Cleveland sits at the edge of Lake Erie, and with it The Great Lakes; home basin of nearly 21 percent of the planet's fresh water. The region boasts a population of about 85 million people, and the Great Lakes shipping channels carry 90 million tons of cargo each year.
The city of Cleveland also sits at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. Once the territory of a multitude of freighters, and lined with factories, it's now a destination spot for kayakers, and it's dotted with breweries.
For Cleveland; Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River mean jobs, transportation, recreation, access to fresh water, and environmental diversity.
That potential also means a multitude of parties with competing interests, vying to use those resources, as they see fit.
While the city and region may at one time have had a myopic view of the usage of this waterfront; mainly industrial, the interests of the region are becoming increasingly diverse.
So how does Northeast Ohio embrace it's waterfront, and foster usage and inclusion from all sectors? How do we attract businesses to embrace Lake Erie, with industrial, commercial, and recreational intentions?
To begin this hour, we'll talk to some civic leaders, and organizations, on what's being done to fully utilize and advance our waterfront. Joe Roman from The Greater Cleveland Partnership, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District CEO Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, and The Port of Cleveland CEO William Friedman will all be here to weigh in.
Stay with us, as later in the hour, we'll hear about how funding for non-profits across the country that give aid to the victims of violent crimes are drying up.
The 1984 'Victims of Crime Act'; signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, created a crime victims fund which goes to support nonprofit organizations or victim service providers who help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assualt, child abuse and other crimes nationwide.
But the funding model for the VOCA, which relies on money from criminal fines, penalties, and other sources, but does not include taxpayer dollars, has not always been a reliable funding source for organizations working in victim services.
And this year dozens of Ohio non-profits are hurting from the latest decrease in funds. The combination of trying to keep afloat during the pandemic has resulted in a concerning double whammy.
ideastream's Matt Richmond will join us to talk about that story.
- Joe Roman, President and CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership
- Armond Budish, County Executive, Cuyahoga County
- Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, Chief Executive Officer, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
- Will Friedman, President and CEO, The Port of Cleveland
- Matt Richmond, Reporter, ideastream
- Sue Marasco, Director of Programming and Evaluation, May Dugan Center
- Andrea Gutka, CEO and Executive Director, WomenSafe, Inc. The Green House
