EDEN's office hours are 8:30 am - 4:45 pm. The agency will close at 1:00 on the following Fridays in August: August 7, 14, 21, and 28. While appointments are encouraged, vendors and visitors will be permitted at HQ or any EDEN site. Please call our main line 216-961-9690 for scheduling. | Questions? Email edeninfo@EDENcle.org and we will respond.

August 12, 2026

CLEVELAND, OH — What an incredible day at the Norma Herr Center on Payne Avenue!

Today, we gathered to celebrate a truly transformative undertaking, and a milestone that has been years in the making.

Center guests have begun moving into completed areas of the campus. Work continues on the final phases of the capital project, but reaching this point deserved to be celebrated. What began as a vision to fundamentally transform the shelter environment is becoming a reality: a safer, more welcoming and dignified space designed to better meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

When the entire project is complete, the Norma Herr Center will:

• Increase shelter capacity from 175 to 203 beds.
• Replace congregate sleeping arrangements with primarily private, non-congregate rooms.
• Provide bathrooms that are either attached to individual rooms or shared by only two guests.
• Include new lounge and computer areas, an expanded courtyard and improved dining and kitchen facilities.
• Provide a more secure entrance and dedicated office and service space for YWCA of Greater Cleveland.
• Add elevators to improve accessibility.
• Incorporate solar panels and generators to increase the facility's energy efficiency and resiliency when there are outages.

Most importantly, it will provide an environment designed around the privacy, safety and dignity of the people who come here for shelter.

We are tremendously grateful to everyone who joined us today, and to our speakers who helped us mark this very special occasion.

This transformation would not have been possible without extraordinary collaboration and teamwork. Our deepest thanks to our partners:

• Cuyahoga County,
• City of Cleveland - City Hall
• YWCA Greater Cleveland;
• to our architect, Hiti, DiFrancesco and Siebold, Inc.;
• and to our general contractor, Drake Construction.

We are also incredibly grateful to the many public, private and community funders whose investment and belief in this project made it possible. Bringing a project of this size and complexity to life required an extraordinary level of commitment, partnership and perseverance.

Most of all, our greatest gratitude goes to the guests of the Norma Herr Center, past and present. Their lived experiences helped inform this transformation, and they remind us every day why this work matters. We are continually inspired by their humanity, resilience and determination.

Today was about more than cutting a ribbon. It was about celebrating how far we have come, recognizing all those who helped us get here, and reaffirming our belief that every person deserves safety, dignity and hope. Thank you to everyone who helped make this extraordinary day possible.

Founded in 1991, EDEN's mission is to provide housing solutions to people facing the challenges of housing insecurities and homelessness. The agency owns and manages more than 260 units of scattered-site housing for individuals and families who have a member with a mental illness. It also owns and manages 850 units of Supportive Housing for chronically homeless individuals with an additional 112 units in development. EDEN owns the Norma Herr Center, an emergency shelter campus on Payne Avenue in Cleveland serving people experiencing homelessness in Cuyahoga County. Learn more at www.EDENcle.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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