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 Linda Dietrich: Late Blooming
Community Activist

 Linda Dietrich, 55, (shown in the middle, with two colleagues) triumphed over alcoholism, drug dealers and slum lords, befriended City Hall, wrote a grant-winning proposal, and won herself a permanent spot as a respected community activist in Ohio City (Cleveland, Ohio.)  The community service work -- a by-product of her sobriety at age 27 -- was accelerated because “I raised 3 kids and 7 dogs and decided at 40, that I needed a career."

On the strong recommendation of her AA counselor that her recovery depended on getting involved, she attended a meeting with Ohio City Block Club Association, dedicated to issues of local housing (corrupt landlords) and safety (drug dealers and crime), and was immediately recruited to the organization.  "Well, things snowballed from there," she said.  "We went after the landlords, cleaned up the housing, went after the insurance companies, stopped the redlining.  During this time, we were experiencing problems keeping councilmen in office.  One after another was resigning, depressed and disillusioned by the never-ending crime and drug dealing & lack of support from City Hall."   Determined to succeed in their quest for safe, comfortable places to live, they group asked "our brightest and most ambitious member to step in and fill a vacancy on the city council.  Helen Smith, (one of the two women who had recruited Dietrich) was appointed and served out that term and was re-elected for three more."  

Gradually, things began to look up for the neighborhood.  A local development corporation made up of local businesses and residents was formed and Dietrich served on the board.  “I think we only had $5,000 in funds and one part-time staffer.”  A few years later, the original members had started a crisis intervention team that gained the support of the West Side Community House and the May Dugan Crisis Center. “I went door to door at first, looking for young women who  needed housing or help with food or crisis intervention (alcohol, drugs, domestic & sexual abuse, child abuse).  When I identified these households, we went in, rescued at risk adults and children, relocated them, found housing and social service resources for them and moved on to the next household. It was tough and scary, but very successful.”  The group also successfully put an end to the arson plaguing the neighborhood. 

In the early 80s, Dietrich joined a group called People Against Sex Offenders.  They helped write and pass legislation directed at abusers of children.  “I have always favored causes that involved children, seniors or young women; they always seem to be the victims of crime.”   

Although Dietrich and her associates had operated as an informal due process “watchdog,” making it official took money.  “Councilwoman Helen Smith was the only official in the whole district who was willing to fund it, so I knew I would have to go out and get the money myself."  In 1993, Dietrich took six months to write a proposal for a CourtWatch program which won the support of the Archwood Denison Corporation and Mayor Michael White. The proposal gained her a $30,000 grant and she was appointed director of the program.  “I worked in community relations for 18 months. My day to day activities were to track my cases in all 6 police districts; attend hearings and sentencings; write all correspondence, and coordinate volunteers.”  Today, CourtWatch, the program she innovated is fully funded, full-time and operates out of City Hall.   It was the first of its kind and “a model for the nation,” Dietrich says.  She is also co-founder of another model program, the Cleveland Mediation Program, and has been a member of the Cleveland Police Community Relations Committee for 11 years.  She has just been appointed to a group called Operation Traffic Stop to address issues of racial profiling.