MLB, Cleveland Habitat partner for local event

CLEVELAND -- The festivities from the upcoming All-Star Week will come and go, but Major League Baseball is making sure its footprint in Cleveland will last forever.

Representatives from MLB and the Indians have a jam-packed schedule during All-Star Week, finding different ways to impact the area. Friday afternoon's stop included teaming up with Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity to volunteer in a local community in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood.

“This is the best part of the week for me,” MLB’s vice president of social responsibility Melanie LeGrande said. “... I love the partners that we find. Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity is an amazing partner. We’ve been working with them for a few months, trying to decide which area we should support, what projects we could have.”

Nearly 100 volunteers from local universities, youth softball and baseball players from the Indians’ RBI program, MLB and Indians employees and representatives from MLB partners changed into green T-shirts and hats with MLB’s recycle logo centered on each and started planting bushes and painting porches.

“It’s special to me to see how many people show up to make a difference,” LeGrande said. “The fact that we’re here a day after a holiday, I mean they could be doing whatever. Who knows? They could be figuring out what they wanted to do with their day today and they came out here in the hot [weather] ... but what they’ll see when they finish is so rewarding that it’s worth being out here.”

This drill was nothing new for the regular Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity volunteers, who work to build better, more affordable homes for locals in need year-round. But to have the help and partnership from Major League Baseball during All-Star Week has given the organization more attention than it could have dreamed of.

“It’s like you never imagine it, because you never think it’s within the realm of possibilities,” president and CEO of Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity John Habat said. “It really is fantastic.

“I think it’s an affirmation of a couple of very important things. It’s an affirmation in that people understand there’s a critical need of affordable housing. Not only in Cleveland, but everywhere. The second affirmation is this, they believe Habitat can deliver. … For our local affiliate, it really is a fantastic blessing.”

While some volunteers had been there before, there were others who were new and got to see firsthand why they were there. As one group of people painted foundations, another planted bushes and others were clearing out waste from six houses. That’s when future homeowner Tierra Cherry came down the street, wheeling water and Gatorade in a wagon to help all the workers.

Cherry’s volunteering is part of her sweat equity hours, which is time that a Habitat for Humanity applicant must accumulate in order to be eligible for one of the homes. In just two months, Cherry has accumulated nearly all 300 hours she needs, and she is inspired to see all the work that gets put in to each home.

“I think the biggest impact of this is me and my children move into a house where finally I can tell my kids to memorize the address and be able to have their own backyard,” Cherry said. “And just have their own community and friends, long-term friends, instead of moving.”

The group had a four-hour window to get six houses and two fields into the best condition possible before MLB had to pack up and prepare for its next stop on the community outreach train.

“These butterfly bushes will last a lot longer than the last home run that goes out on Monday and the last out on Tuesday as well,” LeGrande said. “That’s what we’re talking about. And we really want to be here with the community, making sure that something is here even after we’re done.”