Abstract
Kayla Berkey discusses her family’s multigenerational connection to the Lee-Harvard and Moreland neighborhoods along the Cleveland–Shaker Heights border. She recounts how her Mennonite grandparents, Vernon and Helen Miller, moved to the area in the 1950s, helped establish the congregation that became Lee Heights Community Church, and practiced pacifism, racial justice, and community engagement in predominantly Black neighborhoods. After growing up in Bedford Heights and living outside Cleveland, Berkley returned to Moreland to raise her children near the places and people central to her family’s history. She reflects on the neighborhood’s sense of community, its welcoming people, and the personal meaning of familiar landmarks such as Shelton Park and her grandparents’ former home. Berkey also discusses changes brought by foreclosure, vacant lots, new housing, and redevelopment along Lee Road, expressing both hope for investment and concerns about gentrification and displacement. She concludes by emphasizing the need for younger generations to get involved in the community and praises the United by Lee initiative for recognizing the connections between neighboring but sometimes divided Cleveland and Shaker Heights communities.
Loading...
Interviewee
Berkey, Kayla (interviewee)
Interviewer
Lambert, Jez (interviewer)
Project
Project Team
Date
7-19-2026
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
15 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Kayla Berkey interview, 19 July 2026" (2026). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 999164.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1456
Transcript
Jez Lambert [00:00:00] And you ready? Okay. Today's date is July 19, 2026. My name is Jez Lambert with the Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection at Cleveland State University. Today I am interviewing Kayla Berkey as part of United by Lee, a collaborative initiative led by the Lee-Harvard Memorial Project in partnership with the Shaker Historical Society, Shaker Heights Public Library, the City of Shaker Heights Cultural and Engagement Office. Thank you again for agreeing to be interviewed. So, just for the record, can you please state your full name?
Kayla Berkey [00:00:35] Kayla Berkey.
Jez Lambert [00:00:36] Okay. And what city or neighborhood do you live in?
Kayla Berkey [00:00:41] I live in the Moreland neighborhood of Shaker Heights.
Jez Lambert [00:00:44] And how long have you lived there for?
Kayla Berkey [00:00:46] I've been there about three years.
Jez Lambert [00:00:48] Okay. Now, you had mentioned your parents lived in kind of, like, the targeted area. Tell me about where your parents lived?
Kayla Berkey [00:00:59] Yeah. So the Moreland part of Shaker is where my mom grew up. It's where my grandparents lived, whose name were Vernon Helen Miller. And my mom and her four siblings all grew up in that neighborhood after. So my grandparents came to Cleveland from these rural Mennonite communities. They actually came to the Lee-Harvard neighborhood as part of the Mennonite Church, just to bring the Mennonite church to Cleveland in the 1950s. And so my grandpa was a pastor or beginning out as a pastor. And they came to found what began as Class Gladstone Mennonite Church and eventually became Lee Heights Community Church, which is still an active church on Lee Road in Lee-Harvard, Lee-Miles neighborhood. But, yeah, so my grandparents, like, came to Lee-Harvard. They lived in the neighborhood. They created this church community. They brought their Mennonite values of pacifism. They were very interested- A lot of times, Mennonite communities stay in rural areas. And they were very interested in bringing this sort of peacemaking in a time where there is a fight for civil rights into the cities and kind of coming out of their own comfort zones and going into, like, largely Black community and kind of learn what the needs were and meet the people and, like, become kind of part of that community. And so out of that, they, like, just did a lot of getting to know people in the neighborhood and then collectively created this church, Lee Heights Community Church in Lee-Harvard. And they lived there for a good amount of time near there. That's where my mom was born and lived. My mom went to- I forget what the name of the school is. My mom went to, like, the elementary school that's no longer there on Lee Road. And then eventually they kind of. I think there were several reasons, but they moved just over the border into Shaker down Lee Road into the Moreland community, which is still, you know, a predominantly Black community at the time. My mom, for a little bit, went to Moreland Elementary School, which is now the Shaker Library. And, yeah, they were always sort of like this white Mennonite family that situated themselves in these Black communities and really trying to build a sense of community and seek justice and, like, a church that really had some teeth into what it was saying. And so I now live in the same community that my grandparents lived in that my mom grew up in. My uncle, who is also a pastor, still lives there. We have family kind of scattered throughout that like, along the border of Cleveland and Shaker, because what my grandparents did was so transformational. Our family is pretty diverse, and- But we're all still sort of, like, driven to, like, the community where they did something quite radical and, like, changed their whole lives and changed the lives of many people. Yeah. Yeah.
Jez Lambert [00:04:35] That takes some serious courage. Wow.
Kayla Berkey [00:04:35] So that's kind of the gist of this story. That-
Jez Lambert [00:04:40] That's- I'm so- Thank you for sharing that. That is really awesome. So you grew up then in, like, the Moreland area?
Kayla Berkey [00:04:50] So I actually grew up in Bedford Heights. My parents at some point decided to live in Bedford Heights, and so that's where I grew up, and my whole life lived there. And then I left Cleveland for a time. For probably about 12 years, I left Cleveland. But when I came back, I was like, oh, I want to live in that same neighborhood where my family has this history, where I still have family and be part of the community. I mean, you know, it still has a strong communal sense. There's a neighbor night that we're part of and involved in, and it's a community where, like, I want to raise my kids in this space where my grandparents chose to locate themselves, too.
Jez Lambert [00:05:33] What would you say in that space, what holds the most special meaning to you? What's the most special to you about. I mean, I know you said your family, obviously, and going back to this place of just communal peace and community involvement. Is there anything else beyond that that you feel just really drawn to, outside of that?
Kayla Berkey [00:05:54] Yeah. I mean, I spent a lot of time in that community as a kid. My grandparents lived there, and my grandma watched me a lot. And so we live across from Shelton Park, which is, like, I go there, and I take my kids there now. Like, I remember playing in this park when I was little with my grandma, and my grandparents are no longer living. And so I feel like, you know, just there's familiarity. The really big trees in the neighborhood and Yeah. I walk past their house and I say. I'm just like, oh, that's the house. That's now someone else's house. But now I have a house that's, like, a similar style. You know, like, the neighborhood has very similar, like, porches, and, you know, there's always people out. And I also think we're still interested in, like, as you know, my family, we are white and situating ourselves in a neighborhood where that's not the predominant group there. Like, we're still in a predominantly Black neighborhood. And I think, you know, that has been- I think that's important to, like, yeah, be engaged with cultures that are not our own.
Jez Lambert [00:07:05] How would you say, compared to when you were little, how have things changed in the neighborhood? Is there any, like, big changes aside from, like, is the park still the same, or.
Kayla Berkey [00:07:18] Yeah, I'm sure there's some, like. I mean, a lot of houses were torn down, right. There is, like, a huge amount of that when. During the foreclosure crisis. So there's a lot of blank lots in the neighborhood of the Moreland neighborhood, and they're building new houses on them now.
Jez Lambert [00:07:41] Okay.
Kayla Berkey [00:07:41] And that's sort of an interesting thing because you're watching very, very new, very expensive houses coming into the neighborhood. It's in a time of transition, I guess.
Jez Lambert [00:07:54] Okay, that makes sense.
Kayla Berkley [00:07:55] I just feel like we're kind of witnessing a new change that we don't really know. And they're gonna redo all Lee Road. Right? That's part of the connection between Cleveland and Shaker Heights is they're changing a lot. And so I think part of it, we're just kind of watching to see what that will look like.
Jez Lambert [00:08:14] Do you think those changes are going to be beneficial overall to the community? Like, does it. Do those changes, like, putting up new housing, does it apply to the current demographic? Do you think that it's going to cause-
Kayla Berkey [00:08:26] It's definitely bringing in, like, probably a wealthier demographic that wouldn't usually live in this neighborhood. So I don't know. I mean, I don't know if we'll see. Right? It's- It's a transformation. I mean, and it feels like, okay, if this change, this Lee Road action plan, if it can help, like, listen to the neighborhood and, you know, really try to meet the needs of people already there, I hope that can be good. But I know it's. It's hard, you know, with the ideas of, like, gentrification. I lived in Pittsburgh and went, witnessed really mass gentrification, like in East Liberty during the time I was. And like, yeah, it's always a little bit fearful of change. So we're just- We're just waiting to see.
Jez Lambert [00:09:21] Now with the, with the action plan that they put in place for redoing that area. You said they did get community input or do they listen?
Kayla Berkey [00:09:28] They always hold meetings and ask the community what they want.
Jez Lambert [00:09:33] Okay.
Kayla Berkey [00:09:34] It is, you know, they always ask.
Jez Lambert [00:09:37] So they're trying.
Kayla Berkey [00:09:38] They always seem to try.
Jez Lambert [00:09:44] What's something, if you were to tell somebody about your neighborhood, what is something that you absolutely think that people should know about it?
Kayla Berkey [00:09:56] I think that there's a really lovely group of people who are really committed. They're artists and yoga teachers and, you know, parents and grandparents and historians that just have a really strong sense of, like, this is who we are. We want to invite people. We want to make this community a welcome space and know people can be a part of it. And there are ways to tap in and get to know folks. Yeah. So there's just a lot of really strong community leaders there.
Jez Lambert [00:10:35] Yeah, that's- That's really- It's not something that everybody can say, that's for sure.
Kayla Berkey [00:10:40] Yeah.
Jez Lambert [00:10:42] What is your hope for the future of your neighborhood?
Kayla Berkey [00:10:54] Yeah, I think my hope is, you know, I think a lot of the community leaders are quite old. Not all of them, but there's a lot of aging folks that are the most involved. I guess my hope would be for younger generations, we're more cross generational. Yeah, I think more cross generational. Just sort of continuing, like, learning from the folks who are doing it and continuing some of those traditions and maybe even evolving them for what younger generations need.
Jez Lambert [00:11:32] I was just gonna ask that because, you know, when you kind of think of sort of the older generation and how they really did put a lot into, like, community building, you know, neighbors are always looking out for one another. You know, the block parties. And I know I'm kind of going like, way back in time, and I almost feel like in some ways that that has totally lost. Like, that's totally lost. But do you think that bringing in new people with a fresh perspective of today's world will be something like, if you can get people to be on, like, board members or more civic engagement, do you think that's something that would kind of keep pushing that hope in the right direction?
Kayla Berkey [00:12:08] I hope so. I think. I mean, it's hard. I mean, it's hard for us to be involved because we're parents of young children and even that, like, when we attend things, we are also watching our kids. You know, there's just like a balance of- Sometimes I'm like, where are all the other young people? Like, are they as interested in community or is it not the way? I don't know. It just feels like there isn't quite that connection. Or maybe it's more informal. Like it doesn't happen at the main gatherings because it does seem like our elders have more of a sense of like, oh, this is important because it brings us together.
Jez Lambert [00:12:48] Right.
Kayla Berkey [00:12:48] So I hope, hope that we can make those connections. And I would say that's the same. So the church that my. My grandparents created, that's on Lee Road in Lee-Harvard, Lee Heights Community Church is still there, but it's, you know, it's a similar move as many churches. Like, it's also really elderly and hasn't. [00:13:09] Yeah, it's struggling.
Jez Lambert [00:13:10] Yeah.
Kayla Berkey [00:13:11] And so you're like churches too, community groups and churches are two places where cross generational things can happen. And they have. When, like, when I was young, I felt like that's what happened.
Jez Lambert [00:13:23] Youth programs.
Kayla Berkey [00:13:24] Yeah, youth programs are just like, you know, they're places that like, anyone can come in. And so you get more of a mix than like some of the places you might choose to go where people might be more homogenous.
Jez Lambert [00:13:34] Right.
Kayla Berkey [00:13:35] So I do kind of feel a little worried that, like, younger generations are not necessarily as invested in church. I don't know, maybe in different community groups. I think Shaker has a lot of strong community engagements in pockets, but ours is like, doesn't have as younger of engagement that. I just hope there can be more of those connections.
Jez Lambert [00:13:57] Yeah. Oh, that's really. I love that. That's all the I have for the questions. Do you have anything else that you want to add to this? Any other special memories or.
Kayla Berkey [00:14:11] Yeah, I guess I would just say that I really appreciate this whole sort of United by Lee initiative because I've not ever really heard of anything like it. Like sort of acknowledging the connection between the communities. Yeah. And they're so- Yeah. They border each other so quickly, so closely. And in my family, it's been such an important relationship. So I've just appreciated this whole initiative.
Jez Lambert [00:14:37] Awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you very much.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
