Imperial Avenue Begins Anew: “Goddesses” Offer Healing to Families and Neighbors

In 2009, eleven (11) women from the Imperial Avenue neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio were found murdered, buried and stored in the home of Anthony Sowell. The horrific nature of the findings has taken a toll on surviving family members and the neighborhood, and has done little to help restore the region's image of prosperity. The goal of our mission is to support the continued healing of families still in pain, hope, among neighbors who thirst for it, and empowerment among all Cleveland-area leaders committed to change-making. Currently, we would like to see that the house, in which these murders occurred, is demolished, once ownership has been substantiated. As to date, no one has stepped forward in claiming it. Why should it be a reminder of such tragedy for this community? What purpose does it serve? Countless taxpayer’s dollars has been spent wastefully in providing police protection of vandalism? Seriously?

. By Spring 2012, GBG and the Imperial Community Leadership Team, hopes to have raised the funds and volunteers necessary to launch its first major project - Imperial Avenue Memorial Garden and Green Space. The vision of the project is a national demonstration model of women’s economic sustainability and whole-person vitality.

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