Much has changed in the past five years at the corner of 12th and Vine in Over-the-Rhine. A once troubled intersection has become ground zero of an urban renaissance, spearheaded by millions of dollars in reinvestment and neighborhood restoration. What better way to celebrate this rebirth than the 5th annual GoOTR 5K and Summer Celebration this Saturday.
Downtown Cincinnati has added a new strength and conditioning gym - Queen City CrossFit - which offers a unique blend between gymnastics, Olympic lifting, and sprinting. No ordinary gym, CrossFit, which is headquartered in Washington D.C., promotes a small gym atmosphere that focuses on building community in order to promote health, fitness, and wellness. Although CrossFit is nationwide, the fitness center allows passionate followers like owners Siu Ping Lau and Chad Wieldishofer to open CrossFit's in their area, running the gym their own way without any certain requirements or hindering management rules. "What we inspire to do is develop a family here. You can't do that when you're sitting in an office 1000 miles away affiliated with a franchise," Lau explained. "We've been following CrossFit for years now, and we have evolved as people due to our CrossFit experience."Situated at the corner of Sycamore and Reading, Queen City CrossFit brings a new and unique opportunity to downtown residents and workers. Lau and Wieldishofer spent months researching various neighborhoods, walking the streets of downtown, meeting new people, and looking at vacant spaces, before setting up shop downtown. "During the time that we've spent integrating into the community, we found a group of people that love downtown and want to see it grow and invest their personal time to see it prosper. It's been incredibly energizing," Lau said. "We've learned and seen a different side of downtown that we've never seen before. Going downtown used to be more of an occasion, but now we know the people, places, and our way around. It's a transformation in progress and very few people are exposed to that."Both Lau and Wieldishofer work at Procter & Gamble. Lau moved to Cincinnati seven years ago from Rochester, New York and found her sense of community through fitness. Wieldishofer grew up in Southeastern Indiana, attended University of Cincinnati, and loves what Cincinnati has to offer as his new hometown."It's a great time to be in Cincinnati and watch it grow," Wieldishofer said. "I hope our gym adds a positive perception to this growth." Writer: Lisa Ensminger
You can't get more local than a map as a way to highlight local businesses and area landmarks. But a new company and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber's YP arm have partnered to create a fun, visually appealing map that personifies its creating company's name: Distinctly Local.The first of a series of planned urban and specialty walking maps was unveiled last week at the Red Tree gallery and coffee shop in Oakley. The slick, full-color map outlines the Cincinnati core, as well as Newport and Covington in Northern Kentucky.The maps are geared towards people in the city during a long weekend or an event, as well as those recently transplanted or planning to move to the city, said Joe Hansbauer, who helped make the map a reality."We wanted to create a product that was accessible, and shows the places that give Cincinnati its unique flavor," he said.The idea for the map came from Hansbauer, Doug Brauch, and John Mark Ouderslyus, friends and members of Give Back Cincinnati. It was designed and illustrated by Standard Design Partners. Plans are to update the map annually, along with support from business sponsors. Distinctly Local plans other specialty maps around events like the Flying Pig or MidPoint Music Festival.The animated map has traditional street, neighborhood and interstate makers, before delving into more creative territory. It marks neighborhood business districts, locally owned businesses and city landmarks like Findlay Market, Cincinnati Museum Center and the World Peace Bell in Newport.It also highlights urban places important to Cincinnati's identity like Skyline Chili, Graeters, Paul Brown Stadium and Carew Tower. These places are drawn and named, so users can clearly make out the football and baseball stadiums, see the crown atop the Great American tower and get a tiny glimpse of the Genius of Water on Fountain Square. And unlike most maps today locations are measured in walk time."We were looking for a piece that would really showcase our region, the neighborhoods close to the central core and highlight the cool, unique, independent shops, vendors and restaurants that are all around us," said Jennifer Young, Marketing Communications manager for HYPE (Harnessing Young Professional Energy).The map will be included in new hire packets for Chamber members, and will also be distributed at area hotels, convention centers and real estate offices. Eventually the map could be online as well.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSources: Jen Young, HYPE Marketing Communications and Joe Hansbauer, Give Back CincinnatiYou can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites
Three entrepreneurial minded doctors, along with their tech partners, are building on the health IT explosion with a new tool designed to cut down on both surgical and billing errors.eMerge Health Solutions is the latest CincyTech portfolio company, formed in 2006 by three Cincinnati area gastroenterologists, a healthcare provider and IT specialist. Their first product is a voice-driven tool that allows surgeons to make documentation and notes during operations and other medical procedures. The software creates a database from those notes that a doctor can refer to and cross-reference with similar procedures.The software is designed to improve patient outcomes through more accurate procedure documentation."We will be offering a first-of-its-kind-product, the ability to document during a procedure using voice command and control," said eMerge CEO Alex Vidas. "This allows the clinician to gain productivity benefits without taking focus away from the patient's care."The company was created through collaboration of its founders Dr. Alan Safdi, Dr. Michael Safdi, Dr. Pradeep Bekal and Dan Walker of the Ohio GI & Liver Institute, and Bharat Saini, a former GE Aviation technology manager.The patent-pending technology has been thoroughly tested in 30,000 procedures since its development. It's now being used in three ambulatory surgery centers and at The Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati. The product is initially targeted for self-contained GI units within ambulatory surgical centers and hospitals."We are calculating that gastroenterology represents a $250 million-$300 million market and the total addressable market is $500 million-$700 million across all medical specialty areas. This is a tremendous opportunity," said CincyTech executive-in-residence and eMerge board member Phil Huff.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: CincyTechYou can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites
In 2004, the first student of a new program at Stepping Stones Center in Indian Hill arrived. In an ambulance.Chloe had been kicked out of school, taken to court and physically restrained because of her inability to control herself. Her autism led to outbursts of profanity and physical violence. She had nowhere to turn but the 23-acre center, a pastoral setting where Step-Up, a new program targeting youth with autism, was looking for its first student.With one-on-one support, a personal aide, a warm water pool and a serene wooded setting, Chloe settled into new routines. She learned to work with others. She made her own meals. She learned to read and communicate with others in compete sentences.Eventually, she joined her classmates on field trips to restaurants and shopping malls. By the time she completed 12th grade, she could walk through a crowded room to applause, music and a television camera. For young adults like Chloe, Step-Up, one of a range of programs for people with disabilities offered at Stepping Stones Center, success can be measured in hours without meltdowns and accomplishments like cooking a meal or applauding for a friend. Another success? A gym class in which 14 autistic youth run an obstacle course, play musical chairs and toss balls back and forth to each other."Just being with somebody else in a room is an accomplishment," says Pam Schimweg, manager of education services for Stepping Stones Center. The 19 students currently in the program come from 12 school districts. The youngest is in sixth grade; the oldest is 22. None could function in the school setting; some had been hospitalized. "They are all at different levels."Schimweg credits the one-on-one attention and the constant patience and appreciation offered by staff for Step-Up's success. Two students in the program have returned to traditional schools, two have graduated and live at Safe Haven Farm, two are living in group homes and one has lost 100 pounds through a combination of healthier eating habits and workouts at the YMCA.Do Good:• Join the list. Sign up to receive Stepping Stones' email updates and find out how to donate to support its programs.• Get the scoop on summer camp. Download information about camps for ages 18 years and under.• Get friendly. Like Stepping Stones Center on Facebook.By Elissa YanceyPhoto courtesy Stepping Stones Center
Nearly 40 Cincinnati area businesses, organizations, and institutions were awarded as "Bike Friendly Destinations." Developed by Queen City Bike, this program encourages more people to travel by bicycle, benefitting the individual, destination, community and all of Cincinnati.Read the full story here.
Emily Roush was worried. As a graduate student in the University of Cincinnati's architecture program, she had the chance to work on one of two projects over the course of her second and final year of study. One of the options involved staying in Cincinnati. The other had the potential, the slimmest hope, that she might travel to Tanzania to help build a health center in the remote villages of the country's Rorya district. Surely, in her class of 30 students, there would be stiff competition for what Roush saw as the adventure of a lifetime. As it turned out, just six of her classmates chose to work on the African project, a part of the non-profit Village Life Outreach's work to provide life, health and education, in particular those underserved in East Africa. Of those, she was the only architecture student interested in working on the ground in Tanzania. So the Hillsboro native and Arizona State graduate got busy. She made a two-week visit to the health center site in the fall, not long after choosing the project, to do field research and assessments to bring back to Cincinnati. Roush, 26, traveled alone and worked with villagers and others already on site, using translators to sift her way through Swahili and Luo, the two main languages of the region.Her first thought when she saw the sweeping vistas and wide open spaces of Africa? "It's real," she says. She returned to Cincinnati even more determined to bring the health center to life.By spring 2010, she was ready to start her six-month journey. Back in Tanzania in March, she lived with a Tanzanian family, built relationships with villagers and got hands-on construction experience. "I was impressed with the people of the villages," she says. "They really banded together."After three months, she came back to the States for a family wedding and a funeral, then returned to Africa with her now-fiancee, and Village Life Outreach Project executive director, Richard Elliott. When she returned to Cincinnati to start school in September, Elliott stayed behind, helping with construction and coordination.The Roche Health Center is just one of a series of Village Life Outreach efforts. From mobile health care to a range of education projects, the non-profit focuses on new approaches to improving and sustaining community health and well-being.Roush hopes to return to Tanzania after she graduates and marries Elliott. She wants people to know that there is more to Village Life's mission than providing support for villagers."The most meaningful thing for me are the relationships I built with people," she says. "We have a lot to learn from them."Do good:• Limit malaria's reach. For $25, you can sponsor a mosquito net for a family of four.• Do lunch. For $50, you can buy school lunches for six children in Tanzania—for an entire year!• Drink coffee. Visit Coffee Emporium on Central Parkway to buy Village Life Outreach Project-branded Peaberry coffee from Tanzania. A portion of the proceeds support Village Life's work. You can also order the coffee online.By Elissa Yancey Photo courtesy Village Life Outreach Project
It happened when a local CEO called Brooke MacDonald looking to buy prom tickets for his son. The co-chair of Cincinnati's Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) felt like the event had turned a corner. The GLSEN prom, a night where young adults can bring whomever they want to their prom, has long been an important GLSEN effort. Spring 2011 marks the third year that the Contemporary Arts Center downtown hosts the event, which a party for the over-21 crowd upstairs and a chaperoned affair downstairs for guests 21 and under."The kids are so excited," says MacDonald, 32, who grew up in Chicago and moved to Cincinnati almost five years ago. The May 7 prom, while free for the underage crowd, acts as GLSEN's biggest annual fundraiser. Adults pay $50 for a chance to relive happy prom memories or create brand new ones. "A lot of adults never had an opportunity to bring who they wanted to bring to prom," MacDonald says. As for the under-21 prom-goers, the theme is simple: "Bring who you want. Dress how you want. Love as you want.""We've had tons of parents emailing us about tickets," says MacDonald, who adds that funds raised at the event support GLSEN's Healing our Homeroom kits. The kits, like GLSEN, promote "basic tolerance of anybody that is different from you."Key findings from the 2009 national GLSEN's School Climate Survey illustrate that tolerance remains a critical issue for young people. National data showed that nearly 85 percent of LGBT students had been verbally abused and 40 percent had been physically harassed because of their sexual orientation. As GLSEN plans its hip and popular prom, it also continues an innovative story project, collecting video oral histories about school experiences involving sexual orientation and gender identity. A preview of the documentary is slated to be shown at the prom.Do good:• Get your groove on. Get your tickets today for the prom, Saturday, May 7, from 7 p.m. until midnight at the Contemporary Arts Center.• Make a gift. Donate to Cincinnati's GLSEN online.• Find out more. Make a friend of the GSLEN on Facebook to hear what the group is doing next.By Elissa YanceyProm photo courtesy of GLSEN Cincinnati
When Erin Hamilton became the executive director of Girls on the Run (GotR) in the spring of 2005, there were only 12 participants in the program. During its first three years, Hamilton was the only employee and operated the organization out of her home.Six years after the local nonprofit and independent chapter of GotR International was re-established in Greater Cincinnati, participation has grown - more than 1,800 pre-teen girls are involved in its program this year.GotR uses health and fitness as ways to teach girls of diverse shapes, sizes and economic levels from the third to eighth grade. More than 50 percent of GotR's current participants need help outside support to cover the cost of the curriculum, running shoes, T-shirts and race registrations.The 12-week programs are offered in fall and spring every year. They teach pre-teen girls about emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development while combining each topic with a physical activity. Teams meet twice each week for one hour after school. Girls learn how to eat healthy, feel good about themselves, improve their body images, combat peer pressure and work cooperatively in teams. "We're giving each girl the self-esteem to try new things, believe in themselves and the tools to succeed," Hamilton says. Coaches build relationships with the girls through positive reinforcement and encouragement. Their goals are critical: reduce teenage pregnancies, eating disorders, depression and suicide attempts, as well as lower the number of substance/alcohol abuse problems and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.The program culminates in a non-competitive 5K race Saturday, May 7, at Paul Brown Stadium, which gives all the girls in the local program a chance to get together and share their skills. "It's very rewarding to see the girls really come out of their shells," Hamilton says. "We see a change in self-confidence and the way they articulate their thoughts in front of a group. They almost don't recognize how different they are."Do good:• Become a sponsor. More than half the girls need extra support in the form of funding to participate.• Become a coach. Coaches are the backbone of the organization.• Make a wish come true. Check out the organization's wish list and see what wishes you can grant.By Jayna Barker?Follow Jayna on Twitter @jaynabarker.?http://www.jaynabarker.com?
HealthGrades ranked the Top 10 Cities for Emergency Medicine, ranking Cincinnati as the number one place for the best emergency care. HealthGrades analyzed patient volumes, quality ratings, and range of services provided at each hospital.Read the full story here.
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