In Memory of Michael Scott Psenicka •

Statement of 

The Neighborhood and Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland

August 13, 1966 ~ September 14, 2020

The Neighborhood and Community Media Association was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Mike Psenicka, owner of our member outlet, The Neighborhood News.

As the third generation of Psenicka family ownership of The Neighborhood News, Mike changed the shaped of the newspaper and brought color to its pages; as a founding member of NCMA-CLE, he changed our shape and brought color to our organization.

Psenicka fought to reveal the impact of news and developments on Southeast Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, Bedford, Newburgh Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Independence and Valley View. He was driven to maintain his family's newspaper as a place to find critical thinking about news and events rather than a regurgitation of words from government representatives, motivated interests, and entrenched power. 

Psenicka also labored to make his hometown a better place. His love of his readership took many forms, including his concept of Valentine's Day "Loving Couple" stories complete with limo ride and steakhouse meal contests. Psenicka was equally motivated to bring a spotlight to human trafficking and other hidden community ailments in need of his readership's care and attention.

At our first association meeting, Psenicka boiled down the need for The Neighborhood News and all our associated Cleveland media outlets when he said, "I think that's what will make us survive: people want to see what's up with their neighbors."

NCMA-CLE offers its condolences to the Psenicka family and would like to express its deep regret for this tragic loss to our local community and our collective of small Cleveland media producers.

Richard T. Andrews                                    Richard Weiss

President                                                     Vice President

BILLIE A. OSBORNE-FEARS, 67

 

Starting Point founder was tireless and trailblazing advocate for children, families

Billie Osborne Fears created Starting Point, regarded today as one of the most comprehensive networks of childcare and early education services in the country.

A local advocacy organization noted that Osborne-Fears's "tireless advocacy for children is what led her to step up, without question, last year to co-chair the Coalition's Lead Safe Child Care Settings Subcommittee. She convened the table with with warmth and professionalism, always asking the tough questions and helping the Coalition forge a path forward. Under her leadership the committee commissioned Groundwork Ohio to complete the Lead in Child Care Report, a first-of-its-kind report that includes a 50 state scan of laws, regulations and policies related to lead and recommendations to create lead safe childcare spaces."

Osborne-Fears died September 4, 2020, after a short illness.

Graveside services will be held today, Saturday, September 19 at Lakeview Cemetery, 12316 Euclid Ave. [44106], under the auspices of Gaines Funeral Home, 5386 Lee Rd. [44137]. Face masks are required for graveside services.

• • •• • •

DR. EUGENE JAMES JORDAN, 83

December 7, 1936 — August 28, 2020

OBITUARY

DENTIST WAS REVERED FOR HIS COMMUNAL, ACTIVIST SPIRIT

By R. T. Andrews

Eugene Jordan practiced dentistry in the heart of Cleveland's black community for fifty years, simultaneously looking after the dental needs of his patients, serving his profession as teacher, ambassador, worker, and leader through a myriad of organizations local and global, and supporting and guiding a plethora of community, civic, and political causes with consistent passion and empathy. With equal dedication and energy, he and his first wife, Delores [née Mixon] supported their three children in their pursuit of advanced degrees in health care. 

Jordan died August 28. He was 83.

Some of Jordan's patients were unable to afford even the modest fees charged for his services. Like a big-hearted country dentist, he was known to accept payment by barter, his working class patients occasionally performing odd jobs around his University Heights home or helping to prepare food for family picnics. They were likely unaware of his prominence both within the profession and in the community, where he put in the work without fanfare.

Early in his career, Jordan was a member of all the standard local, state, and national dental professional organizations. But even as he taught at Case Western Reserve University's College of Dentistry, and later serve on a congressional committee on health reform, it was in the black community that he found his niche. He joined the Forest City Dental Society, co-founded the Buckeye State Dental Association, and eventually became president of the National Dental Association, the leading professional organization for dentists of color worldwide. Family vacations were planned around the NDA's annual convention.

A prolific reader with a curious mind, Jordan's household had books scattered everywhere. He had few rules as a parent, but insisted that his children study math, science, and master a sport. He reasoned that those disciplines would produce adults who would be strong of mind and body, and thus able to fend for themselves. The formula worked. Martin and his sister Joy became dentists and joined their father as partners in the Jordan Center practice he established; younger brother Michael became a psychiatrist.

Jordan had followed that same formula himself. Although he never played varsity basketball for his hometown Buckeyes, Jordan did make the freshman squad before leaving Ohio State to enroll in the US Army Medical/Dental Corps. When he returned home, he enrolled at Capital University, graduating in 1965 with a biology degree. With three children in tow, the family packed up and moved to Washington DC, where Jordan entered Howard School of Dentistry. After graduation, he secured a one year post-graduate internship at the Veterans Hospital in Philadelphia before the family returned to Ohio, settling in Cleveland.

The decision to live and work in Cleveland was influenced by Jordan's desire to be in a large city with multiple professional sports teams, one that was reasonably close to his hometown of Columbus, where his parents were still living. Cleveland fit the bill and Jordan became an ardent Browns and Cavaliers fan.

Jordan quickly plunged into his chosen profession, working as a staff dentist at the Hough Norwood Health Center [forerunner to Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services]. volunteering at the Cleveland Free Clinic, and serving as a clinical instructor at Case Western Reserve University's College of Dental Medicine.

Jordan soon opened his first office above the Rexall Drug Store at Euclid Ave. and N. Taylor Rd. in East Cleveland. He later moved his practice west on Euclid to a former mansion just east of University Circle. Eventually he opened a second office in Cleveland's Lee-Harvard area to accommodate his growing practice.

In addition to his dental work, his family, and his professional service, Jordan was extraordinarily active with a host of community organizations, and was a dependable member and leader in most of them. He was a throwback to the sort of activist who in earlier times would have been described as a "race man". He gave unstintingly to all manner of community groups and causes. Among his favorites were the NAACP, the Association of African American Cultural Gardens, and the loose fraternity of civic spirits known as the Carnegie Roundtable. Invariably siding with the masses, Jordan once sat in for several days and nights at the Cleveland Board of Education in protest of policies that he believed were not in the best interests of the city's tens of thousands of school children.

Dr. Jordan is survived by his second wife, Bernice; three children, Dr. Joy Jordan, Dr. Martin Jordan, both of Cleveland, and Dr. Michael Jordan of Phoenix, AZ; and three grandchildren, Mica, Mariah, and Michael, all of Cleveland.

Final arrangements were handled by the Pernel Jones Funeral Home.

Jordan often recited a maxim that seems an apt summary of his life and work. As recalled by his son, Martin, it goes something like this: "Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make those dreams come true."

 • • •• • •

Nate's Northcoast Notes • Black Journalists host program on Biden, Trump and the Black Vote

100 Black Women Coalition Scholarship Reception | Toni Morrison's Paradise | GCUFF Closing Night

By Nate Paige

September 18

GCUFF Closing Night Festivities

The cinematic smorgasbord that is the ninth annual Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival [GCUFF], which this year virtually showcased more than 80 films, comes to a close tonight. The evening kicks off at 7PM and will include a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary, "St. Louis Superman", chronicling the true story of Bruce Franks, Jr., the Missouri native, Ferguson activist, and battle rapper elected to the overwhelmingly white and lopsidedly Republican Missouri legislature, who must overcome a number of political obstacles to get a billed passed in his community.

There will also be an awards ceremony, monologue competition, and Closing Night virtual party. Finalists for the Monologue Competition are Brianna Burke, DeJuan Christopher, Crystal Hill, Durrell Lyons, and Britney Onukwugha.

Visit www.gcuff.org for more information.

 

September 19

100 Black Women of Greater Cleveland host (virtual) scholarship reception

The Greater Cleveland Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women will hold its 29th annual Women of Vision Virtual Scholarship Reception Saturday, September 19. The event starts at 6PM on Facebook Live. 

This year's event will honor Judge Lauren Moore-Siggers of the Cleveland Municipal Court and Dr. Rachel Talton, CEO of Synergy Marketing Strategy and Research.

Included among the planned festivities will be the presentation of the Woman of Vision award and the SHE Leads 100 Initiative, recognizing Dr. Shemariah J. Arki, founder of the Ellipsis Institute for Women of Color, and county councilwoman Shontel Brown, who also chairs the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.

WKYC's anchor/reporter Romney Smith and meteorologist Jason Frazer will serve as co-hosts. More details can be found on the chapter's Facebook page.

Love Is: An Exploration of Toni Morrison's Literature

Literary Cleveland's monthly virtual Reader Series of Toni Morrison book discussions continues Saturday, Sept. 19 from 10am to noon. This month's meeting centers on Paradise, Morrison's 1997 novel.

The discussion leader is Michelle R. Smith, a writer, educator, and cultural facilitator. She is the author of Ariel in Black, a poetry collection published by Guide to Kulchur Press, and the creator of Blax Museum, an annual performance showcase dedicated to honoring notable black figures in American history and culture.

Reader Series classes take the participant on a deep dive into a specific topic or author to gain a more advanced understanding of literature and the world, and are designed to provide history, context and analysis via in-depth discussion. Visit here to register for this event and to see upcoming discussions. ($)

•

September 22

Black Journalists tackle "Trump vs. Biden & the Black Vote" in virtual public forum

The Greater Cleveland Association of Black Journalists will host a virtual discussion on this year's Presidential election on Tuesday, September 22. The program starts at 7PM and will feature Shontel Brown, chairwoman of the county Democratic Party, and Donna Walker-Brown, who chairs the county Republican Executive Committee.

The forum will be moderated by WKYC's Russ Mitchell and Real Deal Press correspondent Rhonda Crowder.

Register via Zoom to attend this important and free event, which will also stream on Facebook Live.

•

Is there an upcoming event you'd like included in this column? Send the details along with a high resolution photo/graphic, to NorthcoastNotesATtherealdealpress.com at least two weeks prior to the event.

• • •• • •

Ohio's PUCO half-steps on investigating FirstEnergy

 Regulator declines to order independent auditor, tells company to investigate itself

By Kathiann M. Kowalski

This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism, in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network.

Regulators are requiring FirstEnergy to show that its Ohio utility ratepayers didn’t foot the bill, “directly or indirectly,” for political or charitable spending in support of the state’s nuclear and coal bailout bill. Yet that order is much more lenient than the state’s official consumer advocate had sought.

Questions about possible improprieties arose after former House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, was arrested on July 21. That case involves an alleged criminal conspiracy by him and others to pass House Bill 6 last year and then to defend it against a citizens’ referendum. The federal complaint and indictment allege that the defendants received approximately $60 million from “Company A” — apparently FirstEnergy — and its subsidiaries and affiliates.

Repeal bills are pending in the General Assembly. Meanwhile, on Sept. 8, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to require an independent audit of FirstEnergy’s political and charitable spending. Before FirstEnergy’s utilities filed any formal response, the PUCO opened a new case and issued its Sept. 15 order.

The PUCO told FirstEnergy’s utilities “to show cause, by September 30, 2020, demonstrating that the costs of any political or charitable spending in support of Am. Sub. H.B. 6, or the subsequent referendum effort, were not included, directly or indirectly, in any rates or charges paid by ratepayers in this state.”

“We are reviewing the PUCO order and will respond by September 30 as required,” said FirstEnergy spokesperson Jennifer Young. She added that the company was “not aware of the criminal allegations, affidavit or subpoenas before July 21,” and that it is cooperating fully in the federal investigation.

A ‘baby step’

Critics aren’t willing to take FirstEnergy’s word for it that the company did nothing wrong. 

“Ohioans deserve an open, transparent investigation and an audit by an independent, third party into the actions taken by FirstEnergy — not just a report from FirstEnergy itself to the PUCO,” said Miranda Leppla, vice president of energy policy for the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund. “Ohioans have a right to know that state-approved monopolies, like our electric utilities, are not misusing dollars collected from Ohioans’ electric bills, and if they are, that the PUCO acts swiftly to crack down.”

Speaking before an Ohio House committee considering repeal of HB 6, PUCO Chair Sam Randazzo noted that stakeholders could weigh in. However, it’s not clear how much more will be done.

The PUCO’s order is “a baby step towards the direction of what the Consumers’ Counsel is suggesting,” but it’s certainly not the same, said former PUCO member Ashley Brown, who now heads the Harvard Electricity Policy Group. Ohio regulators have wide leeway in investigating utilities’ activities, he noted, and the order doesn’t foreclose additional inquiries beyond whatever FirstEnergy files in response.

According to FirstEnergy spokesperson Mark Durbin, “there were no expenses for political activity and lobbying for the years 2017-2020 included in customers’ rates at CEI, Toledo Edison, and Ohio Edison.”

However, the PUCO’s Sept. 15 order calls for the company to show that there was neither direct nor indirect funding of political and charitable giving. Indirect funding could happen if the parent corporation got more than the allowable rate of return from its regulated utilities, Brown said.

Even if the rate of return looks OK on paper, one might ask if personnel at the parent and affiliates charged for time related to lobbying efforts, Brown said. Likewise, the utilities’ electric security plans include some cross-subsidies for unregulated activities.

Additionally, from 2017 through mid-2019, FirstEnergy’s utilities collected roughly $440 million from ratepayers for a credit support rider that wasn’t tied to any services for ratepayers. Critics have questioned what the company did with those funds. The Ohio Supreme Court subsequently held the charge unlawful but didn’t require a refund.

“To do this audit correctly, you can’t just look at the accounts” from the utilities, Brown said. “You have to look at what’s behind the reporting. … It really requires a professional auditing firm that has financial skills and management skills and forensics skills.” And, he added, if improprieties show up, the bigger question is how the corporation and its directors and officers might have allowed them to happen.

For its part, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel hopes the PUCO order is a beginning, rather than a last step for an investigation. 

“The Ohio legislature has granted the PUCO considerable powers to investigate utilities for the protection of the public,” said spokesperson J.P. Blackwood at the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel. “We hope the PUCO will more fully use those powers to broaden its announced ‘review’ of FirstEnergy's alleged conduct in influencing the passage of House Bill 6.”

As it stands, Ohio utilities are “the only entities in the state of Ohio that are guaranteed a profit,” said Rep. David Leland, D-Columbus, who is co-sponsoring one of the HB6 repeal bills. “It’s the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s responsibility to get to the bottom of what kind of corruption actually occurred at FirstEnergy.” In his view, the fact that it took nearly two months for the PUCO to act after Householder was arrested was “an abdication of their responsibilities.”

“It’s not timely, and it’s not expansive enough,” Leland said.

Aligned interests?

The PUCO’s Sept. 15 order could matter even more in light of a Cincinnati Enquirer report, showing that FirstEnergy’s Political Action Committee made $158,000 in campaign contributions just days before Householder’s July 21 arrest.

The report’s listing of donations, based on filings with the Ohio Secretary of State, showed $10,000 and $5,000 going to campaigns for HB 6 co-sponsors Jamie Callender and Shane Wilkin, respectively. Campaigns for Ohio Supreme Court justices Judith French and Sharon Kennedy each were shown as getting $7,000. 

Amounts exceeding $3,400 were also shown as going to campaigns for House Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati; House Majority Whip Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville; House Minority Whip Paula Hicks-Hudson, D-Toledo; Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls; Rep. Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland; Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Canton; Bill Reineke, R-Tiffin; Rep. George Lang, R-West Chester; Senate Democratic Caucus Leader Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights; and Ohio Senate candidate Jerry Cirino, R-Lake County.

Several campaigns have said they did not receive the money, raising yet more questions.

“FirstEnergy’s Political Action Committee supports both Republican and Democrat candidates and officeholders whose interests align with those of our customers, employees and shareholders,” Young said. “FirstEnergy’s PAC contributions are legal and reported consistent with established federal, state and legal requirements.”

Cirino had testified in support of HB 6 in his role as a current Lake County Commissioner. Documents uncovered by the Energy & Policy Institute showed that drafts of that testimony had been arranged by a FirstEnergy Solutions consultant who had previously been FirstEnergy’s external affairs director. That person, Murphy Montler, is now deceased.

“The former employee was working as a consultant for FES,” Young said. “I can only speak for FirstEnergy Corp., and I am not familiar with the work referenced in the article.”

“Energy Harbor does not have any comment at this time,” said spokesperson Jason Copsey. Energy Harbor is the successor to FirstEnergy’s former FirstEnergy Solutions subsidiary following the conclusion of its bankruptcy case in February 2020. The company is no longer considered an affiliate of FirstEnergy.

“I was acting as a county commissioner looking out for the economic health and employment situation in my county,” Cirino said. “At no time did I represent FirstEnergy and FirstEnergy Solutions. … Any implication that there was any financial interest on my part in supporting HB 6 or whatever the solution might have been is absurd.”

Cirino did not deny receiving the July donation from FirstEnergy, and he said that FirstEnergy Solutions had provided “technical” material for his testimony supporting HB 6. 

“When someone like Jerry Cirino has a documented history of simply taking marching orders from a large corporation and its lobbyists, no questions asked, we have to doubt whether he will ever ask the necessary hard questions,” said Besty Rader, his rival in the race for State Senate. 

Even after Householder’s arrest and revelation of the alleged racketeering scheme, “Cirino took the political lead this August to support the flow of money” to companies under the HB 6 subsidies, Rader added. “This sort of pay-to-play in Ohio politics has to end.”

Ohio’s Chief Justice: "change for the better requires protest"

O'Connor renews call for statewide sentencing database, sees virtual courtrooms in the future of justice

By Susan Tebben

Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor gives her State of the Judiciary address during last week's Ohio Judicial Conference annual meeting.

The true nature of justice lies in its ability to change when society calls for it, according to the head of Ohio’s highest court.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said that change is coming in the form of safety measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic and rethinking the justice system in light of nationwide civil unrest.

“Establishing a sentencing database may be hard, but … it is necessary.” 

“Society’s problems are laid at our doorstep, and rightfully so,” O’Connor said in her State of the Judiciary address last Thursday to the Ohio Judicial Conference annual meeting.

On the theme of the conference, acknowledging the anniversary of the 19th Amendment, she spoke of the protests that led to the passage of the law that gave women the right to vote. She also brought up the protests spawned by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, but said the resentment felt by the protesters “is not the result of that one incident alone.”

“The history of our nation is one of immense contradictions,” O’Connor said. “…Barriers enacted by lawmakers and upheld in courts have restricted access to capital, and certain neighborhoods based on color. The list of injustices is long and the effects have reached from one century, into another, into another.”

Change for the better, O’Connor said, “requires steadfastness, it requires protest.” In making that change, the courts need better data and better tools to collect the data to investigate whether it’s being done fairly and equitably.

The chief justice made yet another push for a sentencing database that would monitor punishment statistics as well as demographics of defendants, something she and other legal officials have said should already be a part of Ohio's justice system. 

“Establishing a sentencing database may be hard, but it is not impossible and more importantly it is necessary,” O’Connor said.

The database is one of many tools O’Connor said should be utilized to bring Ohio’s justice system into the future, and combat accessibility issues brought on by societal gaps along with the pandemic. 

Following guidelines from the Ohio Department of Health presented barriers to the court system, O’Connor said, but it also allowed the court system to identify new ways of being efficient, and ways for parties to participate in court proceedings without being present. 

The $6 million the Ohio Supreme Court released in March to help local courts continue while preventing the spread of COVID-19 was accepted immediately by 87 of the 88 counties in the state, according to O’Connor. Some courts have now resumed jury trials, and some courts are now able to stream their hearings virtually. 

“A court’s ability to provide proper access to justice while employing these technologies is something new,” O’Connor said.

Pilot projects are currently being undertaken by the National Center for State Courts to determine the public perception of these electronic appearances, and the state supreme court is working on guidance for these virtual hearings.

The supreme court is also starting a virtual directory of courts that allow streaming of their court proceedings. The high court already streams its oral arguments, but the directory now includes ninth and tenth District courts of appeals, along with the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas and the Barberton Municipal Court.

O’Connor and the court also announced the iCourt Task Force, to study the use of technology by courts during the coronavirus pandemic. The task force plans to survey judges and attorneys and look comprehensively at what rules and protocols should be in place to make technology work for the courts. The concept of remote criminal jury trials is also a topic up for consideration by the task force.

The task force will have a maximum of 25 members appointed by Chief Justice O’Connor and will include court officials from justices to clerks of courts. Justice Patrick DeWine will serve as the high court’s liaison.

A deadline for findings and recommendations was set for June 2021, according to the supreme court.

Justice O’Connor’s speech can be viewed here.

• • •• • •

This story is provided by Ohio Capital Journal, a part of States Newsroom, a national 501 (c)(3) nonprofit. See the original story here.

Covid-19 drastically affecting local childcare centers of every size

By Rhonda Crowder

Aside from war, Covid-19 is perhaps the most devastating phenomenon the world has seen in the last one hundred years. Like a category 5 hurricane, it leaves almost nothing untouched, from its death tolls to the economy, to its effects on our daily lives.

One industry especially feeling the brunt of Covid-19’s impact is childcare. 

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ordered all childcare facilities across the state to shut down on March 24, 2020. Shortly after, some were able to reopen as pandemic centers. For various reasons, many did not. Moreover, the fear of catching or even having contracted Coronavirus is causing many parents to keep their children at home. We took a look at how the new regime is affecting childcare providers of all sizes.

Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland

With 11 direct and 60 partner sites, CEOGC (Council For Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland) operates the largest head start program in Cleveland and one of the largest in the state. Last year, they served close to 2800 children.

This year, due to Covid-19, they anticipate serving only a fraction of that number — maybe 1500 to 2000 — said Dr. Thea Wilson, vice president for children and families at CEOGC. 

CEOGC operates the largest
Head Start program in Cleveland

Because CEOGC is a nonprofit that receives federal funding, they haven’t been hit as hard financially as others.

“It’s been pretty steady,” said Wilson. “But we can’t say the same for our partners who run for-profit facilities.

While CEOGC chose not to convert their Early Learning Centers into pandemic sites, they did host summer camp to learn how programming would work under Covid restrictions. 

“We got rave reviews from those parents. They thought we did a fabulous job. No one got sick. We didn’t have to send anyone home. It was a good experience for the children,” said Wilson. 

CEOGC learned during this time that maintaining a lower ratio is a must. Where previously two teachers could handle a class of up to twenty preschoolers to two teachers, that ratio has been cut in half. “When you start looking at that alone, that has a very big impact on how many children we can serve,” said Wilson.

Another big change for them is that parents can no longer enter the building but must drop their children off at the door. CEOGC finds this a challenge because they’ve always welcomed parents inside.

“Now we’re having to rethink how we engage our parents on a different level,” said Wilson.

CEOGC is implementing a distance learning curriculum for parents who are uncomfortable with bringing children to the centers at all. “They’ll get a chrome book and they can have contact with a teacher that way.”

CEOGC does not require children to wear masks, although some do, according to Wilson. Teachers, however, are required to wear masks. “That alone helped our parents understand we were serious about what we say we’re going to do.”

The agency pushed back the start of their fall classes to Sept. 8 to align with Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “We needed to give teachers time for professional development,” said Wilson.

With over 40 years in education, Wilson’s biggest concern is the social-emotional development of those children who lack the normal interaction with others. “Everything is not learned in classrooms, but most things are, and we really need to have children in classrooms,” she said.

Friendly Inn

Friendly Inn Settlement House’s Enrichment Center, accepting children ages 6 weeks to 12 years, tells a slightly different story. Before Covid, they had almost 100 children enrolled. As the virus spread, that number has dropped to 20 or fewer children per day.

“Parents were afraid and staff were afraid. They started calling off and you couldn’t blame them,” said Kimme Foster, program administrator.

Friendly Inn's Enrichment Center accepts children ages six weeks to 12 years old.

Because of the panic, existing health conditions within the community and the lack of children showing up, Friendly Inn chose to not be a pandemic center. Following all of the health protocols, they recently reopened. 

“A lot of parents still didn’t want to bring children back. We’ve been open for two months and barely have 40 children enrolled,” said Foster.

Friendly Inn’s pre-Covid capacity was 130. At the onset of the outbreak it was reduced to 45, however, DeWine has said centers could go back to original numbers.

They decided against it.

“It took a hard time to get to the numbers where we are at now. The majority of our clients are African Americans, who have been affected three times more than anyone else. So we’ve had people who have lost jobs, have had Covid or have it, or are taking care of loved ones who have it. So, we don’t feel comfortable going back to our regular numbers knowing that, if something should happen, we may be held liable for it,” said Friendly Inn President and CEO Yolanda Armstrong. 

“If people really wanted to come they would be here, but they are not. People are keeping their kids at home or making other arrangements.”

Armstrong said the staff is committed, even though they are scared as well.

 “We want the public to know we are here to serve them. We can’t close our doors,” said Armstrong. Although located in the Central neighborhood, Friendly Inn’s Enrichment Center is open to families from all communities.

Throughout Friendly Inn’s 145-year history, the Enrichment Center has been its biggest source of income. “It has hit our revenue stream,” said Armstrong. “The blessing has been PPP [Payroll Protection Program] dollars. The PPP dollars have kept us going.”

However, she explained that, once they took a look at July’s numbers, they are going to fall short. “We’re going to run a deficit,” she said.

“But, because our childcare center has been the money maker,” Armstrong continued, “we thought it was important for the staff and administrators to know we care about and support them. We will not shorten their pay. We’ll make it up in other areas.”

Friendly Inn’s Enrichment Center is a (Step Up to Quality) five star center. SUTQ is a five-star quality rating and improvement system recognizing and promoting child care programs that exceed minimum health and safety licensing regulations. Star-rated programs that provide publicly funded child care receive additional funding based on their ratings. This additional funding is a percentage of their base pay rate for publicly funded child care services. This tool is designed to help programs estimate the weekly and annual payments they could potentially receive for each star rating they achieve.

The majority of their funding comes from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) through publicly funded child care.  All of their parents receive some assistance in paying for child care. Some of the funds come from state grants, like the Pandemic Support Payment Grant that centers can apply through OCCRRA (Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association).

Friendly Inn is being considered by Cleveland Metropolitan School District to host school age children and  provide mentors as well during in-school hours.

When it comes to the children’s adjustment to the new protocols, Foster said, “It’s difficult for them to keep the mask on. We have to continue to remind them to keep the mask on and social distance.”

Shell’s Learning Center

Shell's Learning Center is a Step Up to Quality 3-star rated center.

Michelle Beden-Payne has been in childcare for 31 years. She went from a type B to a type A provider in her home to opening her first facility, Shell’s Learning Center on Lee Road in Shaker Heights four years ago and quickly became a three-star center. Before the onset of the pandemic, she operated at capacity — 46 children. Now, she’s at less than half.

“Before Covid, I was doing great. We were full,” said Beden-Payne, who was even planning to open a second center on Richmond Road in Warrensville Heights prior to the outbreak. Covid delayed in the opening until a few months ago.

“We’ve been impacted drastically. It cut my children on Lee Road down to nineteen. I have seven at the Richmond Road center.” Her capacity at that center is 84. “It’s a struggle.”

Beden-Payne did receive some PPP dollars and incentives from the county to conduct proper sanitation. “They’ve given us a little but, with the majority of the children not coming back, it’s not going to help. With less ratios, it’s not enough to make payroll for two weeks.”

Beden-Payne has been able to maintain her staff and continues to push forward.

She said jobs allowing employees to work from home is another reason why parents are not bringing their children to the center. Most of Beden-Payne’s remaining parents are essential workers such as doctors, STNAs and bailiffs. Teachers going back to school are starting to bring their children as well.

“I understand people’s worries, and we can’t promise anything because we don’t know. Having a compromised immune system, I’m at risk. We’re all taking a risk every day we come in,” she said.

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