation, local and state agencies, and community partnerships concerned about health disparities, the rising obesity epidemic and the lack of healthy food options in the neighborhood.

HEAL aims to foster implementation of healthy eating and active living in schools, work sites, food outlets, and more to have an impact on health, economic opportunities and the quality of life of Central Neighborhood residents.

The foundation is partnering with OSU Extension, the city of Cleveland, the YMCA, the Children's Hunger Alliance and others to bring healthy eating and active living opportunities to Central.

Marion-Sterling elementary school in Cleveland's Central Neighborhood, was recently awarded a $4,000 Farm to School mini-grant from the Ohio Department of Education. The grant, coordinated by OSU Extension and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition, will be used to add a healthy salad bar to support new school nutrition standards and farm to school curriculum. A school garden will be established to introduce students to agriculture, the environment and the sources of their food. HEAL partners also came forward to support the grant by providing matching services including cooking and nutrition education classes.

Locally, the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District has adopted the model, they call Farm to Fork. OSU Extension is partnering with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health to plan a community field trip to the South Euclid-Lyndhurst schools for Central residents to see firsthand how farm to school components, like a salad bar, have been successfully integrated into the schools.

The foundation works closely with Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc., including supporting its new initiative to bring healthy food and nutrition education to the community.

Burten, Bell, Carr received a $745,000 Healthy Food Financing federal grant to increase access to healthy, affordable food in communities that currently lack these options.

The result is the Bridgeport Café, the newly opened restaurant with a menu that incorporates locally grown food in the Central and Kinsman neighborhood. The café offers a healthy variety of fresh salads, wraps, soups, baked goods, and hand-crafted sandwiches.

There's also the new CornUcopia Place, next door to Bridgeport Cafe' is a community facility providing nutrition education, cooking demonstrations, an open multi-purpose space available for private events and functions, and a harvest preparation station for use by local market gardeners.

Finally, there's the Bridgeport Mobile Market that will eliminate food deserts throughout the east side of Cleveland by making fresh produce available to residents where they live. 

The Foundation is actively engaged in supporting urban agriculture and market gardens to improve the food environment for the Central Neighborhood, including the Building Healthy Communities program, which includes the Garden Boyz and their urban gardens in Central that sell fres produce to local farmers' markets in the community.