UC is one of the first research sites to participate in a new federally funded study which assesses the economic impact of "green” housing—particularly when it comes to the health of people living in multi-family, low-income housing. Read the full story here.
Formed in 1997 in response to an influx of immigrants from Latin America, Su Casa was the first organization in the region to focus on the needs of a new generation of Cincinnati newcomers. Originated at St. Charles of Borromeo Church, Su Casa entered under the umbrella of Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio in 2005; today it is recognized as one of the first places new immigrants go to help find their way in Cincinnati. Su Casa, a social service center, helps more than 100 families each month with everything from shelter, healthcare, employment and a place to feel welcomed. Through its 14 years in Elwood Place, Su Casa has adapted to the needs of every person who comes through the doors. Major areas remain providing information and referrals, health promotion and literacy education. With a Hispanic population that has doubled in the past 20 years—local estimates now range from 30,000 to 40,000—the city’s residents have a growing need for Su Casa services. Workers at Su Casa assist clients in finding health care providers, obtaining food stamps and dealing with legal issues. Health services can include everything from finding a doctor to workshops about topics from domestic violence to asthma. Literacy education ranges from basic language classes to GED classes in both Spanish and English. “Everyone has different needs,” says Giovanna Alvarez, director of Su Casa. “We do our best to help everyone that comes to us.” Sustained through grants, donations and fees for some of their services, Su Casa’s social workers work with volunteers who even provide yoga and piano lessons. Their well-rounded approach enables immigrants to locate services and support, as well as establish a new and healthy life in Cincinnati. Do Good: Volunteer: With a wide variety of programs, there is a wide variety of volunteer needs. Donate: Every bit helps Su Casa to integrate new immigrants into the community. Attend: Su Casa’s annual banquet and silent auction and help support their mission. By Evan Wallis
The Cincinnati region is furthering its reputation as trailblazer in Health IT through the ongoing Cincinnati Beacon Collaboration. The 30-month initiative, which includes major Cincinnati institutions, was spurred by a $15 million federal grant going to cities that showed leadership in the emerging industry. The Cincinnati Beacon Collaboration aims to improve the automation and sharing of electronic healthcare information between hospitals and other medical providers. It builds on the work already taking place in Cincinnati, most notably through Blue Ash-based HealthBridge, one of the country's largest electronic health information exchange organizations. The nonprofit serves 80 to 90 percent of physicians and acute care hospitals in southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana. HealthBridge is among the partners in the Collaboration, along with the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Greater Cincinnati Health Council and the Health Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati. Cincinnati is one of 17 Beacon communities across the nation serving as real-life examples of how medical providers can best automate, control and share sensitive and important patient information. "The medical industry hasn't invested in health IT the way at other industries have," says Keith Hepp, interim CEO for HealthBridge. "(The federal government) looked at communities that have invested substantially in healthcare IT, and in our case awarded us 15 million to serve as demonstration project, and as beacon to other communities." The initiative precedes a federal mandate that a national health infrastructure, which would include e-health records, be in place by 2014. Among practical goals of e-health records is to shave health costs, lower errors, and improve healthcare outcomes through more preventative medicine. In the collaborative started in Sept. 2010 and partners are working to address these issues in the area of pediatric asthma, and adult diabetes. The plan is to then expand into other diseases and bring in more medical providers. By Feoshia Henderson
It's a tall order to create jobs, improve health and retain talent through a healthcare innovation challenge, but the new Innov8 for Health Challenge aims to do just that. Designed as an annual occurrence, Innov8 for Health will hold three community-wide events promoting healthcare innovation to solve a specific problem. The initiative involves developing a solution, building a business plan around it, and a shot at receiving startup funding to make the idea a reality. The challenge is already underway, and Innov8 is currently accepting ideas that address "transitions in care" this December. "We already have incubators and accelerators here in Cincinnati, and there is a lot of healthcare innovation going on. But we want to build on what is already here, and specifically help spur the healthcare innovation infrastructure," says one of the event's organizers Sunnie Southern, founder of ViableSynergy. Criag F. Osterhues, health care manager for GE Aviation, is also helping organize the event. Other planners include reps from C-Cap, and Queen City Angels, Biostart, Taft law firm and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. Innov8 hopes to uncover tech-based solutions to problems that arise when a person moves from one care setting to the next -- from a hospital to nursing home, from the hospital to home, from high school to college. They can include difficulties with cooking, medications or even personal safety. Lack of a successful transition often means repeat trips to hospitals, which translates into higher healthcare costs. "It's a very big issue for the country,” Southern says. “A study in 2004 in the New England Journal of Medicine showed it cost Medicare $17.4 billion." The Innov8 for Health Challenge is accepting ideas to solve transition to care problems through Nov. 28 at its website. Open to students and entrepreneurs, the best ideas will be part of a public Innov8 Idea Expo and contest Dec. 2. Winners will be selected to participate in a Business Concept Expo next spring. Finally, the top concepts will be pitched to a panel and potential investors during the Launch Pad event in summer 2012. By Feoshia Henderson
After a typical medical checkup your doctor might tell you to lose weight, get more exercise and reduce your stress. OK, then what? You probably know basic steps to take to improve your health, but you might not know how to find the local services, classes or products that can help us get there. Sunnie Southern, a Cincinnati dietician with a background in marketing is testing a web-based concept in Cincinnati where people can connect around health topics and share information. Think Facebook, crossed with a local WebMD. Her effort, My Health Cincinnati, is part social network, part health resource and part forum. It aims to connect people in Cincinnati to local health resources like yoga and healthy cooking classes, restaurants, healthcare providers and cheaper medications. “There are national communities out there that are fantastic for people who have a rare disease or condition, and there might not be people in their town who have the same type of condition. But if you have diabetes and you're looking for a place to learn about testing your blood sugar, you need a specific resource to connect to,” says Southern. My Health Cincinnati is a test market for the concept, which Southern hopes to take to other cities in the new few years. She started the free site in the summer of 2009 and is nearing a revamp of it. “This is really an opportunity to learn and and understand how to use social media to engage and improve health on a large scale,” Southern says. My Health Cincinnati is part of Southern's company ViableSynergy, a consultancy that helps connect healthcare companies and healthcare IT companies that want to use technology to reach consumers and patients to create better health outcomes. Southern works with contractors to develop these healthcare-based tech solutions. Like many niche social networks created after the Facebook's emergence, Southern said her network gives people a place to talk about health issues in a more appropriate and helpful place. “You might not want to talk about your health on Facebook, and share that information with people in that network,” she says, The site is planning to partner with several businesses including Healthwarehouse.com, a web-based pharmacy in Northern Kentucky that offers discounts on generic medications sent by mail. She is also working with FairCareMD, a site that allows patients and doctors to agree on cash payments for service. By Feoshia Henderson
In ancient times entire cities were built around the places farmers chose to meet and sell their food. So it’s no surprise that farmers’ markets have become an increasingly popular tool for today’s communities seeking to revitalize their business districts. But a papyrus poster or rock carving does not do the trick anymore when it comes to getting the word out about these markets. Today it takes a little more effort - and digital savvy - to draw crowds in for fresh, local food This summer the City of Harrison, Oh launched a marketing campaign that utilized social networking and live entertainment, as well as traditional media, to promote its farmers’ market’s second season. The effort won the city a statewide marketing award from the Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) last month. "A lot of times people underestimate social media and how effective it can be,” Harrison’s development director Jennifer Ekey says. “But we were thrilled with the turnout this year.” The marketing team posted weekly Facebook updates to keep customers abreast of seasonal produce availability, and featured a different vendor each week in a digital newsletter called the “Market Minute.” The newsletter included recipes those vendors recommended for their products. The digital media generated a buzz not just about the products, but the people that grew or raised them. Ekey says that farmers’ markets are centered around relationships, and customers in Harrison would return to see specific vendors, talk with them and buy their produce. Harrison launched its farmers’ market last year as part of an effort to invigorate its downtown business district, and as a community-building exercise, Ekey says. Despite some requests from vendors to move to a cooler area in a grass field at a nearby community center, they chose to stay downtown and move vendors into the shade. "If you look at other communities, when they implement farmers' markets and when they do it in their downtown business district those markets have been very successful and very longstanding," Ekey says. Ekey says local businesses extended their operating hours during the event, which ran from 4 to 7 p.m on Thursdays, to keep up with the increased foot traffic. Ekey says that Harrison has been able to grow their economy and population in the last three years despite the economic downturn. She says efforts like the farmers’ market have helped to make that possible. This is the second time the city of 10,000 has won the OEDA “Excellence in Economic Development Marketing Award” since Ekey became the city’s first development director three years ago. Harrison won the award two years ago for a logo and branding re-design. By Henry Sweets
As a human relations organization, Bridges for a Just Community cultivates programs for kids, young adults and the community at large to encourage diversity, inclusion and a fair and equitable environment. Serving the community for more than 60 years, Bridges has grown from an organization with mainly an interfaith agenda to one that champions equal rights and inclusion, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, physical / mental abilities or economic status. Creating awareness, building skills and fostering opportunity for a fair and equitable community goes hand in hand with the organization’s ability to respond to changes in society. As more reports surface concerning the devastating, and sometimes fatal, effects of bullying, Bridges has taken an active role in spreading awareness, compassion and tolerance of those who are different. The organization takes the issue seriously, working with the community to educate the public about the effects of bullying and to create a platform for positive change. Their annual fundraiser, Walk for a Just Community, highlighted the critical issue that bullying has become. Working closely with his family, the walk was dedicated to Sam Denham, a Covington teen who took his own life after being bullied by peers. “It is important to build a ‘human’ relationship with those who are different than you,” says Bridges President & CEO Lynette M. Heard. “In order to create a community that is different, we need to start looking at people differently.” Programs such as Equity Leadership, JUST Community, Village Schools, ONE Community and more “teach children to be respectful and respected,” says Heard. “These programs encourage youth to understand what it means to build a human, authentic relationship with someone who is different.” Through their work with the Denham family, civic leaders and the community at large, Bridges has become a prominent voice advocating for those who are victims of bullying. There are lots of ways to become involved with Bridges for Just Community. Bridge Builders actively recruits volunteers to spread the Bridges' mission by teaching volunteers to assist with established programs and training. JUST Community works with ninth through twelfth graders to help them learn how to transform their environments, while ONE Community works with a particular school to provide more help in areas like inclusion and equity. “Bridges gives everyone a place at the table,” says Heard. Do Good: • Volunteer: Become a Bridge Builder to help further the Bridges mission. • Get the scoop: Sign up to receive Bridges' e-newsletter for the latest opportunities and events. • Donate: to the many programs offered by Bridges for a Just Community. • Get educated: by learning all you can or watching videos like these. By Deidra Wiley Necco
For more than 30 years, one local non-profit has been working to make local homes more comfortable and livable. With a team of 120 employees, many licensed and trained, People Working Cooperatively relies on thousands of volunteers to help repair and weatherize homes of the disabled, elderly, injured or unemployed. With a coverage area of 20 counties in Greater Cincinnati, PWC serves around 15,000 people a year. Recruiting from corporations, church groups, scout groups and individuals, PWC has one of the largest volunteer corps, placing more than 5,000 volunteers per year. Since its inception in 1975, PWC has offered assistance to more than 200,000 people. Homeowners apply to receive assistance from PWC. Many are referred by social workers, or by word of mouth from others who have been helped by PWC. Most of the people who receive help make, on average, less than $13,000 a year and are in desperate need of home repairs. Repairs can include fixing water and heating systems, minor repairs, lawn work, installing wheelchair ramps and weatherizing homes. These improvements are not cosmetic repairs. PWC’s goal is to make homes safer and more livable for those they service, which sometimes includes installing wheelchair ramps, grab bars and other features to support people with disabilities. Some elderly and disabled only need help with routine housework, which is completed by volunteers One of PWC’s main renovations is to conserve energy in homes in order to reduce utility bills, or offer people a percentage of income payment program, which is an extended payment arrangement that requires regulated gas and electric companies to accept payments based on a percentage of the household income. PWC also hosts two annual events, the Prepare Affair and the Repair Affair. Their largest volunteer day consists of winterizing and raking leaves for hundreds of homes in late fall, and fixing up damages that have been sustained through the winter months once spring comes around. Do Good: Attend: the Prepare Affair and help prepare homes for winter. Volunteer: to help with home repairs or daily household tasks. Donate: to help PWC continue their needed work in Cincinnati. By Evan Wallis
Two local environmental engineers are pouring their skills and passion into a new custom software program that will help city governments and public utilities better manage their water infrastructure. Their effort, CitiLogics, was founded 2009 in by Jim Uber, an environmental engineer at the University of Cincinnati and and Stu Hooper, who has more than 15 years experience in drinking water treatment optimization and distribution system water quality. Together, they have previous experience in systems analysis, and business and software development. CitiLogics is gearing up to launch Polaris, a real-time forecasting platform that uses existing water management data to help utilities better control their water distribution systems. The software will allow utilities to better pinpoint leak sources, and improve water quality in the distribution system, among other things. It will also forecast how a particular part of the infrastructure would hold up in an emergency or a heavy use period. The software then allows departments to share that information easily, Hooper says. "Right now a lot of that data just sits there. It literally goes into a database and one person may see it before it's stored. Right now between 2 and 40 percent of water is lost through leaks; through this modeling the infrastructure can be better maintained. We are convinced if (utilities) have useful information through math modeling and analysis techniques, they can save money, enhance water quality and make work more fun and interesting," Hooper says. CitiLogics is housed in the Hamilton incubation County Business Center, a nationally recognized business incubator. CitiLogics has hired one employee and plans to hire another one by the end of year ahead of a planned initial release of Polaris in the spring of 2012. The company is meeting with municipalities for potential early sales and the software is being tested through a pilot at the Northern Kentucky Water District. By Feoshia Henderson Follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites
Two Cincinnati-based companies have created a strategic partnership designed to help attract and retain top talent in Southwest Ohio. Blackbook EMG, a CincyTech portfolio and high-tech human resources services company, has paired up with Best Upon Request, a Montgomery-based corporate concierge firm. “We see Blackbook’s employee attraction and retention products as a natural extension of our current service offering,” says Tillie Hidalgo Lima, president and CEO of Best Upon Request. “And our concierge services will bring additional value to Blackbook’s proposition.” Blackbook EMG connects recently hired employees to their new companies, communities and coworkers, allowing the employee to focus less on the adjustment and more on the quality of work produced. Best Upon Request is a concierge service companies hire to run daily errands for employees in order for them to be less distracted and more productive during the work day. Just like Blackbook, Best Upon Request provides a strong foundation for positive employee-employer relations. Since Best Upon Request already has a presence in 30 markets nationwide, Blackbook hopes to expand its services outside of Greater Cincinnati. “By leveraging the distinct strengths of Blackbook and Best Upon Request, this relationship allows us to obtain synergies among client needs and to strategically grow both companies. We look forward to working with Tillie’s team,” says Myrita Craig, president of Blackbook. Blackbook has seen strong momentum in 2011, increasing staff, tripling revenue and building key clients, including Procter & Gamble, Macy’s, KAO Brands, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Tri-Health and more. Chris Ostoich, CEO and founder of Blackbook, said the Best Upon Request deal includes an undisclosed investment amount. Along with private investors and a $400,000 investment from CincyTech as lead investor, Blackbook will close its funding round at $700,000, allowing the company to complete technology enhancements and expand into other markets. “This has been an exciting year of growth for Blackbook, and this alliance with Best Upon Request supports that in a very strategic way,” Ostoich says. “This sets the stage for taking Blackbook to the next level.” By Sarah Blazak for CincyTech
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