CLEVELAND — The non-profit Birthing Beautiful Communities broke ground on a new birthing center in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood on Tuesday. It was a moment years in the making, digging up some much-needed hope for the community.
When we last spoke with CEO Jazmin Long in May of 2024, she said the location for the birthing center at East 65th Street and Chester Avenue was chosen with intention because the neighborhood has an infant death rate three times the national average.
“There are storms, there is rain, but there is sunshine at the end of the day,” she said after the groundbreaking. “I’m so grateful to be in a position to know that this is happening, that we are putting shovels in the ground, that this center is going to be a reality for so many families here in northeast Ohio.”
Birthing Beautiful Communities has been offering birthing support. The new birthing center will expand the non-profit into medical care. Long said the center won’t look like a hospital. It’ll offer unmedicated, low-risk births and services for babies and families after delivery.
“This is a long time coming, this is a long time in the making, this is a vision, this is a hope,” said Long. “This is something that says Black community, we hear you, we see you, you are valued right here in our own communities in Cleveland, Ohio.”
The project didn’t come without obstacles. We told you last year when some neighbors near the site petitioned the city planning commission to block the birthing center from being built so close to their homes. Ultimately, the city approved the plans.
Birthing Beautiful Communities is still pulling together the money for the nearly $13 million project, a price tag that’s only grown over the last year. Their goal is to close on financing in the next 45 days. The birthing center is expected to open in the fall or winter of 2026.
