Cleveland, OH – Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM) hit a home run with their 50th anniversary celebration on Saturday, September 21st, 2019 at the historic League Park.
LMM celebrated five decades of service in community, with a food, fun and a fireworks grand finale. The event also featured a few exceptional guest speakers, including WKYC on-air personality Hollie Strano and Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones. The nonprofit social services and advocacy agency raised over $150,000 through the event with the help of its generous donors and sponsors.
A Night at the Ballpark, their 50th Anniversary Celebration, featured gourmet food stations from local restaurants, live jazz music, a silent auction, and the presentation of civic leadership awards. As a community convener, LMM invited everyone in the neighborhood to step outside of their homes and celebrate by watching the fireworks grand finale, as LMM began programming in the Hough Neighborhood where League Park is located. The event also premiered a 50th anniversary video, celebrating the highlights in LMM’s history.
Along with celebrating the 50th, LMM’s CEO Andrew Genszler announced the launch of an affordable housing initiative, called Breaking New Ground. With the project, LMM is purchasing and renovating up to 20 homes in the
St. Clair-Superior Neighborhood to provide families exiting homelessness with opportunities for affordable rent, stable housing, and connections to supportive services. In a personal speech reflecting on him and his family’s struggles with homelessness when he was a child, Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones announced during the event that he and his team will be donating $10,000 to the initiative.
“I’m so excited about the initiatives for the foreseeable future,” said Genszler, “We go forward with what ‘shalom’ and ‘right relationship’ means for this day and age. We want to breathe life into those terms so that they are addressing legacy issues in Cleveland with new spirit and resolve.”
To continue the celebration of 50 years of service, LMM will also host an inaugural Charles R. See Forum on Reentry at the City Club of Cleveland this November, and a Founders Art Gallery & Fireside Chat this December. To learn more, or view pictures and videos from the event, visit LUTHERANMETRO.ORG.
About LMM
Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry is a 501 ( c ) 3 organization that advocates for peace and justice, by serving Northeast Ohio Communities in the areas of Health & Wellness, Workforce Development and Housing & Shelter. LMM seeks that people who are oppressed, forgotten and hurting be empowered, valued, and healed by an unwavering commitment to addressing chronic needs, enabling people to self-sufficiency, and advocating for system change. LMM seeks to change the social, political, and religious conversation about justice from one of limitations to one of possibilities.
