Skip to Content

Safe Routes to Groceries in Cleveland’s AsiaTown

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership teamed up with Asian Services in Action, Inc. (ASIA) and senior center residents to work on improving walkability to healthy and culturally relevant grocery stores in Cleveland's AsiaTown neighborhood.

hero_image===
thumbnail===https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/voicesactioncenter/pages/17723/attachments/original/1535643183/3.jpg?1535643183

ASIA works to improve quality of life for the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Northeast Ohio.  One step toward that goal was to support senior residents at the Evergreen Apartments, many of whom do not drive, to safely get to their preferred grocery stores in the AsiaTown Plaza. Cathy Vue, Program Manager at ASIA, shared their rationale for working on this project, “When the main grocery store in AsiaTown (Dave’s, a local grocery chain) decided to close and move - this was a call to action for ASIA to assess how the residents will access food in a safe manner.” Improving walkable access to culturally relevant grocery stores provides seniors at the Evergreen Apartments an opportunity to be physically active and retain their cultural heritage, purchasing and cooking familiar foods, while aging in place.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership worked with ASIA to conduct a workshop and walk audit. The groups collected insight from residents and shared the results with Age Friendly Cleveland.

The full story can be found here.

Want to stay up to date on how we can work to connect people with the places they need to go? Click here to visit our Complete Streets toolkit and to sign up for the Voices for Healthy Kids Action Team!