2016 ONPA Pictures of the Year

First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

When Phoenix Lucterhand is happy, there’s no question that she’s filled with joy. Her eyes light up and a wide smile fills her little face.
But when frustration hits, she’s often overwhelmed — her limbs thrashing and hands fluttering as she tries to process her anger. Sometimes, she curls up in a ball on the floor, crying. Sometimes she bites or scratches her arms.
This is Phoenix’s world — full of big emotions and unexpected changes.
Diagnosed with autism when she was in preschool, Phoenix is mostly nonverbal, which limits her ability to communicate.That’s caused her mother; her father, Keith Lucterhand; and her teachers at school to abandon their perceptions of what’s typical and try to see things from her point of view.

Phoenix's "happy place" is on the floor of her bedroom, playing with her toys that light up and make noise. Phoenix, 8, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and is mostly nonverbal.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Phoenix struggles to pull on a pair of her mom's boots that are too large for her feet. Her mom, Savannah, put them on her feet to see if they would fit. They did not.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Phoenix struggles against her mom, Savannah, not wanting her face to be washed after a messy dinner. Phoenix's main frustrations come from not being able to communicate how she feels or what she wants, which results in tantrums and lashing out.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

On a cold morning waiting for the bus to arrive, Phoenix sits on her mom's lap laughing about something and making repetitive movements to soothe herself, known as stimming, while her brother, Taven, wanders around, also in his own world.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

When Phoenix arrives at school, the first thing she does is go to the reading corner for some quiet time to flip through books and prepare herself for the day.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

During group time at school, Phoenix hides herself under a blanket, deciding that the noise and chaos of the other boys in her class is too much. When she first started school in September, her classmates were hesitant to be near her because of her outbursts. But now that they've gotten to know her personality, they accept her for who she is.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

As a reward at school Phoenix is allowed to listen to music on the iPad, one of her favorite activities. While she is sitting in the back of the classroom, the other children in the Autism unit at her school have story time. Later on Phoenix will join the group, but because she is at a different level then they are she often works at her own pace.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

There is a special bond between Phoenix and her dad, Keith. Both fall on the Autism Spectrum, although Phoenix is mostly non-verbal. She is always looking for her daddy's attention, and especially loves clapping hans and singing.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Upset about something, Phoenix rolls around impatiently on her couch in the early morning hours before school. The fact that Phoenix can't communicate with words when something upsets her seems to be the source of much of her frustration and anger.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Phoenix crawled onto her mom's lap after opening an early Christmas present. It was a soft Hello Kitty blanket that brought an instant smile to her face.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Savannah helps her daughter, Phoenix brush her teeth before going to bed. “She’s been through a lot and has overcome so much and I see her struggle through things,” her mother said. “But she always pushes through it and she’s still able to smile and laugh and have a good day.”

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Even though Phoenix is now old enough to bathe herself, her mom, Savannah, must continue to help her with these tasks.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

"We learned early on, the only thing that works with her is patience," her father Keith Lucterhand said. "Because Phoenix doesn’t care why you need her to do something."

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Phoenix stormed off and hid behind the fridge because she did not want to leave for school. Transitioning from one task to another is the hardest time for Phoenix.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

One of the activities Phoenix does at school is tracing the letters of her name. Each day she goes through a series of tasks that help her with dexterity, such as sorting coins, or help her learn colors and numbers by matching and sorting objects. Her aides say she like to stay busy and work. When she has successfully completed a project, Phoenix will happily exclaim out loud, "Good job, Phoenix!"

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

In order to help Phoenix move on from an outburst, her aide, Bethany Daniels, will visually count her down to the next activity. Daniels has found this to be an effective way to prepare Phoenix for upcoming changes and help her calm herself down.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Phoenix has become more and more affectionate with her teachers and at the end of a good day, she jumped into Bethany Daniels' arms for a hug. "She’s a hard worker," Daniels said. "If you give her (hard work), you get it back from her."

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

“Everything is very intense for her, everything brings a feeling,” said her mother Savannah Filip. “You have to be sensitive to that.” Phoenix is very systematic. She will go through her toys in the toy box, holding them up, smelling them, feeling them on her cheek and listening to the sounds they make. This can go on for hours. There is a pattern and routine there for her, even if the outside world doesn't see it.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Keith gently guides Phoenix through a parking lot one evening.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Shopping can be experience when the entire family goes. Savannah leads the way, picking up what they need, while Keith, who is autistic, jokes around with the kids, Phoenix and Taven, who are both in their own worlds, and both fall on the autism spectrum.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

During dinner Phoenix must have decided she was tired of sitting in a chair, so she crawled under the table to lay on the chairs instead, and continued to eat.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Phoenix and her brother Taven play in her bedroom. Both siblings fall on the autism spectrum and are often in their own worlds. “They see things that are funny and neat that other people don’t see,” their mother said. "I just love that about them. They don’t see the world in black and white. They see it as something completely different.”

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

“She’s just the most unique individual I’ve ever met,” Keith Lucterhand said about his daughter. “And the world is much better because she is in it.”

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Occupational Therapist, Julie Endly, works with Phoenix during her weekly session. The weekly therapy sessions have helped Phoenix greatly, according to her mom.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Julie Endly, an occupational therapist, guides Phoenix through squeezing a play dough tip material in a sensory exercise to help her focus on calming down during an outburst.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

Phoenix happily rolls around her bed softly chanting her name-Phoenix Rain, Phoenix Rain."

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

After her first occupational therapy visit, Phoenix has a break down in the hall because the zipper on her coat would not zip correctly. A common coping mechanism for Phoenix when things become to much for her is biting and scratching, usually herself. It breaks her mom, Savannah's heart every time she witnesses this, but she has learned when to interfere and when to let Phoenix wrestle with her emotions.

First Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Jessica Phelps / Newark Advocate

As the cold air moved in and created frost on the windows Savannah began hearing a scratching noise at night. It turns out it was her daughter, Phoenix, etching out lines on the frosted windows before falling asleep.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

The Alhamouds were the first Syrian refugees from the current crisis to land in Greater Cincinnati. They were ejected from their home in Baba Amr, Homs, by missiles, tanks and snipers. They spent months wandering from house to house, checkpoint to checkpoint. They spent years as refugees in Jordan, on a waiting list for permanent resettlement.
Then they got a phone call that changed everything. And at 1:09 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2015, they landed at CVG airport in Northern Kentucky.
Hannah Sparling and I followed this nine-member family for a year. Marie and Ahlam Alhamoud and their seven children -- Hasan, Hussein, Dalal, Zina, Rimas, Ghalia and Yousif. We shared meals, stories and our lives. We watched a 5-year-old girl on her first day of school. We watched a 36-year-old mother drive a car for the first time. And we watched that same mother suffer when her father died. She came here, he stayed in a refugee camp 6,000 miles away, and they never saw each other again. We watched them struggle to learn English, and we watched them grapple with homesickness. They didn’t want to come here, but now they are trying so hard to want to stay.
Their story is about what happens after – after war, after displacement, after resettlement. It’s about searching – for happiness, for hope, for home.

The Alhamoud family poses for a portrait in their home Friday, November 13, 2015. They arrived in Cincinnati on October 19, 2015, from Jordan, where they sought refuge for several years after fleeing Syria.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Rimas, Zina, and Dalal Alhamoud wait with their mother, Ahlam, at the bus stop for their first day of school Wednesday, August 17, 2016. It was Rimas' first day of school ever. She is in kindergarten. Volunteers raised money to buy all the kids school supplies.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hussein Alhamoud sits on fence while John Szucik, a volunteer at Immaculate Heart of Mary, teaches Hussein's mom, Ahlam, how to drive in a parking lot Friday, September 2, 2016. Ahlam uses Hussein to translate John's instructions. There was no need for Ahlam to learn how to drive in Syria. Now she must learn in order to become independent.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Kimberly Smith, OD, speaks to a translator on a phone that Therese Hazzard holds during Ahlam Alhamoud’s eye exam at Walmart in Evendale, Ohio Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Ahlam's glasses were held together with tape for the first five months she lived in Ohio. All the members of the family had to go through rigorous medical checks for the first few months they lived in Ohio.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Yousif takes a nap with his sister, Zina.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Immaculate Heart of Mary volunteers greet the Alhamouds on a home visit. The church volunteers have adopted the family. They help schedule appointments, offer English lessons and assist with driving.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Ahlam Ahlamoud adjusts the shoe of Ghalia while dropping the three youngest children off for their third day of day care on Friday, February 19, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hussein Alhamoud serves the food his mom prepared for Iftar, the Ramadan meal served after sunset, on Tuesday, June 6, 2016. His mom made tabbouleh, baba ghanoush, fries and soup.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Ahlam pushes her children on the swings at a local park, after an Eid al-Fitr celebration at Catholic Charities Thursday, July 7, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Ghalia Alhamoud feeds hummus to her her brother, Yousif, at an Eid al-Fitr celebration at the Catholic Charities offices on Thursday, July 7, 2016. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan fasting.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hussein Alhamoud rides his bike around his house on Thursday, October 6, 2016. Hussein misses riding bikes and playing soccer with his friends in Syria.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Marie Alhamoud washes a car that was recently sold at the car dealership he works at in Northern Kentucky on Thursday, October 13, 2016. Marie struggled to find work for the first six months in America. He has been working as a car lot technician since June. When his English skills improve, he will be able to move up in the company.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hasan and Hussein Alhamoud cross the street to catch their bus to Withrow University High School on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. The brothers want to be dentists. As the oldest, the boys help translate for their parents. Ahlam said, "With the days passing, the boys are forgetting and moving on. I do not want them to forget Syria, but I want them to forget what happened in Syria."

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hasan Alhamoud draws a Syrian flag on one of his uniform shirts on Thursday, October 6, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hussein Alhamoud waits for his peers to arrive in class on the first day of school at Withrow University High School on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Rimas, Yousif and Ghalia look out the window, as their mother, Ahlam, prepares dinner.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hasan Alhamoud poses for a photo in a Tesla car at the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish festival Sunday, July 17, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

John Szucik, a volunteer at Immaculate Heart of Mary, instructs Ahlam Alhamoud as she practices driving on Friday, September 2, 2016. Ahlam wants to drive to be independent. She wants to go grocery shopping and to her English classes on her own.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Ahlam Alhamoud practices her vocabulary during English lessons at the Catholic Charities offices on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The class is comprised of refugees from Bhutan, Nepal and Eritrea.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Dalal Alhamoud, 9, looks out the window of her home Tuesday, May 24, 2016. She wants to be a math teacher. Dalal's family were the first Syrian refugees to be relocated to Cincinnati. They arrived in the United States on October 19, 2015, from Jordan, where they sought refuge for several years after fleeing Syria. Dalal's dad, Marie said, "I wish they will have a better life than I had. Thank God, seeing my kids studying and learning in school is the best thing that is happening in my life.”

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Ahlam walks with her children at Smale Riverfront Park Sunday, September 25, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Dalal Alhamoud waits to see which direction her brothers and sisters will go for trick-or-treating on Monday, October 31, 2016. It was the first time Dalal and her siblings celebrated Halloween. Volunteers donated costumes for the family.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Hussein Alhamoud helps his mom, Ahlam, translate her grocery list on her phone to find what she needs at Kroger on Thursday, October 6, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Marie Alhamoud holds Yousif at the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish festival on Sunday, July 17, 2016.

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Ahlam and Hussein Alhamoud buckle into a ride at the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish festival on Sunday, July 17, 2016. "It’s been a while," Ahlam said, "A while since I have seen the children so happy."

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

Zina and Ghalia Alhamoud looks at downtown Cincinnati from the top of Carew Tower on Sunday, September 25, 2016. Marie said, "The best thing in my life is watching my kids study and learn."

Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer

The Alhamoud family poses for a portrait on Sunday, September 25, 2016. They arrived in the United States on October 19, 2015, from Jordan, where they sought refuge for several years after fleeing Syria. Back row from left to right: Ahlam (36), Ghalia (3), Hussein (12), Hasan(13), Marie (43) and Yousif (2). Front row from left to right: Dalal (9), Zina (7) and Rimas (5).

Third Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

The mission — serving God and those most in need — hasn’t changed. That’s what the Sisters of Notre Dame, Toledo Province, want everyone to know. The Toledo province was founded in 1924 and property purchased in West Toledo, where their presence has been felt ever since. That changed when the Sisters moved from the home they've known for 91 years. Declining numbers and increased costs of maintaining the facility led to their decision to downsize and leave the city limits. Their final year living in Toledo was fraught with uncertainty as opposition grew to their decision to sell their property to Kroger. Between packing for their move and continuing their service, the sisters attended community, city council, and zoning meetings. Despite losing the political battle concerning their property, the sisters began moving into their new center in Whitehouse. Though their financial future is uncertain, their spiritual outlook is the same — to continue to serve God and their community. What follows is a look at the final year of the Sister's presence in West Toledo. The sun rises on the Sisters of Notre Dame Toledo Province, Wednesday, April 1, 2015.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Ethel Mary Camp, left, prays during morning mass at the the Sisters of Notre Dame Toledo Province.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Arlene Marie Hoffman reacts during a weekly game of Wii bowling with other Sisters of Notre Dame.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Mary Vernon Bick sets the tables before lunch at Sisters of Notre Dame Toledo Province.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Audrey Marie Kreuz, left, Sr. Rose Maria Moser, middle, and Sr. Alma Rose Langenderfer, right, sit with students at Notre Dame Academy during a during a pep rally before the basketball team heads to the state tournament.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

A sister makes her picks for the NCAA basketball tournament pool at the Sisters of Notre Dame.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Elizabeth Maria Garcia, left, Sr. Mary Lucy Suter, and Sr. Mary de Porres Westrick, fondly remember Sr. Mary Virginia Wenninger, 97, during her viewing at Sisters of Notre Dame Toledo Province.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Mary Carol Gregory, left, and Sr. Mary Delores Gatliff, Provincial Superior, watch as the statue of Jesus is moved from the Provincial Center.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Maureen Kane, left, occupational therapist volunteer, left, and and Sr. Mary Sartor, Dir. of education at Double ARC and FASD specialist, evaluate Justice Beck, 13, Pettisville, at Double ARC. Double ARC provides diagnosis, education and support for parents whose child is struggling with the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Toledo City Councilman Cecelia Adams, left, sits with Sr. Mary Rose Moser, Sr. Berneta Schneider, Sr. Mary Cheryl Darr at a Plan Commission meeting, as they listen to opposition to the Sister's plans to sell their property to a grocery store chain.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sisters line up for their annual flu shots at the Provincial Center.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

A ring signifies the Sisters of Notre Dame's marriage to God.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sisters of Notre Dame enjoy lunch together at the Provincial Center in Toledo.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Alice Marie Willman takes photos as statues are removed from the Provincial Center to be moved to their new home.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Enjoying a Halloween party are from left: Sr. Mary Mara Bennett, Sr. Mary Jamesetta Krafty, Sr. Mary Bryan Gabel, and Sr. Mary Sartor, at the Provincial Center, Friday, Oct. 30, 2015.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Mary Mona sews a new alter cloth in her room.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Rose Maria Moser, 91, gives communion to Tim Gormley, 82, and other residents at Kingston Care Center of Sylvania.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Ethel Mary Camp walks among the trees at the Sisters of Notre Dame Toledo Province.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Brigid Kelly and Sr. Agnes Rose Tscherne, right, hug following the final mass at the Sisters of Notre Dame Toledo Provincial Center.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Jeff Collins of Stevens Worldwide Van Lines moves items out of the Sisters of Notre Dame Toledo Provincial Center, Tuesday.

Third Place, Ohio Understanding Award - Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade

Sr. Rose Maria Moser looks at a present left in her new room by students from Lial Catholic School, after moving into the new Sisters of Notre Dame Center in Whitehouse, Tuesday.

Award of Excellence, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - /

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

Laila Lykes-Cooper, 8, cartwheels across the front lawn of her grandmother Bernita Ashford's home in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland. Her great-grandmother, Rebecca Ashford, 78, in background, also lives here. Bernita Ashford, 57, a teacher, has lived in this home for 25 years and has hung her father's flag up for years. The Hough riots in 1966 cemented Bernita Ashford’s devotion to the place that five generations of her family call home. Fifty years ago, the Hough neighborhood in Cleveland began picking up the pieces as the smoke cleared after a week of arson, shootings, vandalism and destruction, leaving four people dead, dozens injured, 300 arrests and an estimated $1.2 million in property damage. The recovery hasn't stopped since. The Hough riots exploded from the frustration of blacks living in overcrowded, impoverished neighborhoods. They coped with unemployment, crime, inadequate city services, deteriorating living conditions and police relations, and pervasive discrimination in housing. But as the people who live and work in this two-square-mile pocket just east of downtown will tell you, Hough has significantly changed during the past 50 years. Some life-long, dedicated residents have always known their neighborhood was a diamond in the rough. "They think of us as an impoverished, poor, crime-ridden, drug-infested community," says resident Jessica Horne. "There are such wonderful, wholesome people, and I think they have unfortunately had to live under that scarlet letter of the riots for so very long. The curse is over for Hough." In recent years Hough has also seen decreases in unemployment, poverty and crime. Rising demand for new housing, retail and other development is inevitable as the neighboring Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University expand. Could Hough be the city's next big neighborhood success story? The reality is that Hough has many ingredients for a dramatic rebirth.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

Longtime Hough residents say their neighborhood doesn't deserve the 50-year negative stigma attached to the Hough riots in 1966. A woman walks past United Peace Baptist Church and next to the former Hough Credit Union building, gray structure in center, on the corner of Hough Avenue and Crawford Road. The credit union building is one of the few original structures still standing after the intense rioting and fires at this intersection during the Hough riots in 1966. The most commonly attributed trigger to the riots was an incident on a hot afternoon at the Seventy-Niner's Cafe, a white-owned bar on Hough Avenue at East 79th Street. A black customer was denied a glass of water and ordered to leave. Someone posted a sign on the bar, "No water for n------," and an angry crowd gathered. Police were summoned but failed to disperse the growing number of people. Rocks, bottles and bricks were thrown at police and firefighters responding to buildings being torched along the Hough Avenue commercial district. Then, gunfire.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

"Here we are growing food in the concrete jungle, " says Jamel Rahkeera who started his Village Family Farms in the Hough neighborhood in 2014. Rahkeera grew up on Harkness, one of the streets next to his L-shaped plot of land. "I believe in Hough. I knew the potential," he said. Rahkeera, 36, feels the wind as he cools off from transplanting inside the greenhouse. With a humid, 87-degree day like today, the greenhouses can get over 100 degrees. Rahkeera, 36, a former welder, realized his dream by taking over 5 vacant lots. The garden grows tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, collard greens, squash and herbs. Part of the land is a community garden. A couple times a week they sell the produce to the neighborhood at the entrance of the garden.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

"Fifty years ago, that's something that came and went," Jamel Rahkeera said. "But from those ashes you see a people and a community that's emerging, uplifting itself and exceeding expectations on many frontiers." Rahkeera, 36, bends over as he transplants an okra plant inside the greenhouse of Village Family Farms in the Hough neighborhood. "To still be here and be relevant and to rise from the ashes, it's a testament to a people who are just steadfast and have always been at the forefront of social change."

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

Jamel Rahkeera proudly holds a collard green plant in his hand at his Village Family Farms in the Hough neighborhood. It started as modest community garden seeded by friends to spur healthier eating. They knew nothing about working the soil. Rakheera, trained as a welder for Lincoln Electric, had only a vague memory of watching his granddad hoe and till. But it wasn't long before he knew the hobby would be more. It was a way to feed his neighborhood, in more ways than eating.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

Jamel Rahkeera nibbles on the red raspberries at his Village Family Farms in the Hough neighborhood. Rahkeera prefers to provide his product at lower profit margin to the families and neighbors, with help from the expanded reach of the federal SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) which now allows purchases from some family farms and markets.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

Zion Nicholson, 4, examines an okra plant inside the greenhouse of Village Family Farms. Zion has been coming to the garden his whole life with his father, Jafar Nicholson, the garden's project manager. The urban farm now stretches from Harkness to Crawford roads. Hoop houses, one with a geothermal heating element being tested with the help of Case Western Reserve University students, is expanding the growing season.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

This grocery store is closed on Superior Avenue, near the corner of E. 91st Street. Hough is poor. Forty percent of its residents and 66 percent of its children live in poverty, according to the city's planning website. The city's recent "Healthy Hough" study concluded that life expectancy in the neighborhood is just 64 years, the same as Sudan, according to World Health Organization statistics. Despite such somber figures, it would be wrong to view Hough as without hope -- or pride.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

Bernita Ashford, 57, hugs her grandson Carmelo Ashford, 5, at her home in the Hough neighborhood. Five generations of her family have lived in Hough. Ashford, a teacher, has lived in this home for 25 years. She grew up one street over. "This is the only place I wanted to come back and teach." The Ashford home is a gathering place for neighbors. "Everybody knows who we are, " Bernita Ashford said. Ashford organizes block parties and walks up to her church on the corner every day where she teaches summer camp. The Hough uprising in 1966 cemented Bernita Ashford’s devotion to the place that five generations of her family call home. Ashford remembers seeing National Guard tanks lined in front of her church. She and her siblings had to lay on the floor after hearing bullets flying. Ashford mostly remembers the shirt that hung in her father William Ashford's armoire, the one he told them an errant bullet pierced but was stopped by a cigarette tin with a Bible inside.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

In a summer scene that could be in a suburb anywhere USA, one would never guess this is in the Hough neighborhood where 66 percent of the kids live in poverty. Despite such somber figures, it would be wrong to view Hough as without hope - or pride. Hough's dedicated residents are determined to shake the stigma of the race riots 50 years ago. Carmelo Ashford, 5, relaxes in the sun after taking a dip in the blow-up pool in his grandma Bernita Ashford's backyard. Bernita's dog Wiggles is on the edge of the pool. Carmelo's house is in background across the street. Carmelo is constantly back and forth. Five generations of the Ashford family has lived in Hough. The Ashford home is a gathering place for neighbors. "Everybody knows who we are, " Bernita Ashford said.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

"I have a lot of pride for my neighborhood, " says Bernita Ashford. "I feel safe in Hough." Ashford, 57, has hung her father's flag on the porch for years at her home in the Hough neighborhood. "Everybody I know wants that great American dream," Bernita Ashford said. "I don't care to be rich, as long as I have happiness and joy. We have a lot of nice things in Hough." Ashford, a teacher, has lived in this home for 25 years. She grew up one street over.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

"I can't change the world, but I can do something here. I can clean up the glass," says Pastor Elizabeth McComb, 63, as she sweeps the broken glass in the vacant lot beside her church, The First Church of Saint Luke, on the corner of Addison Road and Wade Park Avenue. McComb has been coming to the church for her entire 63 years.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

Tashara Smith, 4, sips on a juice pack on a blistering 90-degree summer day. Her mother Juevera Smith is left and her grandmother Quadie Smith, right, waves to a passerby at their home on E. 84th Street. There are strong, multi-generational family ties in the Hough neighborhood. It is a place most people drive past, not through, rarely taking time to explore. Folks who live there, though, have a story to tell. They want people to see their neighborhood like they do, as a diamond in the rough.

Award of Excellence, Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer

William Tell, 69, a retired commander from the Cleveland Police Department, plays in his huge backyard with his Standard Poodle named "Cleveland" at his home in the Hough neighborhood. "At night time it's so quiet, it's best kept secret in town." Thirty years ago, when Tell first started talking about the dream house he was building on a series of empty lots on East 86th Street and Chester Avenue, some called him a fool. A fellow Cleveland police officer asked if he was going to put a moat with alligators around it. His gumption to build his dream home in the neighborhood where he was raised, spurred a flurry of single-family home construction in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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In appearance, Hough looks and feels like a leafy, if thinned-out, enclave just north of Chester Avenue, a route traveled by 20,000 motorists a day that effectively functions as a wall on the neighborhood's south side. A wave of residential development, starting in the late 1980s, sprinkled the neighborhood with expansive, suburban-style homes built by black professionals who saw Hough's intrinsic value. Many new houses were built in the Hough neighborhood like this one at the corner of E. 73rd Street and Chester Avenue.

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"Why is Hough different?" asks Hunter Morrison, a senior fellow in urban studies at Cleveland State University who served as Cleveland's planning director from 1981 to 2001. "Because it was traumatized in a way that no other neighborhood in the city of Cleveland was traumatized, and the riot was part of that." This is the backside of the old Alhambra Apartments which is now vacant, vandalized and abandoned on the corner of E. 86th and Birchdale Avenue in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland. It is the 50th year of the Hough Riots, which happened in July of 1966.

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Tennis lessons are not the first thing outsiders consider when they talk about Hough where 66 percent of children live in poverty. Shantel Williams, 7, picks up tennis balls during the Inner City Tennis Clinics summer camp on the tennis courts of Cleveland Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center in the Hough neighborhood. The Inner City Tennis Clinics is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing urban youths with guidance, education and recreation during the summer months. Tennis is the main focus, but the kids also attend literacy, wellness and creativity classes.

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Tennis instructor Rufus Harvey, 17, plays with the kids during the Inner City Tennis Clinics summer camp on the tennis courts of Cleveland Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center in the Hough neighborhood. Harvey started as a tennis student when he was 12 years old in 2011.

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Aniyah McPherson, 7, with glasses, lines up for drills during the Inner City Tennis Clinics summer camp on the tennis courts of Cleveland Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center in the Hough neighborhood. The Inner City Tennis Clinics is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing urban youths with guidance, education and recreation during the summer months.

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Tennis instructor Teon Manzie, 17, runs with the kids during the Inner City Tennis Clinics summer camp on the tennis courts of Cleveland Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center. Manzie grew up in the program and is now giving back to the community.

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Cleveland Cavaliers posters from the recent NBA championship are glued to a boarded up front door of a vacant and vandalized apartment building on the corner Addison Road and Superior Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. The neighborhood is ripe for rebirth. It's minutes from downtown and just west of University Circle, one of the fastest-growing job centers in Ohio. It also has plenty of land to redevelop after decades of population loss that have left the neighborhood speckled with vacant lots and abandoned buildings. Rising demand for new housing, retail and other development is inevitable as the neighboring Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University expand.

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“There are such wonderful wholesome people and I think they have unfortunately had to live under that Scarlet Letter of the riots for so very long,” said Hough resident Jessica Horne. “It’s what people still think,” she said. “They think of us as an impoverished poor, crime ridden, drug-infested community. When you live here, that’s not what you feel.” Jessica Horne stands amongst the flowers at her home near Wade Park Avenue. Horne has been the executive director of Urban Minority Alcoholism Drug Abuse Outreach Project since 1982.

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D'Zier Coleman, 5, rides her bike on a well-traveled dirt path through a vacant lot near the corner of Hough Avenue and E. 90th Street. Coleman rides her bike from her house to her grandmother's home often. Vacant lots are peppered along Hough Avenue where many building were burnt down in the Hough riots in 1966.

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Pastor Elizabeth McComb, 63, right, and church member Della Jackson put out used clothes for a small donation or for people in need outside her church, The First Church of Saint Luke, on the corner of Addison Road and Wade Park Avenue. The neighborhood's population is just over 11,000, roughly 16 percent of its historic peak in 1960.
And Hough is poor. Forty percent of its residents and 66 percent of its children live in poverty, according to the city's planning website. Despite such somber figures, it would be wrong to view Hough as without hope -- or pride.

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Hough is also home to the vineyard of entrepreneur Mansfield Frazier, 73, who plans to market pricey vintages under his Chateau Hough brand, flipping the neighborhood's hot-button name from negative to positive. To Frazier, Hough's future comes down to a simple matter of bargaining smartly. "It requires skilled people negotiating for Hough," he said. "That's the real key. If you know what you're doing, you're going to come out very well. They have the money; you have the land. It's a classic horse trade."

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Mansfield Frazier started his vineyard in this former vacant lot in 2010 on the corner of 66th Street and Hough Avenue. He is growing 13 rows of Frontenac grapes for red wine and Traminette grapes for white wine on his 3/4 of an acre plot across the street from his home. The urban pioneer has played a key role in the revival of the Hough neighborhood.

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Mansfield Frazier's vineyard and bio-cellar have made him a revitalization darling and mentor to many. He uses his pedestal to preach about what more can be done to help at-risk youth and men and women returning to the community from prison. "The black professionals, middle-class people around Greater Cleveland, have recognized that Hough can be an attractive place to live," Frazier said. " And, more important than that: It's our place."

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"Hotdogs! Hamburgers!" yells Suzanne Robinson, 44, as she waves to passing cars on E. 66th Street while dancing to reggae music in front of her upcoming new shop called "A Little Bit of Everything". Robinson is trying to drum up business by selling $1 hotdogs, hamburgers and ribs. "I've found peace. I'm happy. I love this neighborhood," she said. Robinson grew up in the neighborhood and is determined to stay. "We are going to bring life back to the community."

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This is Newton Avenue, a cozy historic street just steps away from the Cleveland Clinic in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland. The early 1900's bungalows are huddled tightly together down the snug one-way street. The street was one of the few areas spared from the Hough riots 50 years ago. The vintage charm hints at a bright future for the neighborhood with residents excited and willing to take on the task. Rising demand for new housing, retail and other development is inevitable as the neighboring Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University expand.

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Tashara Smith, 4, plays in the water in her front yard on a blistering 90-degree summer day in Hough. In recent years Hough has seen decreases in unemployment, poverty, violent crime, drug arrests and child abuse, and an increase in high-school graduation rates and owner-occupied housing. "We have child-care facilities and after-school and summer-camp programs," said LaJean Ray, a 32-year Hough resident who heads Catholic Charities' Fatima Family Center, which provides a wide array of social and educational services to the neighborhood. "All of us are working to strengthen and support our community, and we have been doing it for years."

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Dominique Smith-Gooden eats a nasturtium flower from his grandmother's porch the Hough neighborhood. Despite the misperceptions and stigma of the riots 50 years ago, life-long residents carry a deep sense of pride and hope for the future. They wouldn't dream of living anywhere else. "They think of us as an impoverished, poor, crime-ridden, drug-infested community," says Jessica Horne, who heads Cleveland's Urban Minority Alcoholism Drug Abuse Outreach Project in the Hough neighborhood. "When you live here, that's not what you feel. There are such wonderful, wholesome people, and I think they have unfortunately had to live under that scarlet letter of the riots for so very long," she said. "The curse is over for Hough. We're not talking about those riots any longer. It's been 50 years."