Downtown

Downtown Cincinnati is the place to live, work, and play populated by restaurants, cafes, bars, arts and culture venues around every corner, plus a long-awaited and busy Kroger's that anchors recently-renovated Court Street Plaza. The downtown urban core is alive with programming, including music during the summer and ice skating in the winter, and features the largest living room 'television' in the region overlooking The Genius of Water at Fountain Square. Downtown has experienced dramatic expansion and population growth with residential developments, including condos and apartments in all price ranges, many of which boast scenic views of the hillsides and the river and offer unparalleled access to nightlife and recreation.

Hands-on experiments with nature at Environmental Education Center

By Newsroom

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Education + Learning

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February 19, 2013

Aubree Forrer runs a one-woman show at the Campbell County Environmental Education Center. From maintaining taxidermy displays, fish tanks, birding areas and trails, to coordinating and leading free activities to engage the public and educate them about the environment, she does it all. Forrer started working at the Center about two years ago, and ever since, she’s kept busy by immersing herself in nature and sharing her love of the outdoors and all of the living things that inhabit it with others. In the past few weeks, she’s led night hikes and activities where people have had the opportunity to build birdhouses and bird feeders. “Little kids and adults both enjoy it,” Forrer says. While leading night hikes, Forrer says she uses experiments and hands-on activities to engage children and get them excited about nature. “I do one activity where I blow up balloons, and you have to guess the color of it, and most times, you get the color wrong,” she says. “I shine a light in it, and that teaches you about rod cells and cone cells in your eyes and how it’s different from humans to nocturnal animals, and you see that the color of your prey—like an owl trying to capture a mouse—isn’t as important as seeing the shape or shadows of that mouse.” Then participants sit in a group and actually watch the owls in action. Forrer says owls are just one of the many animals in the area. Those involved in the hiking program get to see bats, badgers and possums, among other wild animals. One of Forrer’s favorite activities, and perhaps one of the most popular at the Center, is coming up in March, when people come together to make a nesting wreath for birds. At this event, Forrer provides the public with twigs, wheat, feathers, fur and other materials that they can piece together, which birds can later pick apart, as they gather supplies for a nest. “So if you put it by your house or on the side of it, you can watch the birds gather that material from your wreath,” Forrer says. “It’s a lot of fun because you can use your own creativity in terms of making it as colorful as you want and decorating it.” While Forrer prepares for events, she also puts together educational supplies so she can provide people with a PowerPoint, for example, so they can take it home and see pictures of birds in the area and know how to identify them as they gather material from the nesting wreaths. Forrer says activities like this are nice—especially for the kids who live in the city who don’t have as much involvement with nature. “A lot of kids in the city areas that don’t really get to go outside and be in the woods, they can come out here and see things they normally don’t get to see, and they can ask questions—normally they’re always full of them,” says Forrer. “Sometimes it sparks their interest and they want to come out here all the time, every other weekend or so, and their parents are making the trip out here to just take a walk outside or come in our building and look at our different animals and our fish tanks.” Forrer says she’s fallen in love with teaching kids about nature and that she's living her dream job. Though she has quite the responsibility, as she’s the only employee at the Center, she loves every minute of it and couldn’t be happier to be achieving her mission. “My ultimate goal is to educate the public, especially kids, about what the environment has to offer and how they can help preserve it, help it and use some of the things that natures provides us with to learn from.” Do Good: • Like and share the Center's page on Facebook to keep up with events and fun facts about nature. • Sign up for Shape Up and Go Green!, an event focused on physical fitness and environmental awareness for adults. Sessions will take place Monday mornings beginning in April. Call 869-572-2600 to register. • Volunteer to help Aubree Forrer maintain the Center's trails and bird feeders. Contact her if you're interested in helping. 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.

Reggae Run celebrates 20 years of success, moves to Eden Park

By Newsroom

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For Good

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February 19, 2013

This October will mark the 20th anniversary of the Reggae Run, and with its longevity comes continued success and an increase in participants. What started nearly 20 years ago as a small-scale project with the hope of getting 500 people to show up has turned into an event that has raised more than $1 million dollars over the years for local charities. It has also outgrown its longtime course at Ault Park. This October, participants will instead gather at Eden Park for a new course and the same after-party that locals have grown to love, as it draws as many as 7,000 people together to celebrate. “It’s really amazing that the time has gone so quickly, but at the same time, it’s really neat to see how the event has grown and how it’s become part of Cincinnati,” says Doug Olberding, Reggae Run's organizer. “But we realized maybe seven or so years ago that not everybody that comes to the race knows why we do it.” Olberding, who is the late Maria Olberding’s brother, says it dawned on him a few years back that most of the people who run the race—oftentimes people who are in their 20s—were about 5 years old when his sister was slain while running near her home in Mt. Lookout. “The older people know—you tell somebody who’s around my age, and they say, ‘Gosh, I remember that, it was a big deal,’” Olberding says. “But the younger people don’t know why we do it. We put it out there, but they don’t know the story, and we feel like it is our duty to make sure we keep the story alive and keep her memory alive through the race.” So the Olberding family puts on an event that encompasses everything Maria cherished—running, reggae and nature. Whether it was through her optimistic and positive outlook on life or through her volunteer efforts with organizations like Stepping Stones and Children’s Hospital, Maria made sure to put her best foot forward. “She wasn’t a teacher or anything like that—it was just her natural altruism,” Olberding says. “She was a pretty giving person. She was a 20-something, typical girl out of college; she worked at the Beach Waterpark and had fun with her friends, but they found time to do things—volunteer work and stuff like that—so that was part of it, and I don’t know that I can say specifically where that came from. It was just the way she was.” At the Reggae Run, participants can either run or walk a 5K. After the race, everyone joins together for fellowship through food and music, which is provided by The Ark Band, a group that Maria grew up listening to. Olberding says themes within reggae music that deal with “finding the good in things” speak volumes to who Maria was as a person. Proceeds from the event benefit the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which formed in Cincinnati when the Olberdings sought the organization out as a recipient. The more than $1 million the event has raised for the organization is just one of the positives that has come as a result of the Reggae Run. “Some people come up to us during the race, and they’re beside themselves, saying how much they enjoy it and what it means to them to come; we’ve even had people get engaged there," Olberding says. "It’s always this really good vibe, and I think it’s one of the reasons why it’s been around for 20 years." “It’s so easy to turn something into a negative, and if you do that, you just create more grief and more anger, and then it just never stops. I look at it and say, 'Just think of all the good that this event has done.’” Do Good: • Register for the Reggae Run by participating in the race or joining in the after-party. • Share Maria Olberding's history by keeping her memory alive and encouraging others to participate in the Reggae Run. • Like and share Reggae Run's Facebook page. 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.

Freestore Foodbank puts healthy foods in Tri-State homes

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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February 19, 2013

About a month ago, a donation from Green BEAN Delivery to the Freestore Foodbank brought a recently unemployed young woman and mother of three to tears when she went to pick up food for her family. “She knew the importance of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables for her kids, and typically, her meal money and her food money doesn’t go that far,” says Kurt Reiber, president and CEO of the FSFB. Reiber says people often try to “stretch their resources,” which often means buying food that is affordable but also unhealthy. Because of FSFB’s efforts to put healthy foods on the tables of about 300,000 food-insecure individuals throughout the region—110,000 of whom are children—fresh produce and healthy eating habits are increasingly becoming more ingrained in the lifestyles of our neighbors in need. As a result of a longtime partnership with Green BEAN Delivery, FSFB recently received 2,200 pounds of fresh produce to distribute to local pantries and food banks, which Reiber says will go a long way for the families FSFB supports. “These are people who really don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Reiber says. “They’re coming because the car broke down or one of their children has gotten sick or their utility bills are out of whack and they spent the money they otherwise would have spent on food on those bills, so when I talk about paycheck to paycheck, that’s really it.” Most of the recipients of FSFB’s donations visit the food banks or pantries just five times a year, according to Reiber. “It’s the community supporting the neighbors that are just down the street,” he says. “Most of them are going to church with them, or their kids see them at school.” Reiber is appreciative of the Green BEAN Delivery’s donation because he says it has helped to provide healthy foods during a time of the year when the nonprofit is particularly in need. In November and December and throughout the holiday season, he says, people recognize the problem of hunger, and donations come in with an abundance; but hunger is a problem that doesn’t go away. “The reality is that the following week, when we turn the page on the calendar, we’re still looking at folks out there that are hungry and don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Reiber says. Because of partnerships with community organizations and individuals, FSFB ensures that 35 to 40 percent of its food distribution is composed of fresh fruits and vegetables. Through its community farming program, The Giving Fields, FSFB was able to provide 175,000 pounds of fresh produce to 12 food pantries in Northern Kentucky last year; and that number, according to Reiber, will continue to grow. “Our goal is to have it so that 50 percent of all the food we distribute will be fresh, nutritious produce and fruits, and that’s something we’re going to continue to strive to get to.” Do Good: • Support the Freestore Foodbank by making a donation. • Start a virtual food drive and encourage your family and friends to partcipate. • Spread the word about hunger by liking and sharing Freestore Foodbank's Facebook page. 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.

Cincy ReelAbilities film festival unifies inclusive community

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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February 19, 2013

ReelAbilities, which is the largest film festival in the country to showcase the artistic talents and life stories of people with disabilities, began in New York in 2007. But in 2011, Cincinnati became the first place to broaden the festival’s influence by making it a multi-city event, and for its second year running, ReelAbilities plans to increase its reach with a fervor that emphasizes the shared human experience. Co-chaired by Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled and Visionaries + Voices, the festival brings community members together to view award-winning films by and about people with disabilities, all while creating a dialogue and providing a platform for storytelling and educational panels that promote understanding and inclusion. For local spokespersons April Kerley and Kathleen Sheil, the festival is important in that it aims to show people that the only real disabilities that all people have are those of misguided perceptions. Kerley, a local Paralympian who swam in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and who is also featured in the film “Warrior Champions,” which will air during the festival, says the event is about inclusion. All people experience a technical disability at some point in time, “even if it is only a temporary one, such as a sprained ankle or recovery from surgery,” she says. “It is not an ‘us versus them’ equation,” Kerley says. “We’re all in this together.” Sheil, who receives services from LADD and who is working as an event planner for ReelAbilities Cincy has Down syndrome, but she says she doesn’t allow her disability to define her. “I take that disability, and I put it into ability,” she says. Her attitude is a positive one, but Sheil says she knows all too well the horror stories of bullying that arise from a lack of understanding when it comes to people with disabilities. Sheil’s boyfriend, who has autism and wears glasses, was singled out during his high school years because of his disability, she says. “They’d call him four-eyes and step on his glasses and break them,” Sheil says. “And that’s not what we do. That’s not the right thing to do. To me, it really doesn’t matter if you have a disability or not, and the reason why I say that is because everybody has a disability and everybody is different, and that’s okay.” It’s these stories that ReelAbilities Cincy hopes to share, as inclusion and acceptance are topics that are vital and necessary, according to Shiel. “I want people to hear how important it is to the people that have not just disabilities, but abilities, so that they can share their stories,” she says. “And so that way, they can be the people who shine, people who are stars and people who really know what’s going on in their world.” ReelAbilities will take place at various locations throughout Cincinnati from March 9-16. Do Good: • Attend a film showing to support ReelAbilities. • Like the ReelAbilities Cincy page on Facebook. • Spread the word to family and friends so that they, too, can participate in the ReelAbilties Film Festival. 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.

Project Downtown focuses on interfaith effort to give back

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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February 12, 2013

Each Sunday, a group of volunteers, most college-aged, meet at the Clifton Mosque to make sandwiches, bag lunches and wrap pastries to pass out to individuals in downtown Cincinnati. The volunteers make up an organization called Project Downtown, a nonprofit whose local chapter has been in existence since 2008, and whose ultimate goal is to eliminate poverty downtown. Yousef Hussein, director of PD, says the goal is a lofty one, but he’s confident that it can be accomplished. “It’s going to be difficult, but at the end of the day, I feel that if we set our mind to it, and people receive us properly, we can get the support and make a big impact in our community," he says. The Cincinnati chapter of PD began with leadership from students in the University of Cincinnati’s Muslim Students’ Association who wanted to form an organization that got them more involved in the community and that reflected their mindset of wanting to take care of their neighbors. Hussein says about 40 percent of PD Cincy’s near 140 members are either immigrants or first-generation Americans, and that it’s important to get them “more involved in the American fabric.” “As a result of that, the children aren’t as exposed to what goes on in downtown Cincinnati or aren’t exposed to the poverty that’s so close to them,” says Hussein. “A lot of them live in the suburbs, and it’s just a great opportunity for them to see what goes on in downtown Cincinnati. I think that when you have that sort of compassion and care for the general community and the community understands that, you’re able to break down the religious barriers you see between Muslims.” PD Cincy is not just a Muslim organization, however. It’s an interfaith group that aims to help others, and that’s what Hussein says he likes best. “You’ll see Catholics, Protestants and atheists, and it’s just beautiful to see them come together for one common purpose.” PD Cincy currently distributes 70 bagged lunches, in addition to breads and pastries donated by Panera Bread’s Operation Dough-Nation program to individuals along Vine Street. One-third of those lunches, in addition to any leftover bread, are then left in a box outside of the downtown mosque in Over-the-Rhine for anyone hungry to grab. “There’s a couple families that live nearby, and as we’re coming down, you can see them looking out the window so they can grab a couple for their kids,” Hussein says. But according to Hussein, it’s more than food that residents of OTR need. “A lot of individuals have mental health problems; a lot of them are just lonely,” he says. “If you’re in a situation where you’re homeless, chances are you don’t have a support network; and as a result of that, people have things they need to get off their chest. We really like to sit down and figure out what the needs are in their community.” So Hussein says PD Cincy plans to broaden its giving so that the organization provides more than just food. One way it plans to give back is through a hygiene drive, where volunteers will pass out kits filled with things like toothbrushes and lotion to help prevent people’s hands from cracking in the cold weather. The nonprofit is also planning a sock drive. “It’s easy to find clothes, but socks are hard to find, and washrags—you wouldn’t think it, but if I had a washrag to offer someone, they’d take it,” says Hussein. “Little things like that make a big difference. We run on a shoestring budget, but if we’re able to do those things with a lot of thought behind it, it makes a huge difference.” Do Good: • Learn more about Project Downtown by visiting the organization's website. • Volunteer by making sandwiches, packing lunches and distributing food on Sundays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. All are welcome, and those interested in helping should meet at 3668 Clifton Ave. Enter through the back basement door. • Assist the organization by donating or contacting those involved if you're interested in forming a partnership. 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.

City Gospel Mission program builds friendships at The Outlet

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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February 12, 2013

Kevin Rosebrook, who serves as vice president of homeless services at City Gospel Mission, says stereotypes of homelessness are broken down when volunteers interact with guests at The Outlet. Rosebrook remembers four years ago, when he sat across the table from a man who was homeless. The two did not know each other, but they came to find out they shared striking similarities. They both attended Miami University at the same time; they were both athletes; and they both shared similar friends. “He’s obviously a very gifted person, [who was] able to succeed in college and was a varsity athlete, and yet some mental illness he had caused him to have different struggles in his life and find himself homeless,” Rosebrook says. It’s these kinds of stories, he says, that open people’s eyes to the reality that homeless individuals can’t be stereotyped as having a “lack of education” or as being individuals who “just need to go out and get a job.” ”And these kinds of thoughts that were told as true and that become acceptable in middle class communities are not true,” says Rosebrook. “And I think that impacts people when they sit across the table from someone and recognize they have many similarities.” The Outlet is a program that enables volunteers and homeless individuals to do just that—whether it’s by sitting down with one another to share a donut and a cup of coffee, playing ping pong or pool, making arts and crafts, listening to live music or kicking back for a game of cards. In an effort to achieve City Gospel Mission’s vision of “breaking the cycle of poverty one life at a time,” The Outlet aims to bring people together to form relationships that help homeless individuals address needs, whether those needs are physical, mental, social or pertain to one’s faith. “Nine times out of 10, when a person has gone from homelessness to the middle class, it’s because of a significant person in their life, so we want to create those significant relationships,” says Rosebrook. So every Saturday and on the first and third Sundays of the month, more than 100 guests and about 30 volunteers hang out and get to know one another better. Rosebrook says he would love to see the program expand to every Sunday and even throughout the week during after-dinner hours. “Ultimately, it’s about resources," Rosebrook says. "We say it all the time—it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And those things are true for the guests we serve, and it’s putting them in contact with the right people. We have some of those resources and are trying to help our guests reach that level of independence, one life at a time.” But it’s not just the guests who are impacted by their experiences at The Outlet. Rosebrook says volunteers often tell him they were impacted far more than they could ever impact someone else’s life. “I think many volunteers want to do a good thing and want to feel good about themselves on some level, but then when they get there, I think their eyes are open to just love—loving the people that are there and recognizing it could be any of us,” he says. “And I think it shatters a lot of the stereotypes that we came in with. That’s what I want to encourage our volunteers to do the most is to just be open when they come in.” Do Good: • Volunteer at The Outlet by enjoying fellowship through music, games and crafts with guests. • Donate items or funds to support The Outlet. • Like City Gospel Mission's page 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.

Enterprise Social Network Startup Batterii Closes $2.5M Seed, Led By CincyTech

By Newsroom

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Architecture + Design

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February 12, 2013

Cincinnati-based enterprise social network startup Batterii, which describes itself as a co-creation software platform, has closed a $2.5 million seed round led by public-private seed stage investor CincyTech—which contributed $500,000 to the round. Other investors include Batterii CEO Kevin C. Cummins, Los Angeles-based investor Ken Salkin and undisclosed individuals. Read the full story here.

Ignite Cincinnati celebrates fast-pitch creativity

By Sean M. Peters

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Talent

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February 12, 2013

Composed of presenters who share their ideas, accompanied only by slides and audio, based on format mirrored in cities across the nation.

Community opportunity through Carnegie’s Call to Artists

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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February 12, 2013

For nearly 40 years, The Carnegie has strengthened the Northern Kentucky community as a venue that displays, fosters and inspires creativity in both the visual and performing arts. One way it fulfills that mission is through its annual Call to Artists, which is now underway. Call to Artists provides a means for the nonprofit to expose the work of local and regional artists, as it selects enough pieces to fill its six galleries for the 2014 season with more than 30 solo and group shows. Gallery director and curator Bill Seitz says he’s fine-tuned the process behind the Call to Artists by ensuring that the work chosen is based solely on artistic merit, as all of the artists are juried anonymously. “Each artist is equal; it doesn’t matter," Seitz says. "I tell artists, ‘I don’t care if you’re in the Museum of Modern Art. The only way you’re getting a show here is because your work’s good.' I have friends who have never gotten a show here because they haven’t made the cut. Give me the best art and artists, and they’ll give me the best shows.” Seitz says the fact that work is chosen anonymously is part of the beauty of the process. “I know in the world, you can get a lot of things on who you know, but here, I put everyone—especially the artists—on equal playing turf.” When Seitz says he puts everyone on equal playing turf, he means it, because The Carnegie’s galleries are meant for everyone in the public to enjoy—not just art aficionados who seem to understand and connect with every piece they see. “I think a lot of people get intimidated coming to galleries because you have that elitism stereotype attached to it, and we try to break that down," Seitz says. "We try to make that personal. When you come in, you’re family. If you don’t like something, that’s okay.” According to Seitz, It’s not expected or even fair to assume that one particular show will capture the attention of everyone. There are some pieces in the gallery that he says even he doesn’t like, and he wants the public to know that that’s okay and perfectly normal. “You’ll run into somebody who’ll say, ‘Well, all he showed was contemporary artwork, and it’s not my thing,’" he says. "So I’ll say, ‘You didn’t see the glass show or the basket show or the craft show.' I do 30 to 40 shows a year. We try to put a little bit of everything in there. You cant like it all—because I don’t like it all—but you’re going to come and hopefully find something you like or find something that maybe enlightens you about something you didn’t know you like.” There are all kinds of art, and variety is something the Call to Artists prides itself on finding. From photography, to art made from paper, food or even hair, the exhibitions don’t place value on one type of art over another, but instead encompass a wide array of work, from as many artists of differing abilities as is possible. “You’ve got to put everything in perspective," Setiz says. "The biggest thing I tell people is I’m happy that you came, happy that you showed up, that you looked at art, that there was something there that you enjoyed that made you happy, that you looked at something and communicated with it." “That’s what art is—visual communication. It’s like sitting down with a book—that’s written communication. You can put on a CD or go to a movie or a theatrical performance—there are different art forms, but see the talent that’s basically in your own backyard. The fun part of it is that this is your own; they’re your own talent; these are people that live right in this area.” Do Good: • Visit The Carnegie's current gallery exhibition "Pulp Art." • Submit your artwork for review with the Call to Artists. • Support The Carnegie by becoming a member. 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.

Parks offer tour of Underground Railroad route

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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February 5, 2013

Cincinnati Parks’ Explore Nature! program will host its award-winning Ravine to Freedom event Feb. 10, allowing participants to walk along the same trail that served as an escape route for those using the Underground Railroad more than 100 years ago. “The Ravine to Freedom was recognized by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center as the only documented, undeveloped, local escape route,” says Kathy Dahl, naturalist at Laboiteaux Woods. It’s a 1.5-mile unpaved path that runs along Hamilton Avenue, up and downhill, through the College Hill and Northside neighborhoods. “College Hill was named because of the colleges here, so people were progressive in their thinking and more toward abolitionist views; however, the Farmer’s College—where Aiken [High School] and the College Hill Recreation Center are today—also had Southern students, so they had to be especially careful,” Dahl says. Dahl leads the tour and is well-versed in the history of the land, but it’s the stories, she says, that are so important. To help make those stories come to life, she conducts the tour in the winter—first because the leaves from trees are gone, so historical houses can be seen along the route—and second because the winter months were the primary times that slaves would make their escapes. “If you were field hands, you weren’t doing as much, so your absence may not be noticed as quickly,” Dahl says. “There were also the holidays in there where the owners would travel or go to parties; and at the same time, the Ohio River would freeze, so it was a land bridge—or an ice bridge.” To help others understand the history of the ravine, Dahl joined forces with local historian Betty Ann Smiddy to create a detailed map of the route and markers of interest along its way. “Cincinnati’s role—it was a battleground,” Dahl says. “We’re taught [about] the Civil War in history books, but it’s only a part of what actually happened.” Dahl says it’s important that people not only recognize the history of the town where they live, but that they experience it. “It was trying times, but when I discuss this, when I talk about these things on the hike, I try to show that there was hope,” Dahl says. “There were people who came together, and they were up against big odds.” Do Good: • Call (513) 542-2909 to register for the Ravine to Freedom Feb. 10 from 1 to 3 pm. • Volunteer to help maintain Cincinnati Parks. If you want to help maintain the grounds so that tours like Ravine to Freedom can continue successfully, you can request to volunteer at Laboiteaux Woods. • Connect with Cincinnati Parks by liking their Facebook page. 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.