Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood
The Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood is an initiative of the St. Vincent Charity Health & Healing Hub
that helps connect residents, families
and community partners to resources available through the Hub and across Cleveland’s Central neighborhood to focus on addressing social drivers of health.
In 2024, Central Promise launched a school-based partnership with Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Marion-Sterling school to provide wraparound services and supports for students and families. Together, the partners are working to strengthen literacy, reduce chronic absenteeism and address barriers that can affect student success.
School Programs and Supports
- Student Savings Accounts help students understand basic savings concepts and build financial awareness, while earning money through various tasks, good behaviors and attendance.
- Marion-Sterling Garden creates hands-on learning opportunities for students during and after school while supporting wellness, nutrition and neighborhood connection.
- Care Closet provides access to essential items that help students and families meet daily needs with dignity.
- Afterschool Programming offers safe, supportive enrichment opportunities that help students learn, grow and stay engaged beyond the school day through creative activities, active play and reading help.
- Behavioral Health Supports provides students with tools to control emotional outbursts dung the school day and works on emotional well-being and healthy development.
- Community Health Workers, provided in collaboration with Care Alliance, help families with children who are chronically absent, or on the verge of being chronically absent, connect with resources to overcome barriers to school attendance (transportation, health, food, childcare, etc).
Community Partnerships
Beyond the school building, Cleveland Central Promise works with partners to address the social drivers of health and expands access to resources that support children, families and the broader Central neighborhood. A few examples of current partnerships are listed below:
- Tri-C Food Truck brings accessible food resources and community outreach directly into the neighborhood.
- Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland funding is allocated specifically to support the work of Cleveland Central Promise in the neighborhood through nonprofit partners offering services like literacy training, workforce training, adult basic education and more.
- Parent Cafés offered by various nonprofit partners create welcoming spaces for caregivers to connect, share experiences and build supportive networks.
Leadership
Sherece Brown-Gray — Program Manager, Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood
As the program manager for the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood program, Sherece has been helping transition the program’s work to focus on addressing the social drivers of health for Central neighborhood residents. Key aspects of the program include supporting PreK-8th grade students and their families at Marion-Sterling, investing in neighborhood-wide programming and measuring effectiveness. Her efforts center on collaborating with partners to develop and implement strategies that encourage a healthy and thriving community.
Sherece has extensive experience in community outreach and program management, leading program initiatives that connect residents, families and community partners to enhance support services and achieve measurable results. Prior to joining Cleveland Central Promise in 2018, Sherece was a case manager at Murtis Taylor Human Services, where she was responsible for coordinating client assessments and developing personalized service plans, among other duties.
Established Corporate Work Study Partner
St. Marten De Porres students report to work at Marion Sterling school and assist teachers, school administrative staff and students with various tasks on given days of the week.
During the 2026/2027 school year, four students will be part of the program.
Contact Us
For more information on the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood or to discuss potential partnership opportunities, please reach out to one of our team members listed below:
Sherece Brown-Gray, Program Manager
216.789.7103 cell
216.241.5626 office
Sbrown-gray@sistersofcharityhealth.org
Marisa Rohn, Chief Program Officer
330.312.6821
mrohn@scfcanton.org
