Who We Are

New City Cleveland is a nonprofit organization that is passionate about empowering our neighborhood through faith, equity, and justice. We believe this is done through practical acts of renewal, where felt needs are being met and individuals are treated with the inherent dignity we all have as God’s image bearers. This work leads to authentic relationships that result in lasting transformation. 

Our vision is to see faith communities and neighborhood residents brought together as God’s beloved community. Through these transformative relationships with one another, we experience God’s love and the power of the gospel to heal from individual and systemic brokenness and make our city new.

Our Why

New City Cleveland is doing the work of equity and reconciliation, motivated, fueled, and equipped by the gospel. We are building transformational relationships in our neighborhood and within the faith community in our area with our eye on the long game of the eternal redemption of all people to Jesus. Our work is anchored in a specific community because we believe that renewal and reconciliation is meant to be connected to physical place. 

Our observation of Jesus’ actions and study of his words has led us to believe that those with power and privilege and those in marginalized communities need each other. Those rich in resources often experience a lack of faith, and those who lack resources often are rich in faith. Renewal and transformation lie in the relationship between the two, sharing both deep faith and resources for change. 

We seek to bring the principles of God’s Kingdom to earth, where they seem backward. We encourage those with privilege and resources to sit back and listen, which empowers those without privilege and resources to lead. This dynamic brings about the renewal of broken systems and relationships and leads to transformation.

Who We Serve

Our primary work takes place within the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood in Cleveland. We strive to make our neighbors feel seen, known, and loved through the practical work of uplifting the community. We know that beauty resides here, but has often been neglected or forgotten. Our strategic action helps to showcase the beauty of this neighborhood and its people. 

We also work with churches and faith communities who have access to privilege and resources to equip them to engage in cross-cultural ministry with humility and a healthy mindset, understanding that they, too, need transformation. 

The result of this combined work is the connecting of two groups who do not often cross paths. This connection, rooted in gospel principles, is where renewal takes place for all involved. 

When neighbors seek the common good of all, God’s goodness is displayed. We desire to see the church come together to leverage resources for the under-resourced. We desire to see healing relationships formed through the power of the gospel. The poor will be transformed by the generosity of the rich. The rich will be transformed by the faith of the poor.

Core Values

  • We believe that God’s love for the world, expressed through Jesus Christ, is the seed that makes all things new. 

  • We assert that racial healing is known through the truth of justice and the beauty of reconciliation, first to God and then to one another. 

  • All people are made in the image of God. When we enter into relationships with other image bearers, we find ourselves near to God and His glory.

  • God has made us limited beings, meant to live in community. When we focus on living our lives rooted in our local space, we find ourselves drawn into proximity with one another and with God. In this proximity, we can understand the needs of our community and the call God places on our lives better. 

  • Justice always involves a leveling of what is unequal. We look to the poor and marginalized as wise and influential. We look to the rich and influential to listen and follow. The humility of the rich in stepping out of the way empowers the poor to take action and lead. 

  • The hope we have comes from a place that is higher than we are. It is the hope of liberating God’s Word from the word of people. God’s mouth speaks His Word and His Word steps into our lives as “the Word that became flesh.”

  • We are locally rooted, faith based, people oriented. 

    We are doing justice by meeting felt needs with practical action and faith. 

    We are equipping the church for the work of reconciliation with health and humility.

    We are showcasing the beauty of Buckeye-Woodhill. 

Meet the Team

  • Leah Ross

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • Justin Ross

    DIRECTOR OF DISCIPLESHIP

  • Chineme Onwubueke

    MAMASTRONG COORDINATOR