FOREWORD

 

The Wellness and Cultural Initiatives are vital threads in interwoven strategies for fulfilling the mission and vision set forth by Cleveland UMADAOP.

 

The purpose of the Wellness Initiatives is to improve the physical health, social and emotional development, and economic and academic performance of the consumers that participate in agency projects. The agency has acquired abandon vacant lots and transformed them in to useful green space, creating gardens with multi-purpose use.

 

 

• The Wheatt Garden – The Garden was name for Dr. and Mrs. Fred Wheatt, who donated the first lot of the garden.  Later two adjacent lots were purchased from the City of Cleveland land bank for a nominal fee.  The garden provides multiple services to the community residents and agency participants.  Each year children plant and harvest vegetables learn basic gardening skills and learn the value of appreciation of the environment around them. The young people have cultivated butterflies and built and installed birdhouses and bird baths. During spring and summer sessions youth groups use the space for poetry rehearsal, book club sessions, and exercise space and other group events.
   

The purpose of the Cultural Initiatives is to improve the awareness of the knowledge of our ancestry, thus releasing the power and brilliance that will prevent us from succumbing to any self-defeating behaviors or bondages.
 

• The Drum Circle – The circle brings together citizens from the community to participate in a musical convening where open expression is afford to speak, to teach, to share and to play the drum.  Some come to tell the story of the ancestors, others come to dance and sing and listen to the drum.  Drum Circles are held on Sundays from 4pm to 6pm in the Peace Garden during the spring and summer months.
   

 

• The Peace Garden – The garden is a leased-lot partnership with the City of Cleveland through its Re-Imaging Cleveland Project. Five years ago the city initiated a project to address vacant and abandon lots.  Cleveland UMADAOP responded to the request to put in place a space for peaceful symbolism.  The garden has a Labyrinth, foliage and benches.  It provides a space that the community can come together for discussion, meditation, and reflection.