Band artist Lindsay Nehls mixes art, photography
It’s a good thing for everyone involved when artists find their niche.
Clifton / CUF
Resting on a hill overlooking the north side of Cincinnati, Clifton offers a wide range of experiences from a college atmosphere with the city's largest school, the University of Cincinnati, to an international center for cutting-edge medicine featuring University, Children's and Good Samaritan hospitals. Clifton's history has been preserved in historical buildings and homes — from modest to millionaire. Trendy shops and restaurants can be found on Ludlow Avenue in the Gaslight District, along with the Esquire Theatre, yoga studios, Clifton Market and a newly renovated branch of the Cincinnati Public Library. Even though Clifton is tightly compacted with large buildings and interesting architecture, green space does exist at Burnet Woods.
Cicadas = cha-ching! Insects in sex fest spawn business
As the East Coast braces for the emergence of Brood II, researchers at the University of Cincinnati offer up a web page of cicada dishes, including quiches. Read the full story here.
How to Resurrect an Urban School District
The Cincinnati school district has improved both test scores and graduation rates since 2003 while—unlike Atlanta and Washington—transparently pursuing highly collaborative reform strategies that, counter to the current trend, don't rely on rigid hierarchy and punitive accountability. Read the full story here.
GO Cincinnati engages community, serves nonprofits
About seven years ago, Crossroads began a transformation that positioned it as more than just a church. Its vision was to focus on ways in which it could serve others—in not just the community, but across the world. Crossroads’ work with GO South Africa was making an impact in the lives of those battling poverty and HIV/AIDS, but at the same time, volunteers began to think about their roles in their own community. Modeled after GO South Africa, a team of volunteers initiated GO Cincinnati. It's an outreach activity that started out with about 1,200 volunteers who completed 65 projects throughout Greater Cincinnati in a single day for nonprofits. “People really connected with the idea of serving their city, and on the front line serving those in need,” says Kelley Kruyer, director of Cincinnati ReachOut projects and leader of GO Cincinnati. “They’re doing the hard work every single day, so we thought it would be cool to thank them for the work they do in our community.” This year, 7,000 volunteers will combine forces on May 18 to complete 400 projects that range from painting and landscaping to putting up drywall and serving meals. According to Kruyer, the best parts of GO Cincinnati are the long-term relationships Crossroads has formed over the years with the organizations it serves. “We know their buildings, their properties, their needs, and we know how to best help them, so sometimes we put together a multi-year plan, and it gives them the peace of mind and helps them to budget so they don’t have to spend money on things that we’re happy to help with,” Kruyer says. “It’s just a really special day.” Kruyer, who grew up in Northern Kentucky, left her hometown in the ‘80s. During that 10-year period of her life, she says she wondered what she was doing because everyone and everything she loved was here. She says that's the kind of passion for the city that drives Crossroads to engage and reach out. “We love our city—and by Cincinnati, we mean all of it—from Burlington to Middletown to Amelia to Cleves—the whole Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area,” Kruyer says. "We’re just totally committed to making it one of the best places in the country to live.” Do Good: • Find a nonprofit that interests you and lend a helping hand. • Assist Crossroads in its volunteer efforts throughout the year. • Like Crossroads on Facebook. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
ReUse-apalooza empowers individuals, advocates
Designers, do-it-yourselfers, the environmentally friendly and people who generally enjoy a good time will gather May 17 for Northside’s fourth annual ReUse-apalooza. Building Value and its parent-organization, Easter Seals TriState, host the annual event to raise awareness about reuse and to support on-the-job training and other programs that assist people with disabilities. This year’s event will include the Designer Challenge, which highlights some of the work BV does. The organization reuses building materials to create everything from useful pieces for the home to works of art. Items will also be up for auction, and according to Lisa Doxsee, communications manager for EST and BV, it’s a way to “assist individuals with disabilities and disadvantages to more fully live, learn, work and play in their communities.” Each year, the event raises close to $30,000 of unrestricted funds, which allows the closely connected nonprofits to further their missions by enabling individuals who might otherwise have difficult times securing employment to learn necessary skills and gain experience. “They just can’t seem to get both feet on the ground at the same time, and they just need some assistance in getting the education or the training they need and the opportunity to learn,” Doxsee says. “When they do, they’re able to move out and get their own jobs and fully support themselves and often start to train others—it’s really a cool thing to watch.” Not only does BV help put people to work, but the organization also helps keep materials out of area landfills. “What we do is go into a home, and maybe you wanted a new kitchen cabinet set, so we take out your kitchen cabinets in a way that it can be reused and resold,” Doxsee says. “We’ve taken down full homes and salvaged 60 to 70 percent of the home with the lumber and products that come out of that.” The ultimate goal, however, is to provide the ability to succeed to those who have encountered barriers in the past—whether those barriers be physical, mental, economic or educational. “We believe that every person deserves to feel the thrill of success—no matter what that success is,” Doxsee says. “So everything we do is to try to help empower those individuals to find success in whatever it is that they need.” Do Good: • Support Building Value and Easter Seals TriState by purchasing a ticket to ReUse-apalooza. • Donate to Building Value and Easter Seals TriState. • Volunteer with Building Value and Easter Seals TriState. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
Video Bikes in the City
May is Bike Month, so what better way to celebrate than to share stories about local cyclists and why traveling on two wheels is their preferred method of travel? Video by Caroline Bozzi, Elese Daniel, Hunter Moore and Madison Schmidt of the University of Cincinnati.
Library garners national attention, celebrates with Amnesty Day
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is one of 10 recipients out of 140,000 libraries and museums across the country to receive this year’s National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The award recognizes outstanding service to communities. So, in appreciation of library users and as a way to celebrate, the PLCHC will offer a Fine Amnesty Day May 15. “We really wanted something to express our appreciation to the community, and we started thinking about what is it that people hate most about the libraries—we all know that—the fines,” says Kim Fender, Eva Jane Romaine Coombe director. “I’ve been here 25 years, and we haven’t done this in my time here at all, but our hope is that people who have not used the library because of their fines come in and have those fines removed and come back to the library and get their cards started up again.” Fender says the library most likely wouldn’t have received the award without the support of the community, because the library’s heavy usage was one reason the Institute of Museum and Library Services was so impressed. With more than 17.6 million items borrowed in 2011, the PLCHC is considered the eighth-busiest library in the nation, and its commitment to providing academic assistance and encouragement to both children and adults is evident through the variety of programs it offers and successfully implements through its partnerships with other community-based organizations. Last summer, for example, the library partnered with Cincinnati Public Schools and the Freestore Foodbank to serve about 7,000 meals to children. “That’s something people don’t normally think of libraries doing,” Fender says. “But when they were in there eating, they could sign up for summer reading or programs.” Fender says the library staff also goes out of its way to make sure children are learning by actually attending school. “If we see kids in the building during school hours and we think they might be truant, we check up and say, ‘What school do you go to?’ and look at the school calendar, and we call someone from the school to let them know because they have to be in school to learn,” Fender says. Fender will travel to Washington, D.C. with Amina Tuki, a local resident who came to Cincinnati from a small village in Ethiopia who was not fluent in her native language, but who learned English by picking up a small book called Coming to America at the PLCHC. “She says it took her all day, but she made her way through it, and she took it home and read it to her husband and children, and her older son started crying,” Fender says. Fender and Tuki will accept the award May 8. Library users can celebrate Amnesty Day May 15 by taking their library card to any local branch. Do Good: • Go to your local branch and have fines removed May 15 so that you can begin to use the library's resources. • Sign up for a library card if you don't already have one. • Support the library. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
Being the Somebody at Lighthouse Youth Services
There are more than 850 children in Hamilton County who are currently placed in out-of-home care, according to Jami Clarke, program director of Lighthouse Youth Services' foster care division. That means there is an ever-growing need for foster parents within our community. To raise awareness about the need for foster parents, and to celebrate National Foster Care Month and the local successes LYS has seen during the past year, the nonprofit will host its second-annual Be The Somebody March May 11. “On a daily basis, we’re getting calls for sibling sets of two and three children at a time who are being displaced from their homes and who are in need of temporary care for six months to four years,” Clarke says. “And we’re trying to match them so it’s possible within their same school district—within the same community—so they can continue to have visitation with their family members, and we can work toward reunification.” Clarke says the separation of siblings is often even more traumatic for children than being separated from their parents, so it’s especially important that the organization find foster parents who are willing to take on the responsibility of not just one child, but two, three and sometimes four or five children at a time. Tasha Boyd, 33, is a North College Hill resident, who is one of those more-than-willing foster parents. She has been with LYS since 2007, and has been a foster parent for about eight years. Boyd, who initially thought about running a daycare because she says dealing with kids is her "specialty," started to look into foster care instead. She says she understands that there are many children in our community “who need love.” “A lot of homes are broken, and there are a lot of homes out there that can help,” Boyd says. “We need foster parents out here. It’s a hard thing to do, but at the same time, you’re rewarded every day—it’s a blessing.” Boyd, who has a soon-to-be 14-year-old son of her own, says she loves what she does and that her son has “no problem sharing his mother” with the 10 children she has brought into their home over the past five years. She currently has a sibling set of two girls in her home, and for the first time in her life, Boyd will transition from foster care to adoption. The mother of the two girls has decided to release her rights because she can no longer care for them due to mental health issues. “The two have been in the house since they were nine months old and three days old," Boyd says. "I’m all they know. I was not going to turn my back on them.” Do Good: • Sign up for the Be The Somebody March and picnic lunch. • Learn more about becoming a foster parent. • If foster parenting is not for you, but you would like to help, consider becoming a mentor. Contact Jami Clarke for more information. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
Rise of the rest: Creativity loves company
Startups aren't just for Silicon Valley anymore. As entrepreneurs find expected pleasures—and great quality of life—in cities like Cincinnati, a new kind of energy is building. Read about the rise of our startup sister cities, from Boston to Denver.
Teens create, learn, grow through ArtWorks’ summer jobs
When it comes time for teens to find summer jobs, becoming a muralist doesn’t typically top the list of possibilities. Unless you live in Cincinnati. With ArtWorks’ Adopt-an-Apprentice campaign, however, 110 teens from around the city will be hired to collaborate with each other and community partners to create 10 new murals this summer. For Kyra Watkins, who has been an Apprentice since her freshman year of high school and who hopes to finish out her senior year with yet another apprenticeship, the opportunity is full of benefits. “Besides the fact that you become a muralist in your own right—because that’s not a profession even most adults have—[ArtWorks] always cared about the youth,” Watkins says. “It’s not just, ‘Give a child a paintbrush, and if they do well, you pay them.’ They set up financial sessions and youth nights where you get paid to learn how to manage your money, to budget your money and to be smart.” Watkins says the experience is particularly beneficial because each set of teenagers works under a project manager who helps them learn to identify their skills, learn new ones and ultimately work together to create a final product. A new addition to this year’s campaign will be the involvement of ArtWorks’ SpringBoard business graduate, Chef Frances Kroner, who will lead a select group of Apprentices in developing, producing and selling a new snack mix. Apprentices involved in that project will experience the summer program's first-ever entrepreneurial opportunity. For students who are passionate about art and who want to make it part of their lives, being an Apprentice allows students to gain real-world experience while leaving a lasting impression on the city. Watkins, a senior at Withrow University High School, will soon graduate and begin a new chapter in life as she pursues a degree in political science with aspirations to go to law school. But no matter where she goes, she says, a part of her will always be in Cincinnati. “No matter where I travel, my art will always be here—it’s very homey, like you left something at home and you always have something to come back to,” Watkins says. Do Good: • Help employ an Apprentice by donating to the Adopt-an-Apprentice campaign. • Like ArtWorks on Facebook. • Get involved with ArtWorks by volunteering. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
