PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Saturday, August 26, 2023; Neighborhood Mural Dedication, St. Paul’s Community Church, 4427 Franklin Boulevard: The neighborhood mural honors peacemakers and prophets that have contributed to the community. Molly Carreon, one of those pictured in the mural, spoke of the example her parents set for her and how she became involved in caring for children in the neighborhood.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Saturday, August 26, 2023; Neighborhood Mural Dedication, St. Paul’s Community Church, 4427 Franklin Boulevard: Artist Katherine Chilcote designed the mural and worked with Cleveland youths to complete the artwork.

by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, October 2023) The Near West Side of Cleveland has long had a reputation as a neighborhood where people will help you if you are in need. A ceremony unveiling a mural honoring some of the people who helped the neighborhood earn that reputation was held at St. Paul’s Community Church at W. 45^th and Franklin on August 26^th.

   Local artist Katherine Chilcote, working through her Building Bridges Arts Collaborative’s Summer Mural Institute, designed the mural and worked with twenty-seven youths to paint the portraits of the thirteen community members being honored in the mural. Chilcote had to persuade some of those being honored that it was important that their images be in the mural.

   At the ceremony, individuals whose images were in the mural, or friends or family members of people in the mural who have died, spoke to those gathered for the ceremony. In addition to the stories of those who were portrayed in the mural, the event featured free food, music and singing by Trennell Garrison and some dancing by Trennell’s granddaughter.

   Those featured in the mural are: Molly Carreon, Bill and Jean Merriman, Teri Gelzer, Neil Sande, Judy Corrigan, Susan Greene, Rev. Mark DiNardo, Leslie Levett, George Hrbek, Bob Shores, Maryellen Fiala and Mike Fiala.

   Molly Carreon spoke of how she became involved in “taking care of kids in the neighborhood so the saints of our community could do service to the neighborhood.”

   Bill Merriman spoke of how he and his late wife Jean became involved in supporting people in the community and becoming involved in the lives of others. He said Jean made all the difference in his life. He said Jean was a person that would talk to the person in front of her and the person behind her in the grocery store line and come out of the store with new friends. David Kachadourian, who came to introduce the next speaker, commented that Bill Merriman’s work as a mailman in the neighborhood was just a cover for his mission of service to his neighbors.

   Teri Gelzer’s sisters, Jodi and Randi, spoke of their late sister as a teacher and artist whose focus was centered on the community. They said Teri “accepted and valued everyone for who they were.”

   Nell Sande said she migrated to Cleveland from West Virginia in 1954 and came to St. Paul’s Church that same year. She said she wanted to join the staff as an outreach worker. She said whenever she needed guidance for a problem facing her as an outreach worker she asked, “What would Jesus do?” Sande said she has never forgotten the people she worked with as an outreach worker for St. Paul’s Community Church. She said “Outreach” gets in your blood. Sande says she has been a member of St. Paul’s Community Church for 68 years and “it is a blessing.”

   Judy Corrigan says she and a friend were volunteering in the neighborhood in the early 1970s when neighborhood resident and community activist Lilian Craig told her “If you want to make a difference you need to come to the neighborhood and live with us.” Corrigan said she did just that and it was the best decision she ever made. She remembers being involved with the effort at that time in doing a fundraiser for bail reform.

   David Kachadourian introduced Susan Greene as a person who has worked in women’s health care for forty years, with about a third of that time spent on the Near West Side. He noted that she started the Midwifery program at Neighborhood Family Practice. Greene spoke of the increase in the number of c-sections since she was a young nurse. She also noted the current crisis in maternal and infant health care where maternal and infant death rates are three times higher for women of color. She said a doula group, Birthing Beautiful Communities on the East Side of Cleveland, is making a difference for maternal and infant health in communities of color.

   Jim Schlecht spoke of the late Father Mark DiNardo. Schlecht said Fr. DiNardo was his friend for over 30 years. He said Father DiNardo offered the former convent at St. Pat’s to the Catholic Worker group where they set up Whitman House which helped hundreds of homeless persons over the years. Schlecht said Father DiNardo was also instrumental in getting St. Procop’s former convent to being approved by that parish as a transitional place for homeless men leaving shelters.

   Josh Levatt spoke about his late father, Leslie Levett, and the example he provided of seeking unity in our community and helping others. In memory of his father Josh Levatt recited the words of Bill Withers’ song Lean on Me.

   In remembering her late husband George Hrbek’s work in Cleveland, Stephanie Hrbek recalled a line from Adrienne Rich’s Dreams Before Walking, “What would it be like to live in a city where people were changing each other’s despair into hope?” In memory of her husband, Stephanie Hrbek said, ‘It is more important than ever to nourish places like this – where we turn despair into hope.”

   Bob Shores spoke of his involvement in the clothing ministry at St. Paul’s Church and how that moved into his home during the pandemic where it remains today.

   Mike Fiala spoke of the Near West Side as a place where his deep need for community is satisfied. Fiala spoke of the importance of welcoming people to Cleveland who are migrating here from other parts of the planet. Fiala said, “Hospitality is the opposite of violence. We need to deeply embrace hospitality.”

   Maryellen Fiala spoke of the importance of the community she lives in on the Near West Side in her community involvement. “You can just breathe in this neighborhood, and you get called to do this, “she said.