CLEVELAND - Damien Forshe, founder of Rid-All Exterminating, Cleveland, Ohio, and an urban farming pioneer, died on Nov. 29, at age 50. Forshe suffered a heart attack and was taken to Hillcrest Hospital, where he passed away, according to Cleveland.com.
Forshe launched Rid-All in the 1990s after observing opportunities to provide pest control services in Cleveland’s public housing.
As reported in the January 2018 PCT feature “Growing Hope,” that same independent streak and concern for public health that drove Forshe to launch Rid-All, also led him to his next venture: the Rid-All Green Partnership initiative. Since 2011, Forshe operated the urban farming operation on 26 acres of “The Forgotten Triangle,” mostly vacant tax delinquent properties between E. 79th and E. 84th streets off of Kinsman Avenue and turned it into an urban farm that produces thousands of pounds of fresh produce every year using employees and volunteers. The operation also includes a productive tilapia fish farm and serves as a training center for people who want to create their own gardens.
The partnership has become a model for how to transform a broken neighborhood into a vital, job-providing, food-rich center for learning. More than 4,000 people visit Rid-All annually, including people from the White House, CEOs, mayors.