Loiter!

The Elevate  Prize will build capacity and will match  a grant made by Common Future, as well as funds raised from individual donors and earned income to launch Loiter! East Cleveland (EC) in 2021. 

1.Our first annual Equity Summit, Fall 2021 will be lead by Donte Gibbs, EC resident, Case Western Reserve graduate and Gund Foundation Fellow, known for his community project, "Donte's Gift Express" will head our community engagement work. 

2. Jamal Collins, East Cleveland native, and founder of Jayworking, a graphic design studio working with at risk youth, will lead content development for Voice and Culture  to produce  our "Honest Conversations about Change" podcast.

3.Brandon Smith’s  athletic and coaching experience and work engaging diverse youth in world class athletic competition for the US Tennis Association, brings energy and focus to lead loiter! Sports.He recently relocated to East Cleveland.

 Loiter! is partnering with leading Black led, Black serving non profit organizations including Environmental Health Watch for our Sanctuary Homes pilot, Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival for our Voice and Culture pilot, Rid-All for our Farms pilot and Sankofa for the design of the 'Bout time fund. 

The Elevate Prize  will enable us to hire them and fund this work.

To understand the impacts of systemic racism, come to East Cleveland. As the poorest city in Ohio,profound income, wealth, and health inequality are the lived experience of its Black residents.Over the next ten years, Loiter!,East Cleveland residents, talented entrepreneurs, and community organizations will transform the city from its current ground
zero reality to a model of economic justice by investing in East Cleveland residents and creating an ecosystem of community owned enterprises that increase incomes, build and share wealth, and creatively ,joyfully reclaim space for just being. Our work benefits all East Cleveland residents and we hope inspires action in other BIPOC communities.Anticipated results: $80 million in investment in East Cleveland, new businesses and jobs, an annual East Cleveland Dividend for all residents in, increased household income for employee owners and increased net worth from stock ownership and rising home values.

Ismail Samad brings his vision,life long connection to his hometown of East Cleveland,experience as a chef,food entrepreneur and Founder of the Gleanery, enterprise developer through work with Daily Table and CommonWealth Kitchen and supply chain management as Board Chair of Boston Area Gleaners. His intention, combined with a tremendous ability to partner with others makes the  impossible, possible.

East Cleveland is ground zero for racial inequity. It is the poorest community in Ohio, with an unemployment rate of nearly 50% and average household incomes of just over $21,000. Nearly 70% of residents are renters, and those that do own homes have home values that are a fraction of the average home price in nearby suburbs. Businesses and institutions have
shuttered their doors. High school graduation rates are very low, and every year, talented youth leave the community looking for better opportunities. In  past year, many residents have lost their lives and livelihoods to the Covid 19 pandemic.  

We are mobilizing significant human and financial capital to build successful community owned enterprises, create narrative change and deliver spatial, racial and economic justice.Our proposal  is tactical  and  describes our vision of creating a complete ecosystem of interrelated  enterprises in the community.We use a  intra-city focus to implement transformative wealth  planning designed to lift people out of poverty.

Companies will be be structured as employee owned companies or collaboratives and includes technical assistance,personal finance and wealth planning services.

By creating opportunities that address the specific needs of the residents  we are  prioritizing both dignity and respect of  community in which we serve.

We are calling for significant financial investment in Black communities using a different model to deploy it.Changing from an invest in buildings and infrastructure to an invest in people and enterprises model. This is where the Bout Time Equity Fund comes in. This  fund will be actively managed  by investment  professionals of color and answers the call to advance racial equity in the industry over all.

Benefits  of The Bout Time Fund

•  Serves essential needs in the community,
•  All enterprises will be formed as a cooperative or employee owned 
• Provides income and equitable opportuntities to impoverished residents
• Monetizes Existing East Cleveland Residents land and property
• Intra- city endeavor to lift residents out of poverty
• Helps Black communities attract and retain diverse talented people
• Provides TA to support development, benefiting  families and community.
• Supports spacial justice
•  Adequately capitalizing enterprises using equity
• Uses character-based lending and other non-traditional approaches 

By designing and structuring the fund so it has community wealth building at its core, investors know all of the wealth created by the enterprises capitalized with ‘Bout Time funds will share their wealth with the people building them.

Racial equity affirms that all people, deserve an equal opportunity to experience well-being in a just society.
Racial healing is a process that restores individuals and communities to wholeness, and repairs the damage caused by racism, affirming the inherent value of all people.
East Cleveland’s greatest asset is its people. Every aspect of Loiter’s work is designed to generate economic returns for the community, provide emotional reparations AND racial healing for the people of East Cleveland.How do we do this? By creating places and businesses that welcome and celebrate Black people. By offering experiences that honor and reflect them. By making available products and services that meet their needs connecting them with each other and with Nature.Our Honest Conversations
podcast, we’ll invite community members to share their lived experiences. We’ll ask mental health experts and spiritual leaders to help share ideas about healing from trauma and maintaining health and wholeness. Through Loiter Voice and Culture, we’ll invite artists to share their experiences through art, dance, music, film and video, and host cultural
events like the Loiter! Juneteenth parade, and Loiter! harvest festival.Loiter!, and our community partners  will offer classes in food, nutrition, environmental health,  urban gardening and personal finance and investing.