Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Steve Minter of the Cleveland Foundation who helped open the door to community development and supported me early in my career and to Jay Talbot who made the partnership work;  to Roland Anglin, the Dean of the Levin College for giving me an office and an opportunity to reflect on my experience and earlier support during his tenure at the Ford Foundation;  to Norm Krumholtz, neighbor and wise man who over morning coffee provided Cleveland perspective and good advice;  to Dennis Keating retired urban studies professor at the College who has written extensively about the topics discussed and was extremely helpful in focusing this account; to Tom Burns who was one of the more perceptive thinkers about best practice  in the community field nationally and who encouraged me to come out of retirement and tell my story; and to my colleagues in the field who have done the hard work of building community in a difficult period. To Barbara Loomis, Digital Scholarly Publications and Programs Administrator, Cleveland State University Michael Schwartz Library, who turned a manuscript into a book.  Finally, thanks to my wife and partner, Carolyn Platt who has shared the Cleveland “adventure” with me over many years. A teacher and writer, not a community development person, she has kept me from getting lost in the weeds.