Ground broken for Creative Living for Life at Ursuline Sisters
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A groundbreaking Sept. 13 of Medina Creative Housing’s Creative Living for Life at Ursuline Sisters development in Pepper Pike.
COURTNEY BYRNES
cbyrnes@cjn.org
As the Creative Living for Life at Ursuline Sisters broke ground Sept. 13, it was emotional for Shari Goldberg, who helped over the last several years to bring the development to Pepper Pike for her son, Noah, and others with disabilities.
Medina Creative Housing is duplicating its Creative Living for Life community model to bring 25 “forever homes” for individuals with disabilities to a plot of 3 acres sold to them by the Ursuline Sisters at 29777 Fairmount Blvd. Over 200 people attended the groundbreaking.
“Breaking ground is just joyous and not lost on me that it’s at the beginning of a new year,” Goldberg told the Cleveland Jewish News as the groundbreaking took place two days before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. “This is such an important time and a sweet time in our year, but this is when it’s happening – right before the new year – was just remarkable.”
After 11 years in the making, construction on the homes began Sept. 1, with a ribbon cutting and occupancy expected in September 2024, Dianne DePasquale-Hagerty, CEO of Medina Creative Housing, told the CJN.
“It’s been a long and winding road, and to go from a concept, a dream, to having that formalized into a partnership with the Ursuline Sisters and going through all of the zoning, through the planning, through the city requirements, to finally be approved to build this very special, intentional community where we’ll have forever homes for individuals with disabilities full of hope and promise for the residents and peace of mind for their families,” DePasquale-Hagerty said. “And I think that the 11 years has signified the unwavering commitment of all the partners involved to support and uplift the lives of those in need.”
As its first development on the east side of Cleveland, she said the project came about when MCH was developing a project in Middleburg Heights and a motivated group of east side families reached out wanting a development in their own community.
Part of this group was the Goldbergs, who moved to Pepper Pike 26 years ago “not knowing what we needed” and finding a wonderful school district and community that they hoped to stay in, Goldberg said. Goldberg, her husband, Michael, and their sons, Noah and Jackson, are congregants of Congregation Shaarey Tikvah in Beachwood and Jewish Family Experience in University Heights.
Goldberg said she has been thinking about Noah’s future since he was a teen and came across MCH’s Creative Living for Life community model and felt it was a good fit. She met with its grant writer, Jen Wintner, and DePasquale-Hagerty, and later Mayor Richard Bain of Pepper Pike who suggested the Ursuline Sisters property. Goldberg became a full-time volunteer collecting names and serving as a liaison between MCH and the new project.
Throughout the process, the project received a mix of support and some concerns raised by residents, but ultimately Goldberg and DePasquale-Hagerty look forward to a bright future.
“I’m really hoping people who originally felt that way are going to feel differently once we move in to see that we’re going to be great neighbors, and we’re going to do what we can to fit in and support each other,” Goldberg said.
Shari Goldberg speaks at the groundbreaking. Her son, Noah, will be among the first residents.
Many of the residents, she said, are not new neighbors, but have lived or grew up in Pepper Pike, and almost half of them identify as Jewish.
“Not only (is it) neurodiverse, multi-generational, but it also makes it very ecumenical and a wide variety of religious affiliation,” she said.
The homes are privately funded by families, with fundraising for a community center.
“We’re excited to become active members of the Pepper Pike community in the near future and welcome the community to get to know us and our organization, and obviously all of the future residents to get to know us better,” DePasquale-Hagerty said. “And again, we look forward to developing additional relationships in the community and we look forward to the bright future.”