CLEVELAND, OH — Creating a learning center at Rid-All Farm has been a goal for the Rid-All Green Partnership (Rid-All) founders for quite a while, and recently that became a reality. Rid-All, Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), Kokosing Construction Company, neighborhood residents and local and state officials gathered for a ribbon cutting and the grand opening of the new Damien Forshe Learning Center.

Rid-All is a nonprofit located along the Opportunity Corridor and is the anchor in Cleveland’s Urban Agriculture Innovation Zone, comprised mostly of vacant land between East 79 and East 84 streets off Kinsman Avenue. They provide community residents with nutritional and educational training and activities, with emphasis on the value of environmental stewardship.

As part of the Opportunity Corridor Project outreach plan, Kokosing Construction Company was asked to identify community partners to work with on a community service project.

“While the entire Opportunity Corridor project will benefit this area, we wanted to make sure we had a direct impact as well,” said ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks, Ph.D. “After hearing about Rid-All and what they do, we felt this was the perfect project to select.”

Rid-All explained their desire to have one of their greenhouses turned into a learning center so they could expand their educational programs.

“When we became aware of the opportunity at Rid-All we were immediately anxious to be a part of it,” said Todd Lezon, Regional Manager for Kokosing Construction. “What a great organization and a tremendous opportunity for everyone involved.”

Kokosing donated equipment and time to transform the wood-chipped floor in one of the greenhouses into a concrete floor and turned Rid-All’s dream into a reality. Cleveland Job Corps’ Carpentry program staff and student apprentices provided their time, labor and resources to build customized furniture for the new facility. The learning center was dedicated and named in the honor of the late Damien Forshe, one of the original Rid-All founders.

Immediately following the ribbon cutting, Rid-All staff provided guided tours of the Damien Forshe Learning Center and the farm.