FutureHeights recently hired Cindie Pacheco as our new Operations Manager and Steve Presser as our new Community Engagement and Events Manager. Welcome Cindie and Steve! Check out the bios of both below.

Cindie Pacheco

A returning resident who was raised in the community, Cindie Pacheco is thrilled to return home and serve the neighborhood that shaped her as FutureHeights’ Operations Manager. Cindie’s journey began locally at Lopez Bar & Grille during high school, followed by a successful decade in commercial auto insurance. This background instilled a deep understanding of risk management, compliance, and operations. Cindie now channels these skills into supporting FutureHeights’ internal operations and fiscal functions. Since returning home last year, Cindie completed the Neighborhood Leadership Workshop Series with FutureHeights, gaining a firsthand look at the organization’s vital impact and inspiring a dedication to its long-term stability. Cindie is also an active community volunteer, serving on the board of the Friends of the Heights Library. In her new role, she focuses on ensuring the organization’s operational infrastructure remains reliable and continues to facilitate a vibrant and sustainable future for Cleveland Heights and University Heights.

Steve Presser

Steve Presser was born and raised in his family’s first and only home in University Heights, where they lived for nearly 50 years. Steve’s wife, Debbie Apple-Presser, also grew up in University Heights, where her family lived for nearly 60 years. Debbie and Steve were both legacy Cleveland Heights High graduates, as were their 3 children. Coventry Village has been their home for nearly 44 years. In 1990, Steve created Big Fun, a mom-and-pop nostalgia-based toy and gift store and operated it for nearly 28 years. Steve was a founding board member of the Coventry Village Special Improvement District. Nearly 30 years ago, he was part of the Cleveland Heights Visioning Committee, which led to the formation of the Heights Arts Collaborative, and he remains an active board member of Heights Arts and was a past board president. Steve is also a founding member of the Siegel and Shuster Society, which was established in 2007 with the mission to honor Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two kids from Glenville who created Superman. Multiple other community and social action groups have been part of Steve’s life as well. He is proud to have created Wild Wacky Wednesday many years ago, where live local bands were featured. It was replaced by Wade Oval Wednesday, which became the place to be on Wednesday nights during the summer. Steve also created Movies in the Park at the Coventry Peace Park, along with Yoga in the Park and the Coventry Drum Circle, which still takes place on Sunday evenings all summer long. For a dozen years or so, Debbie and Steve have hosted backyard summer concerts and also living room concerts in their home. Steve looks forward to working with community members on the revered Heights Music Hop, community events, and other unique programs that Future Heights known for bringing to the community.

NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO A CONFLICT WITH THE STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS HOSTED BY MAYOR JIM PETRAS. STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES!

The board and staff of FutureHeights welcomes all FutureHeights members to attend our member mixer on Thursday, April 30th from 6:30-8 pm at CLE Urban Winery, 2180 Lee Rd. Cleve. Hts. 44118. You will have a chance to mix and mingle with other supporters, talk with our board of directors and staff, and hear about our collaborative plans for new infill housing with special guest Seth Task from Rebuild Cleveland. There will be a cash bar. Light appetizers provided. Please RSVP here. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you there! 

Earth Day: Cleveland Heights Climate Forward

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026, 6-7:30 pm
Cleveland Heights Community Center, 1 Monticello Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44118

FutureHeights is hosting our next Crowdsourced Conversation on Earth Day in partnership with the City of Cleveland Heights. The event will take place Wednesday, April 22 from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Cleveland Heights Community Center in the Multipurpose Room/ Senior Activity Space.

FutureHeights is hosting our next Crowdsourced Conversation on Earth Day in partnership with the City of Cleveland Heights. The event will take place Wednesday, April 22 from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Cleveland Heights Community Center in the Multipurpose Room / Senior Activity Space.

Please click here to take the survey.

This survey will close on Monday, April 20th at 11:59pm.

Your responses will help guide the discussion and inform future sustainability efforts advancing the Cleveland Heights Climate Forward: An Action and Resilience Plan in Cleveland Heights.

Read the Cleveland Heights Climate Forward: An Action and Resilience Plan in Cleveland Heights: City of Cleveland Heights Climate Action Plan

FutureHeights is hiring for a part-time Operations Manager. See job description below. To apply, email a cover letter and resume to Lee Chilcote, Executive Director / Housing Program Manager at lchilcote@futureheights.org.

Operations Manager

FutureHeights, a nonprofit community development organization that serves Cleveland Heights and University Heights, is seeking a part-time Operations Manager who will be responsible for the day-to-day management of administrative, material and fiscal activities for the organization. The operations manager will report to the Executive Director. 

Primary Responsibilities

The Operations Manager is responsible for overseeing the organization’s day-to-day operations. They possess the organizational skills to manage the administrative activities within the organization. The individual maintains a thorough knowledge of the organization’s financial, technical, and ethical issues. They work with staff to develop, maintain, and use the systems and resources that facilitate efficient operation of the organization, including project planning and the creation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for common functions.

In relation to administrative responsibilities, the Operations Manager will:

• Support the Executive Director, Finance Committee, and the Board of Directors in operating within budget guidelines while maintaining sound financial practices.
• Act as liaison with the organization’s accounting services, provide regular financial updates to the Executive Director, and address operating matters when requested by the Board of Directors.
• Work in tandem with the Executive Director to maintain and communicate a clear understanding of the organization’s finances, both current and projected.
• Attend meetings of the board Finance committee and other committees. 
• Monitor the financial status of all organization programs, and manage payroll services and bill pay duties.
• Keep the Executive Director fully informed on the condition of daily operations and programming, and submit written reports and attend board functions when requested. 
• Maintain official records and documents, and monitor subscription services.
• Receive and process all postal mail, and maintain the organization’s postal account.
• Monitor and replenish supplies.
• Other duties as assigned by the Executive Director / Housing Program Manager. 

In relation to the Heights Observer newspaper, the Operations Manager will:

• Process printer invoices and subcontractor invoices.
• Receive and process advertising payments and manage accounts receivable.
• Coordinate the sale and placement of classified ads.
• Maintain the Observer subscription database and supervise monthly mailing of the paper to subscribers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field or equivalent experience. 
• Two (2) plus years related experience (operations management, finance, bookkeeping, etc.) or equivalent. 
• Knowledge of Quickbooks, Google workspace, and CRMs.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, ability to work under deadlines, analytical skills, and organizational skills. 
• Experience working with volunteers and the general public, and a respect and belief in the power of residents and their ability to create positive change. 
• Ability to work evenings and weekends as needed. 
• Preference will be given to residents living in Cleveland Heights or University Heights. 

Compensation: $20-25 per hour depending on experience. 

Timeline: Week of Feb. 23, 2026, ideally, but flexible. 

Equal Opportunity Employer

FutureHeights is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, or sexual orientation. 

To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to Lee Chilcote, Executive Director / Housing Program Manager at lchilcote@futureheights.org. 

Do you want to learn more about contributing articles or opinion pieces to the Heights Observer? Are you a past or current contributor that wants to learn what’s new? Attend the Heights Observer contributor meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10th from 6-7 pm on Zoom. We’ll update you on what’s happening with the Observer, discuss your ideas, and share some of our ideas for the future. This is a great chance to network with other Heights writers and meet the Observer editorial staff.

Tuesday, Feb. 10th, 6-7 pm

RSVP here and we’ll send you the Zoom link

This fall, the city of Cleveland Heights passed legislation to sell 45 vacant lots in the Cain Park and Cedar-Lee neighborhoods to FutureHeights and Rebuild Cleveland for the purposes of building future housing.

FutureHeights is the community engagement partner on the project. Rebuild Cleveland is the developer. Now, the partners are moving ahead with their plans to build new, for-sale, modular homes on these lots and are seeking community input.

They’re hosting a community meeting on Thursday, December 18th from 6-8 pm at the Lee Road library. All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP here.

Even if you can’t attend the meeting, you can help inform what type of houses get built as part of FutureHeights’ and Rebuild Cleveland’s infill housing development project in Cleveland Heights! Take our survey here.

Heights Observer internship

Spring 2025

The Heights Observer, a community news publication serving Cleveland Heights and University Heights, Ohio, is offering an internship. The focus of the internship is on reporting, writing and editing community news stories for publication.

The Heights Observer intern would be responsible for posting articles about news, activities or issues in Cleveland Heights and University Heights. The articles would be posted on the www.heightsobserver.org website and possibly featured in the monthly print issue. 

Activities for the internship include:

Reporting and note taking

• Attending community events and meetings
• Attending city council and government meetings 
• Developing ideas for community news stories 
• Conducting and transcribing interviews
• Shaping multiple interviews into news stories 

Writing 

• Drafting community news stories
• Revising stories based on editorial feedback
• Fact checking stories for accuracy and completeness 

Editing / content management 

• Editing stories for publication

Posting / website updates 

• Posting stories to Heights Observer website
• Making other website changes as needed
• Posting stories for the print edition
• Preparing email newsletter 

This is a valuable, interesting opportunity to work with a community journalism publication serving the diverse, historic communities of Cleveland Heights and University Heights. The candidate will ideally have some reporting and writing experience, and an interest in the community and writing community news. 

Time commitment: 8-12 hours per week (flexible). 

Outcomes: Intern can earn course credit if applicable. Intern will complete a portfolio of work.

Deadline: Rolling

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume and 2-3 clips to FutureHeights executive director Lee Chilcote at lchilcote@futureheights.org.

Crowdsourced Conversations is a community forum series that begins with a community-wide survey on a specified topic. Survey data is collected and used to create discussion questions. A public forum is held where residents gather information from relevant parties, discuss ideas, and formulate action steps they can take in their community.

As we plan our 2026 conversation series, we want to hear directly from community members about what matters most to you. Before sharing your ideas for next year, here’s a brief look at the topics we explored together in 2025. Your input helped guide these conversations, and now we’re excited to build the next year with your voice at the center.

In 2025 FutureHeights started off the year by discussing Improving Road Safety in the Heights, focusing on ways to make streets safer for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.

The next discussion was focused on Severance Town Center with discussions around development, planning, and community impact.

Then Shop Local / Buy Local: Supporting Local Retail in the Coventry District explored how to support neighborhood businesses, enhance local commerce, and elevate the arts and retail in commercial districts.

Our closing topic of 2025 was Pathways to Affordable Housing. Participants engaged in discussions around housing challenges, housing programs and opportunities for community-driven housing solutions.

Read up on past Crowdsourced Conversations here

Take the survey here

This fall, the city of Cleveland Heights passed legislation to sell 45 vacant lots in the Cain Park and Cedar-Lee neighborhoods to FutureHeights and Rebuild Cleveland for the purposes of building future housing.

FutureHeights is the community engagement partner on the project. Rebuild Cleveland is the developer. Now, the partners are moving ahead with their plans to build new, for-sale, modular homes on these lots and are seeking community input.

They’re hosting a community meeting next month. The meeting will take place on Thursday, December 18th from 6-8 pm at the Lee Road library. All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP here.

About 40 people attended FutureHeights’ latest Crowdsourced Conversation, “Pathways to Affordable Housing.” Check out the survey results and notes from the conversation here.