• Debate over tax breaks for nonprofit Cleveland area hospitals is also about racism and redlining

    Debate over tax breaks for nonprofit Cleveland area hospitals is also about racism and redlining by Stephanie Czekalinski & Michael Indriolo  This is part two of a series examining the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals in Northeast Ohio and how the loss of tax dollars impacts communities. Plain Press, August 2022        Nonprofit hospitals like the Cleveland Clinic receive…


  • Full circle: Local initiative aims to rev up circular economy in Cleveland

    Full circle: Local initiative aims to rev up circular economy in Cleveland by Lee Chilcote (Plain Press, February 2022)  Plastic is everywhere, and we can’t seem to get rid of it. It litters our streets, clogs up our waterways, and fills up our landfills. So why not turn it into art, protecting the environment while creating…


  • COPING WITH COVID-19: 

    Isolation, lack of technology concerns for seniors during pandemic by Brie Zeltner (Plain Press, February 2021) Angela Smith can’t access her email– she has no computer, no tablet, no high-cost data plan, and the library’s closed. Smith, 48, is taking care of her 74-year-old mother, Minnie, in the Cedar Extension High-Rise senior apartments on East 30th…


  • CareSource invests $5 million in fund to make Cleveland homes lead safe

    (Plain Press, February 2021) CareSource, the state’s largest Medicaid managed care organization, will invest $5 million to help Cleveland families and property owners protect children from lead hazards in their homes.  The commitment, which the Dayton-based nonprofit called “unprecedented,” recognizes the profound effect that housing has on health, CareSource officials said. Exposure to the brain-damaging environmental…


  • Slavic Village effort takes HIV prevention to the neighborhood level in hopes of reversing trend

    Slavic Village effort takes HIV prevention to the neighborhood level in hopes of reversing trend by Rachel Dissell (Plain Press, February 2021)         On a crisp fall day, a small group of masked community researchers fanned out on the streets of Slavic Village to ask residents a few questions about their sex lives.    The effort was one…


  • Lead Safe Resource Center and Home Fund launches

    by Rachel Dissell (Plain Press, January 2021)    Cleveland residents will have access to a new resource center and hotline dedicated to helping parents and property owners reduce the chances of lead poisoning by making homes in the city lead safe.      The Lead Safe Resource Center and Home Fund fulfill, in part, a public pledge that the…


  • Is your rental home eligible for incentives, grants or loans to make it lead safe? Find out here.

    by Rachel Dissell (Plain Press, January 2021)    A new fund is offering $500 incentives and other financial support to Cleveland property owners and families to remove lead paint-based hazards from homes.      The Lead Safe Home Fund combines rebates, grants and loans in an effort to aid landlords who must comply with the city’s new lead-safe certification, and…


  • Historical mistreatment, modern-day disparities make Black Americans less likely to trust COVID-19 care, vaccine

    Historical mistreatment, modern-day disparities make Black Americans less likely to trust COVID-19 care, vaccine by Afi Scruggs and Rachel Dissell (Plain Press, November 2020) Two days before Carmen Bailey fell ill with COVID-19 in late April, she told her daughter not to take her to the hospital if she ever got the disease.  As her symptoms…


  • Researchers turn to HIV/AIDS clinical trial network for help in building Black Clevelanders’ trust in COVID-19 studies

    Researchers turn to HIV/AIDS clinical trial network for help in building Black Clevelanders’ trust in COVID-19 studies  by Rachel Dissell and Brie Zeltner (Plain Press, November 2020)                 It took more than a decade of participation on the Community Advisory Board at University Hospitals’ AIDS clinical trial unit for Ray Allmond, who is Black, to understand the…


  • Black physicians help build trust in clinical trials, medical care after decades of community skepticism, mistreatment

    Black physicians help build trust in clinical trials, medical care after decades of community skepticism, mistreatment  by Rachel Dissell and Brie Zeltner     (Plain Press, November 2020) Dr. Jackson Wright is successful at recruiting Black patients to participate in his research studies. That’s in part because he — and much of his team — look like them. …