Health + Wellness

SpringBoard diary: an entrepreneurial journey

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Diversity
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January 31, 2012

Editor’s note and full disclosure: This is the first in a series of posts from Megan McAuley, a participant in the current SpringBoard session at ArtWorks. Megan is also a former UC journalism student of Soapbox Managing Editor Elissa Yancey, who is one of those nagging, I mean, encouraging, voices in the customer line at Coffee Emporium. I am a 24-year-old political science graduate from the University of Cincinnati. I live in Over-the-Rhine and work down the street at a coffee shop called Coffee Emporium. I, like many other 20-something’s with a liberal arts degree, am barely getting by as I ponder my next big move. In college, I wanted to leave the country and save the world, but somewhere between there and here, I fell in love with OTR and decided it needed some saving, too. My job at Coffee Emporium was supposed to be temporary. An enjoyable one to two-year stint as I mapped out my future. A future that entailed things like law school, working for a non-profit in foreign country or moving to some progressive city like Seattle or Boulder. Nothing about my future involved opening up a rock climbing gym in Cincinnati or creating an outdoor educational program for inner-city youth. My path to budding entrepreneurship has been oddly comparable to my first time driving around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It has been, at times, overwhelming, intimidating, and directionless, yet navigable, exciting and pleasantly challenging. A series of unforeseen events culminated in my participation in the SpringBoard business planning and development program. On the first night of class, when asked how why we had pursued the program, I responded, “Because ArtWorks put up so many flyers in my café.” My idea was like a seed, tossed into the air, half-jokingly, where it landed in an environment unexpectedly conducive to its growth. Since day one, Coffee Emporium has been a wealth of information, encouragement, networking and motivation for me. In OTR, I have found a community of people who truly believe in the potential our neighborhood has to grow and flourish. I have made genuine friendships with my customers and co-workers who have continually poked and prodded me to pursue an idea I once considered laughable. In Tony and Eileen, my bosses, I have found the inspiration to create a workplace where customers and employees flock because there are still people on this planet who value doing things the right way. And in SpringBoard, I have found a group of facilitators and co-entrepreneurs who are providing me with the tools to make my idea a reality. I am immeasurably excited to see what happens over the course of the next 8 weeks as I glean every bit of information I can from the SpringBoard course to pursue my business idea. Please join me for the ride.

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Local vets fly fish for therapy via Healing Waters
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Diversity
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January 24, 2012

The fly fishers on the dock at Parky’s Farm in Winton Woods concentrate on the quiet task before them. Cast the line, wait and watch. They’ve spent days making and tying their flies, concentrating away hand tremors that are daily reminders of PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Today, they engage larger muscle groups. They reach and stretch as they throw out the line. While they remember all they learned from the local Project Healing Waters teachers and mentors, the trip is also about forgetting. Forgetting memories of battles in Iraq and Vietnam, forgetting the frustrations of living with Lou Gehrig’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis. “When they fish, they are outdoors, away from crowds and some of the things that bother the PTSD guys the most,” says Tom Scheer, 70, who founded the local Project Healing Waters group two years ago. An avid fly fisher, the Air Force veteran and retired dentist stumbled across the national Project Healing Waters online while looking for his own resources. He immediately understood how fly fishing might benefit veterans in the healing process. “After being in the stream and listening to the song of the stream, it’s just pretty magical,” he says. While the local group, which consists of about nine regular members, doesn’t make it to a stream that often, there are other nearby opportunities that provide them with chances to be in nature and practice new skills while they both concentrate and relax. “You can work seriously at it,” says Scheer. “They really are into it. And you can see that it’s got to be good for them.” He tells about an Iraqi vet, injured during his fifth tour of duty, whose wife tells the story of how his PTSD has changed their family. At the lake, he stands far from the rest of the vets and fishes, his nerves calmed. And the vet with Lou Gehrig’s disease, who leans against a pole at Parky’s Farm, pulls in a fish and says in a wavering voice, “This is my therapy.” The sessions are a bit of therapy for Scheer, too. After leaving a busy dental practice, he faced an empty calendar. “It wasn’t very fun,” he says with a laugh. His desire to teach took an unexpected turn with Project Healing Waters, but it’s a turn he doesn’t regret. “I get way more back than I put in,” he says of the 24 annual sessions with the group of veterans. “Instead of sitting at home, I have a reason to get up. It’s wonderful.” Do Good: • Share this story with a vet. Interested parties can contact Tom Scheer to join the group. • Donate gently used rods for the group’s “rental” program. Vets pay nothing to be a part of the group, so every bit of support helps. Email Scheer for more information. • Volunteer to be a mentor to a vet. If you are a fly fisher and can help out a few hours a month, consider joining the ranks. Contact Scheer for details. By Elissa Yancey/Follow Elissa on Twitter Photo by D. Brent Miller

Greentree helping streamline health care education
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Cincy In The News
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January 24, 2012

Sarah Yost, a sophomore at Miami University Middletown, has always dreamed of being a nurse. Still a few years from graduation, she’s already getting valuable experience through the use of high-tech equipment, including a mannequin that simulates everything from heart attacks to bowel obstructions. Read the full story here.

Children’s Hospital uses horticulture to grow hope
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Cincy In The News
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January 17, 2012

Trough horticultural therapy, people of all ages facing all kinds of physical, emotional or psychiatric challenges can improve their well-being. Children and teens at the residential psychiatric program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital have the chance to learn about gardening with horticultural therapist Mardie Hay Read the full story here.

Making Music for Multiple Sclerosis
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Arts + Culture
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January 17, 2012

A multiple sclerosis diagnosis spurred Simcha Kackley to do something about it. Rather than just donate money, she wanted to use her business savvy to drum up local support and raise money for the cause.

Deaconess Medical Monitoring helps seniors age in place
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Diversity
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January 10, 2012

Deaconess Medical Monitoring is marketing a suite of products designed to allow senior citizens to be more independent as they age. These products, developed in partnership with Guardian Medical Monitoring, come as Deaconess continues to evolve from a hospital to a senior services and product provider. Products currently available include the Personal Emergency Response System (PERS), which alerts a personal emergency responder if a person falls or faces a home security breach. Subscribers wear a necklace or wristband that they can activate in an emergency. There's also the Medication Management System, an electronic medication dispenser that helps people manage multiple prescriptions or complex medication schedules. Users can load a month's worth of medication at a time, then be alerted when it's time to take correct doses. After they take their medicines, users hit a blue button on the device to signal they've taken the medications. If they don't hit the button after a certain time, the device withdraws the medicine and notifies a person identified as a first responder. The goal of the new products is as simple as it is necessary. "We are trying to help people age in place and stay independent in their own homes as long as possible," says Deaconess Medical Monitoring Coordinator Holly Williamson. Other products like internet video monitoring and GPS-powered personal location devices help seniors and caretakers transition from a hospital to home. Lack of a successful transition often means repeat trips to hospitals, which translates into seniors more likely to lose their independence while racking up higher healthcare costs. Deaconess Medical Monitoring products are being marketed to individuals, hospitals and senior living facilities, and there are more products being developed, Williamson says. Deaconess Medical Monitoring is an affiliate of Deaconess Associations Foundation. Deaconess Associations, Inc., the parent company for all Deaconess affiliates, owns and operates Deaconess Long Term Care facilities in Ohio, Kansas and Missiouri.   Deaconess Hospital closed in 2010, and has evolved into a  health care campus with health-oriented products, services and resources. The hospital building is leased to University of Cincinnati Psychiatric Services; Regency Rehabilitation Hospital ( a long term rehabilitation hospital); and other other private offices and research facilities. By Feoshia Henderson Follow Feoshia on Twitter

St. Joseph Home nurtures health for all
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Diversity
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January 10, 2012

When her sister-in-law passed away a few years ago after living with Down’s syndrome, businesswoman Barbara Stull, heartbroken and looking for a way to give back to the community, found St. Joseph Home of Cincinnati. Located in Sharonville not far from The Alleen Company, where Barbara is president and CEO, St. Joseph Home provides residential care to individuals with severe/profound mental and physical disabilities. Now chairwoman of the board at St. Joseph Home, Stull says, “I’ve never seen such compassionate care from staff. They truly nurture each and every resident.” St. Joseph Home currently serves as a permanent home for 48 individuals. Residents range in age from infants to senior citizens and are considered medically fragile. Although working with this population can be challenging, Development Director Renee Russell says, “St. Joseph Home is not a sad place. Watching the staff use their creativity and compassion to communicate with the residents makes me smile.” Although residents are non-verbal and non-ambulatory, staff learn to communicate with them in a unique way, picking up on nuances and cues that can only be received through a dedication to learning individual personalities. “Our residents are very open, honest and loving,” says Russell. “They always surprise me.” In addition to providing assistance with the most basic daily living skills, many times hand over hand, staff provide recreation and entertainment through the home’s activities department. Residents participate in activities like crafting, singing, field trips and sporting events. In addition, St. Joseph Home welcomes visitors that desire to share their time and talent. Musicians, dancers and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra have performed for the residents. As a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Charity Cincinnati, St. Joseph Home serves individuals of all ages, faiths and walks of life. Many are referred by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, physicians, and word of mouth. St. Joseph Home also operates a respite center for those on a waiting list to become a permanent resident. “No child is turned away due to lack of funds,” says Russell. Individuals that need financial assistance can apply for respite scholarships provided through donor funding. Applicants can apply online. Do Good: • Volunteer. Come visit a resident, share your time or perform for them. • Donate. St. Joseph Home needs funds for respite scholarships. • Connect with the St. Joseph Home community through Facebook. By Deidra Wiley Necco

Former politician Pepper vending ‘healthy snacks’
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Education + Learning
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January 3, 2012

When he wasn't busy governing the city and country and practicing law, Cincinnati native David Pepper always wondered why people would spend an hour working out at the gym, only to grab a soda and candy bar on their way out the door. So the lawyer-turned-businessman decided to try his hand at social entrepreneurship.   “You've got these vending machines all over the place undermining the goals that people have set for themselves," Pepper says.   And in some instances, foods high in saturated fat, sodium or sugar are the only snacks available to children.   To provide a different option, Pepper, best known for his political career and his lineage (he is the son of former P&G CEO John Pepper and philanthropist wife Francie), began operating a chain of healthy food vending machines in Cincinnati last year.   “We thought it was a really interesting idea both as a business, but also as a part of a cause,” Pepper says.   Pepper started the business with partner Scott Stern, who lives in Denver, last April with a trial run at the Krohn Conservatory Butterfly Show. Their business, called Pepstern, now has about 50 machines in Cincinnati and Denver with plans to expand in both regions. Most of their machines are located in places like schools, gyms and corporate offices, and each location sells a mix of snacks custom-tailored to its clientele.   While it’s difficult to broadly define “healthy snacks,” some products available in the machines are all natural, low in fat or low in sodium, but all of them stand as an alternative to the classic snack items typically found in food vending machines. The machines, provided by a company called H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending, carry food like Stacey’s Pita Chips, Popchips and Pirate’s Booty, and drinks like Honest Tea.   Pepper says he and his partner spent the first few months figuring out what products work best in the different locations. The machines contain feedback mechanisms that update the owners every six hours with information about what items have sold in which locations.   “You learn quickly what sells and what doesn't sell,” Pepper says.   Pepper’s company installs machines in schools that enable the schools to be in compliance with healthy eating guidelines implemented by the Ohio state government last year. He said schools are by far their best-selling locations.   Pepper said a healthy vending machine located next to a pack of standard snack machines does not sell well. The success of a healthy food vending machine hinges on it being in the right location.   “We find locations that actually care about this issue,” Pepper says. “They need to be places that say, ‘Hey, we want our employees or our customers to have healthier options.' ” By Henry Sweets

Civic Garden Center’s roots enrich communities
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Diversity
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January 3, 2012

Tucked away beyond the bustling Reading Road in Avondale, Cincinnatians learn about a new crime fighting strategy that takes shape in the form of marigolds and daikon radishes. For years, workers at the Civic Garden Center (CGC) have been teaching city residents how to address social, emotional and nutritional needs through urban gardening. As it turns out, those efforts may also decrease littering and discourage crime.   Since its establishment in 1942, the CGC has been dedicated to improving Cincinnati communities through gardening. “We want people to be empowered to garden no matter what their circumstances,” says Ryan Mooney-Bullock, who coordinates the Green Learning Station at the CGC. “Studies have shown that as sections of town with blighted property are beautified, crime and littering go down.”   The CGC not only provides residents with encouragement, but also all the tools necessary for success. People who participate in the center’s programs have access to free resources like startup materials and classes. “We offer tons of classes at the Civic Garden Center to just give people a basic idea of the key things that you need to understand about how plants grow,” Mooney-Bullock says.   One such resource is the center’s Community Garden Development Training Program (CGDT), a free, 12-class series that teaches how to successfully organize, plan and sustain a community garden. The course is geared toward groups or individuals who wish to improve their neighborhoods by participating in the center’s Community Gardens Program.   Created in 1980, the Community Gardens Program started out as a small garden called the Over the Rhine People’s Garden. Today, the CGC facilitates around 45 community gardens across the city. “The Civic Garden Center has been active in the community gardens movement for over 30 years,” says Peter Huttinger, the Community Gardens coordinator. “The gardens create a nurturing refuge, for adults and children, often in places where there are no other parks or green space available.”   Huttinger says that the community garden movement in Cincinnati is continuously evolving. “At first, the gardens were mostly started by neighbors wanting to clean up vacant lots and create a place to grow healthy food,” he says. “Over time, some gardens have evolved into projects that service specific populations like home-bound seniors, at-risk youth and food pantries.”   And the practice’s purpose continues to expand. “Most recently we are seeing new urban agriculture projects coming into play that are hybrids of the traditional collective community garden model and a for-profit market garden,” Huttinger says. “Fresh Start Foods is a collaborative urban agriculture project combining the efforts of St. Leo the Great Parish, the City of Cincinnati's Urban Agriculture Program, Findlay Market and the Civic Garden Center.”   A city-owned, 1.25-acre plot on Westland Northern Boulevard, the Fresh Start Foods garden sits in a community with a large number of Guatemalan and Burundian immigrants who have roots in farming. The garden gives them an opportunity to put their skills to work while generating a profit. The fruit and vegetables grown at Fresh Start Foods are shared among participants and sold at the Findlay market’s Local Farmer Shed to support the program and growers.   Huttinger believes that collaborative efforts such as this utilize a groundbreaking approach to community gardening and urban agriculture as they connect diverse populations with avenues of support.  From his perspective, Fresh Start Foods is living proof that community gardens positively impact the lives of Cincinnati residents.   Across town at the Walnut Hills Community Garden, volunteer administrator William Hawkins has also witnessed the transformative power of community gardens. “It really makes the area stand out and look beautiful,” says Hawkins. “Some people call it a diamond in the rough. To look up and see all those vegetables is truly a beautiful sight.”   According to Hawkins, urban gardens provide Cincinnati residents with benefits that are much more important than the tangible items they produce. “It helps community members to get to know one another,” he says. "You just get the feeling that we’re really doing something.”   Do Good: • Go shopping online. Get a new calendar, fleece vest or "compost happens" onesie and support the CGC. • Read a good book. Visit the CGC's public Hoffman Library for book club, free wi-fi, computer access, gardening books and children's books, plus lots more. • Take a class. Whether you want to start a community garden or learn what plants are tough enough for city living, you'll find a free or minimal cost class at the CGC to nurture your green thumb. By Jamie White White, a winter 2011 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, wrote this story as part of her Journalism capstone seminar, Communicating Sustainability. Look for more of her work here on Soapbox, and look for more Communicating Sustainability stories as well.

Young mothers find support, guidance — and vision for the future
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Education + Learning
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January 3, 2012

When co-founders Marcia Simmons and Denise Steward opened the doors to Visions Community Services in 1990 in the Queen City Vocational Services building, they expected to deliver hope, guidance and a second chance to youth at Taft High School who were at risk for becoming high school dropouts as they struggled to survive as teen mothers. Today, Visions carries on that mission, serving young women in their 20’s and early 30’s, many of whom became mothers in their teens and who now have as many as four or more children.   Denise Steward, director of early childhood education says, “Visions is unique in that it provides childcare services to young children and parallel services to their parents.” The Parent and Community Outreach program prioritizes education as the most significant factor in breaking the cycle of poverty, and in many cases, abuse. The program includes parenting classes, as well as emphasis on staying in school and graduating, or completing a GED. Learning to make sound decisions is another important component to the program, which holds parents accountable for their actions. At the same time, parents are supported for making good decisions that lead to positive changes that stand to impact the future for both parent and child.   “According to teachers, a poor social and emotional health is the number one deterrent to success,” Steward says. Visions’ Early Childhood Program serves as a resource for young parents. The program functions as both a daycare and learning center where young children are taught to value education, and staff are committed to improving and strengthening their social and emotional health.   Serving children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 11 years, the Early Childhood Program promotes literacy at all levels, beginning when children are very young. “We read to them daily,” Steward says. “Our program tugs at your heart strings.”   Accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Visions’ Early Childhood Program has received two stars in the Step Up to Quality Program through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.   Visions Community Services has strong ties and a deep commitment to the West End community. Currently there are openings for all age groups. To inquire about services, call 513-651-2229.   Do Good: • Fill a young parent’s Wish List by donating supplies for infants and children. • Volunteer to read to a child. Visions accepts volunteers from middle school age and up. • Become a mentor. Many young moms need a listening ear.   By Deidra Wiley Necco

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