Uptown

Uptown includes all the neighborhoods around the University of Cincinnati including Avondale, Clifton, Clifton Heights, Corryville, Fairview, Mt. Auburn and University Heights, so it's a diverse mix of students and residents in one of the city's most distinct and eclectic group of neighborhoods. Uptown is the home of the Cincinnati Zoo as well as multiple hospitals and the Ludlow shopping district where you can find trendy and unique shops as well as any scent of incense you need. Ethnic restaurants, including a curiously high concentration of Indian eateries, multiple taverns, coffee houses, music venues and the Esquire — one of Cincinnati's finest independent art house movie theaters all make Uptown a one-stop walkable bazaar of exciting entertainment options.

Rosenthal champions ‘New Voices’ of art in community at Prairie

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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January 29, 2013

David Rosenthal began his art career in a traditional setting, but he says it wasn’t the right niche. As an M.F.A. graduate and full-time professor in the University of Cincinnati’s fine arts department, he spent most of his time in the studio. While he enjoyed his work, he says he felt there was a divide and that too many people in the community simply didn’t connect with art created in that environment. “That whole practice was kind of centered on the idea that the artist was the creator, and that art happened in the mind and at the hands of the artist,” says Rosenthal. “And I wanted to get away from that idea.” So he set out to find a way to put art into the hands of a completely different demographic, and in 2009, Rosenthal founded Prairie, a nonprofit that works to gather artists together to create and explore ideas in non-traditional ways. Educational programming is one of Prairie’s primary functions, and through the New Voices program, Rosenthal aims to bring two groups together for the purpose of building an understanding of the human condition through art. The most recent collaboration: residents of City Gospel Mission’s Exodus Program—a long-term rehabilitation effort that seeks to help men who struggle with alcohol and drug addiction—and students from Milford High School. The program lasted 12 weeks and consisted of weekly excursions where the two groups came together to photograph the Over-the-Rhine community, discuss their work, talk about why it’s meaningful, and then reflect on the whole process. “I think that when art is put in the hands of people who don’t usually have that tool, it’s just incredibly powerful, because I think that somebody who has never had the opportunity to be expressive usually has a ton to say,” Rosenthal says. “When you combine that with another group of people who maybe does that on a consistent basis, like high school students who are involved in the arts, you can see these bridges forming, and barriers coming down—significant barriers. That’s all through the language of expression.” While Rosenthal is a facilitator in the process, he says he’s also an art-maker because of the “creative energy and problem solving” that he brings to the program. Part of his drive stems from his 15 years of art experience, but he says it also goes back to his undergraduate days when he studied history. “I think I really just became interested in social science—why people create the kind of institutions they create, how people relate to each other through those institutions, how they bring us together, divide us, create progress, get in the way of progress—that kind of thing,” he says. “I think really my curiosity is what happens when you introduce these expressive, creative tools into social situations.” Reactions from those involved in the program are positive. Rosenthal says the Milford students’ video reflections revealed changes that were both eye-opening and for some, even “life-changing.” “There’s always some kind of sheltering or inward-looking that happens at every high school because students are so busy, and that’s just the nature of the whole program—you do your work at school,” says Rosenthal. “So I’ve found that there’s lots of opportunities for students to get out and see the world and really kind of answer some of those questions that come up in their daily work about the world all around them, and I’m really happy to be doing that work.” Do Good: • Attend Prairie's upcoming exhibition "After the Fall," which is a collection of artists' work, built on the theme of female identity. The exhibition opens Feb. 9 and continues through April 6. Contact Prairie for more information. • Support art programs within your local school district. • Join Prairie in its misison to reach out to community organizations by getting involved with a local nonprofit. 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.

Building strong communities through Charitable Words

By Newsroom

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Architecture + Design

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January 29, 2013

It only took Tom Callinan a few months to realize how much he missed the community and connections he had built in Cincinnati. Callinan—who served as editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer for eight years and then as the McMicken Professor of Journalism at the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program—tried to retire, but the lifestyle just didn’t work out. He traveled to his home in Arizona with the intention of finally taking a break from his long-time career as a communicator. He took up golfing to occupy his time, but he says it simply wasn’t rewarding. “I just woke up one morning and thought, ‘I love Cincinnati,’” says Callinan. “One of the gifts of being the editor of the paper is you get to know a lot of people. So connections are currency, and I know people, so what can I do to put that to good use?” So Callinan returned to Cincinnati and founded Charitable Words, an organization that functions as an intern-placement program, which helps students gain real-world job experience as they put their skills to use at small nonprofits in the community. Then they, too, can better fulfill their missions and strengthen their messages. “What I see in the nonprofit world is there’s such a need, but the audience is so fragmented—you can’t just get a story in the paper, and Twitter and Facebook have become noise, so communication’s really essential,” Callinan says. One of Charitable Words’ most recent matchups, and the one that Callinan is most proud of, is the pairing of Charitable Words Scholar Tia Garcia, a UC student who works as the multimedia editor at The News Record, with Melodic Connections, a local nonprofit that provides music therapy to students with special needs. “They have this wonderful program—not a lot of people know about it—and what a wonderful story to tell," Callinan says. “It’s just an amazing matchup to me because it’s small enough that she will make a huge difference, and I just love it. I’m not sure there is another internship program that thinks that way.” Callinan’s aim is to turn Charitable Words Scholars into a community—a family—that will function as a microcosm of what he, and others from outside the Cincinnati area, view as the makeup of this city. “I moved here from Phoenix, and the term I use is, ‘That was a crowd, not a community,’” says Callinan. “A lot of people doesn’t make a community, and here, it’s amazing. Every place I go, I tend to know someone. It’s like a small town, but it’s not. It’s a metropolitan area.” At workshops and presentations across the country, Callinan says Cincinnati is recognized as a “really special place,” with a model that other cities look to replicate, for the purpose of achieving social change through collective action. “It really strikes me as I travel around," Callinan says. "There’s the old cliché that people in Cincinnati don’t appreciate how good they have it; they’ve got inferiority complexes and whatnot, but people who move here are astonished at how wonderful the city is and that anyone would think it’s not a world-class city." There are currently six Charitable Words Scholars, but the vision is that there will be hundreds. In the coming months, Callinan will form an advisory board with professionals from a variety of industries who can serve as mentors to interns so they can better achieve nonprofits’ missions; and Charitable Words will become much more than an internship-placement program that serves community organizations. “What I’d like to do is become a family,” Callinan says. “We’d have an annual service day; maybe we’d have a party. These Charitable Words Scholars would stay together over the course of time, network as friends and continue to make a difference. That’s my wish for it.” Do Good: • Connect with Charitable Words by liking and sharing its Facebook page. • Contact Charitable Words if you're seeking an internship and have a passion for humanitarian efforts. • Reach out to the organization if you would like to support an intern in his or her placement. 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.

Ohio Justice & Policy Center champions policy, prison reform

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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January 29, 2013

During his college years, David Singleton returned to New York City to visit his birthplace. Singleton grew up in South Carolina but was born in the South Bronx, and when he returned, he says he had a “transformative experience.” He witnessed a devastated community where young black males—like himself—were dealing drugs and living the lifestyle of poverty and crime that Singleton says he was fortunate to have never been a part of. “It made me realize and appreciate like I never had before, just how much it matters who your parents are and how hard they fight for you and where it is you grow up,” Singleton says. “I don’t think it’s right that an act of birth can make all the difference in terms of what kind of life you have.” It was at that moment that Singleton knew he wanted to go to law school to serve and try to make a difference for those whom he says “didn’t have the same breaks” as he had. Singleton worked as a public defender for years in both NYC and Washington, DC. During the summer of 2001, he moved to Cincinnati and worked a 10-month stint at a large law firm before he began his work with the Ohio Justice & Policy Center as the nonprofit’s executive director. The OJPC strives to transform the criminal justice system at both the micro and macro levels. By providing free legal help to prisoners treated inhumanely, in addition to offering assistance to reformed individuals who have been released from prison and are struggling to get back on their feet, the OJPC works to make sure the justice system operates as fairly as possible. To best use its limited resources, Singleton says the OJPC builds on its work through individual client victories to engage in policy efforts that will impact many. For example, this past summer, the OJPC worked with Gov. John Kasich and state legislators to pass a bill that would enable released prisoners to apply for certificates of qualified employment, which will make it easier for people to get jobs in the industry in which they want to apply, Singleton says. “Under state law, you can’t own your own construction company if you’ve got a felony," says Singleton. "That’s silly. It makes no sense. That’s one thing you might learn while in prison—how to do construction. So now, if you get one of those certificates, you’ll no longer automatically be barred from working in that industry.” There are some laws that are well-intentioned, Singleton says, but when they prevent people from getting jobs, they need to be reformed. So Singleton and the attorneys at OJPC invest their time and dedication to break down barriers that imprison individuals for years after they’ve been released. “What I do is a calling for me,” Singleton says. “It’s never been about the money. It’s what I feel I’m here on this earth to do, and I love it, I love every minute of it.” Do Good: • Make a donation to help the OJPC continue its efforts to reform the criminal justice system. • Contact the OJPC to join its mailing list and help put pressure on elected officials to initiate policy changes. • Reach out to the organization by liking and sharing its 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.

OTR Community Housing works to build inclusive neighborhood

By Newsroom

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Architecture + Design

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January 29, 2013

While Over-the-Rhine makes weekly headlines with its redevelopment renaissance, the neighborhood remains the home base for thousands of residents, many of whom can’t afford to be patrons of new restaurants and businesses. Over-the-Rhine Community Housing seeks to sustain an inclusive and diverse neighborhood, where longtime residents feel comfortable and confident that they will always have a home in OTR, even if their community continues to draw more and more people to the area. Since 1960, the population of OTR has steadily decreased, falling from 30,000 to just shy of 5,000 residents. However, between the years of 2007 and 2010, the population increased by about 40 percent. That shift does more than fill apartments and condos. With a rising population comes higher property values and higher real estate taxes, all of which makes it more difficult to provide affordable housing to those who can’t afford market prices, says Mary Burke, executive director of OTRCH. “Do we charge higher rent, or how do we close that even larger gap?” Burke asks. “So we want others—decision makers, power brokers—to work with us to figure that out. How do we maintain affordability in this neighborhood so that it can remain diverse going forward? It really will take some creative thinking and creative strategies.” OTRCH currently provides safe, affordable housing to residents—half of whom earn less than $10,000 per year. “Shelter is a basic human thing that people need, and being able to help an organization create more affordable places to live and be a part of is why it’s important,” says Brittany Skelton, OTRCH volunteer coordinator. “In Cincinnati, we have 300,000 people in our city limits, and about 100,000 live in poverty, and there isn’t enough affordable housing to go around.” If there isn’t enough affordable housing to go around, the question remains: where will residents go if they can’t afford a place to live? “People have low wages," Burke says. "Where are they going to rent that’s safe and decent and where they can build a community? If we close the door of OTR to affordable housing, where are people going to go? There’s an opportunity here to demonstrate that low-income, middle-income, high-income [individuals] can live together—not that they all have to be best friends and that there won’t be some disagreement now and then—but that it can work. Property values increase, people get along. There’s an opportunity.” Moving forward, OTRCH will need community support, but Burke is confident that OTR can be a welcoming and inclusive community for all individuals. She’s already seen that happen as a result of the Washington Park renovations. “The programming has made it feel like everyone’s welcome, and it’s not for some kind of separate culture or community,” she says. Burke’s hope is that the urban redevelopments of OTR do not have to lead to the displacement of the community’s long-time residents. They shouldn’t feel pushed out, she says. “It would be like any of us who have roots somewhere," says Burke. "You just love it and want to stay there. I’d like the new folks moving in to appreciate that. There’s just a value in living with difference and extending your world to include diversity.” Do Good: • Get involved with OTRCH by volunteering to renovate houses or research grant information. • Donate money or items to help OTRCH continue to promote and fulfill its mission. • Like the organization on Facebook, and share its page with your friends. 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.

More bike lanes, early planning for cycle track highlight city’s Bike Plan

By Newsroom

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Development News

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January 29, 2013

Some of the city's biggest bike-related projects in the works for 2013 are still in the planning stages, but a few will continue and build on the momentum from last year. This year, the city's Bicycle Transportation Program includes plans to finish more than two miles of bike lanes along Riverside Drive, a project that was started in 2009. Plans are also in the works to extend the Spring Grove bike lanes from Hopple to Bank Street downtown; proposals have been drafted for rehabilitation projects along Dalton Street, Bank, Western Avenue and Langdon Farm Road. The City also hopes to continue its design work on the Ohio River Trail, extending bike-friendly paths from Salem Street to Sutton Road and Collins Avenue to Corbin Street. The City is also in the early stages of looking to put Ohio’s first cycle track on Central Parkway between Ludlow Avenue and Liberty Street. “Cycle tracks aren’t mainstream yet, but New York City and Washington, D.C., have quite a few,” says Melissa McVay, senior city planner in the Division of Transportation & Engineering. “They’re the most family-friendly bike facility you can build.” A cycle track is like a bike trail or shared path, but it’s in the street, for bikes only and separated from cars by a physical barrier, such as planters, trees or a curb. Cycle tracks are meant to keep cars from veering into bicyclists’ paths. “A typical bike lane is usually enough to encourage cyclists to try them, but sometimes, they don’t make everyone feel comfortable,” says McVay. “The physical barrier of a cycle track is meant to make cyclists feel safe.” One of the most exciting developments for bicyclists last year was the addition of a green bike lane on Ludlow last year. “It started the conversation among people who don’t ride bikes, and they’re beginning to see the infrastructure,” McVay says. “I feel like the bike community has grown, and there is now a growing city-wide awareness.” Approved by the City in 2009 and put into action in 2010, the Bike Plan outlines bicycle-related projects over the next 15 years. In all, the plan recommends 445 miles of on-street and off-street bike facilities, such as bike lanes, bike racks and multi-use trails. In 2009, there were about seven miles of bike lanes and sharrows in Cincinnati, says McVay. In 2010, 2.3 miles were added; in 2011, 4.5 miles; in 2012, five more miles were added, for a total of 19 miles. Since 1993, many bike-friendly projects have been implemented, including striping 12 miles of bike lanes, creating 21 miles of shared-use paths and trails and installing six miles of sharrows, or shared lane markings, throughout the city. The bulk of the Bicycle Transportation Program's focus is on developing on-street and off-street bike facilities as outlined in the Bike Plan, but it also organizes bike-related events, proposing policy and zoning changes, and working on advocacy projects with Queen City Bike and Mobo Bicycle Co-op. The public played a huge part in developing the Bike Plan by utilizing online tools to show the City where bike facilities were needed. Even though there has been an outpouring of public support for bike facilities, there are still issues when it comes to removing parking. The City proposed a project along Spring Grove Avenue this past summer that would consolidate on-street parking to one side of the street, but businesses liked having parking available on both sides of the street. “The project will be successful if the community comes together and rallies around the project, and the trade-off of on-street parking for a bike lane will ultimately benefit both business owners and bicyclists,” McVay says. The City wants to hear from you! Take the survery and grade Cincinnati on different bike-friendly aspects around town. By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter

Collaboration aims to ‘Grow the IT economy in Cincinnati USA’

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Entrepreneurship

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January 29, 2013

Major regional job-creating organizations have come together to focus efforts on competing for one of the nation's fastest-growing job segments: information technology. This collaboration includes the Cincinnati CIO Roundtable, a forum of IT leaders who are focused on improving the region’s overall IT ecosystem, along with the Cincinnati USA Partnership and the Partners for a Competitive Workforce. The CIO Roundtable is led by co-chairs Piyush Singh, SVP & CIO of Great American Insurance, and Geoff Smith, former IT leader at P&G. "Business leaders in the region are coming together with the common goal of talking about the importance of IT, and its role in the growth of their companies," says Tammy Riddle, IT economic development director for Cincinnati USA Partnership. Just last week, the organizations came together for a half-day, invitation-only event —“Grow the IT economy in Cincinnati USA.” The event featured presentations from a variety of stakeholders, including the organizers, JobsOhio and CincyTech. The group is working to meet a wide range of challenges, including creating high-paying jobs through public and private partnerships, creating a strategic plan to grow IT jobs in the region, attracting and training talent, and determining the role of startups. "One of the key things we're going to focus on are trends that companies are seeing across the board, and how we can match those with Cincinnati strengths and build the street cred of the IT sector in Cincinnati," Riddle says. Regional universities also play a role in talent creation. Northern Kentucky University's College of Informatics is a leader, as is the University of Cincinnati with its top-rated analytics graduate program, and the University of Miami's innovative digital media program. Cincinnati has an emerging IT industry. There are about 30,000 Cincinnati residents who are employed in the IT sector, which has an estimated $2.5 billion impact on the country’s GDP. According to the 2020 jobs outlook, it’s also one of the four fastest-growing and best-paying employment sectors in Cincinnati, with an anticipated 10-year growth rate of 26.5 percent. "We want to take a more proactive approach to growing jobs in this sector," Riddle says. "We want to make sure that our region has what we need to fill that demand, to be able to accomplish growth." Next, participants will start working on what it takes to grow the IT sector, including conducting a comprehensive assessment of the current IT economy and developing strategies for talent attraction, greater awareness investment and startup activity. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Tiers of Joy ensures no child is forgotten

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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January 22, 2013

Pauline Williams remembers her 10th birthday coming and going. There was no celebration, no cake, no birthday party—it was just a normal day. Williams lived with her mother in a local women’s shelter at the time and says there was no one to help them aside from those within the facility, who were already working to do the best they could to help others. Williams received a card from her mother and an acknowledgement on her special day, which she says was enough for her because she understood that her mother wasn’t able to give a lot at the time, other than herself. Though appreciative, Williams felt that she and the other children in the shelter deserved to celebrate their lives. “It just kind of felt bad,” says Williams. “And I felt like, if I ever grew up and was able to give back or do something about this, that’s what I’d do.” So Williams went to culinary school, received her degree and created the Tiers of Joy Foundation to ensure that other children’s birthdays do not go unnoticed. “Children need to feel empowered in order to grow up and become successful adults,” she says. “That’s really why I started this.” In April 2012, Tiers of Joy became an official nonprofit, and Williams began working with other organizations to see how she could benefit the children they serviced. From SpongeBob SquarePants to jewelry box-themed cakes, Williams now does it all. Her cake designs are solely dependent on children’s interests, and she works to make sure that young people feel honored and appreciated when embarking on new years of their lives. Williams currently serves children within the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky communities, but she says the sky is the limit. “I’d like for it to be a nationwide organization, where we can reach out to children all over to empower them through the celebration of their lives, so I hope for this to become something much larger than what it is.” Do Good: • Sign up to be a volunteer baker. • Donate money or baking supplies; or consider holding a Supplies Drive at your next office party or community event. • Spread the word about Tiers of Joy by following them on Twitter or liking them 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.

FRONDORF: Lessons from Santa

By Newsroom

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Cincy In The News

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January 22, 2013

This holiday season, I started believing in Santa...Dr. Santa Ono, the new president of the University of Cincinnati. In just a little more than four months as president at UC, Ono has captured the attention of an entire city. Read the full story here.

Calling all clowns, classes start Feb. 5

By Newsroom

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For Good

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January 22, 2013

If you’ve ever wanted to become a clown, there’s no better time than now. Funny Companie Clowns, who volunteer their services at private parties and community events—all for the purpose of benefiting Cincinnati Children’s Hospital—need your help; and in an effort to recruit volunteers, they’ll begin free clown classes Feb. 5. Throughout a six-week series, soon-to-be entertainers learn the art of clowning. Topics include costumes and makeup, ballooning, face painting, skits and character development. “The character is supposed to be an extension of yourself,” says Don Bachman, who founded Funny Companie in 1983 and has volunteered and led the troupe for the past 29 years. Bachman, whose clown name is Dr. Fun, says character development was initially hard for him because he wanted to be “the smart clown,” and at one point even aspired to be “the mayor of clown town,” but those characters just weren’t the right fit. “You’ve got to be yourself," he says. "You’ve got to be who you are—so Dr. Fun was born—and he’s just dumb, and always wrong and always getting into trouble, and that’s kind of who I was.” Since the group’s inception, Funny Companie has raised approximately $200,000 in unrestricted funds for Children’s Hospital. The money can be used where the hospital best sees fit, and Bachman says for a long time the money went toward pediatric liver care. “It’s huge that you can take an adult liver and cut it down and transplant it into a kid because there’s not a lot of kids’ organs available for transplants,” says Bachman. “So that was a huge discovery, and it was done in Cincinnati.” While Funny Companie’s funding goes toward the children in the hospital, the clowns perform primarily for healthy children in the community; but it’s not just children whom clowns entertain, Bachman says. “Everybody laughs at a clown," he says. "Everybody smiles—even driving the car, we have magnetic bumper stickers that say, ‘Caution, sometimes I drive like a clown,’ and then they go by and see a clown driving the car, and they can be 80 years old and they’re laughing and smiling and waving at the clown—it’s not just kids." “Same thing with balloons—who likes balloons? Everyone likes a balloon. It doesn’t matter how old you are. A balloon is just a magical little piece, and so you’re making everybody’s life a little bit better.” Bachman and the other volunteers in the Companie love what they do. So much so that they purchase their own makeup, costumes and balloons. They oftentimes spend about four hours of their weekends preparing for and performing at an event. “It’s a pretty good-size commitment, but it’s not something that you’re giving and not getting anything in return,” says Bachman. “If you give a kid a balloon or you paint their face and hold the mirror up and their eyes and face light up—that’s your paycheck.” Right now, however, the number of volunteers is at an all-time low. “I’d always hoped that there’d be some younger people who come in and run with it and it’d go on forever, but right now I’m one of the youngest people in the group—our oldest clown is 78,” says Bachman. “There’s only about six of us right now. Anybody can do it, but there’s nobody really that’s 30 that can take it over, and that’s the sad thing. I’d really like to see somebody younger get in it and maybe run with it.” Because the clown company doesn’t do much advertising, most of the people who call for bookings have seen the clowns perform in the past. “It’s nice to be able to tell people 'yes' when they call for an event, and it’s the hardest thing to tell them no,” says Bachman. “But it just happens where some weekends, we just don’t have anybody.” Clown classes begin Tuesday, Feb. 5 and will take place from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in room D242 at Children’s Hospital’s Albert B. Sabin Education Center. All ages are welcome and encouraged to attend. Do Good: • Volunteer as a clown. Attend free classes which will take place Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 9 p.m. beginning Feb. 5. • Spread the word about classes, and encourage a friend to become a clown. • Book the Funny Companie Clowns for a future event. Contact Children's Hospital's Department of Development at 513-636-6080 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.

GLBT Center preps for 20 years of service

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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January 22, 2013

In an effort to show pride for the services it provides to those in need, the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Greater Cincinnati rounded out 2012 by finishing renovations to its facility. Now, the Center is prepped for September when it will celebrate 20 years as an informational resource to the GLBTQ community and its allies. The Center was found in 1983, and according to board member and long-time volunteer Michael Chanak, “the world was pretty different then.” Prior to the “advent of 1,001 gay-friendly groups,” Chanak says, there was more of a need for a meeting space, which the organization still provides; but its current and primary function is to serve as a site that points people in the right direction, depending on one’s needs. Though the organization receives a lot of calls about various forms of counseling and legal advice, the Center’s volunteers are not licensed to provide this type of support. Rather, they refer people to those who can. “We don’t necessarily do a lot of hands-on, direct work,” Chanak says. “It’s a place where it’s kind of a stepping-in and a stepping-off point for a lot of folks. I would say the vast majority of stuff is, ‘I’m new to the community;’ ‘I’m new to the area;’ or ‘I’m coming out, and I don’t know how to. Who can I work with or what can I do?’ or that sort of thing.” For newcomers to the Cincinnati area or for those who have lived here for years but who may be new to the GLBTQ community, the Center is a vital resource. In addition to serving as a liaison for community members and resources, the Center makes it part of its mission to bring in certified individuals for educational seminars on issues that are critical to the GLBTQ community. In conjunction with the Central Community Health Board, the organization provides access to a quarterly HIV seminar. It also puts on a semi-annual workshop which addresses gender, identities and sexually, and is presented in cooperation with the Midwest Trans* & Queer Wellness Initiative. Though the Center is proud of the work it has done during the past 19 years and is looking forward to continuing to provide awareness and education to the GLBTQ community as it embarks on its 20th anniversary, Chanak says he’s not sure he wants the Center to be around 50 years from now. “Is there going to be a need for a center 50 years from now?" says Chanak. "I hope not, in a way. What’s made these sort of organizations come about was there wasn’t the basis for support and information. But we’ve got a way to go there too, and we need a place for gay people to go and get information.” Do Good: • Volunteer your time to help the Center operate at its full capacity. • Contact the Center to make a donation. • Spread the word about the Center by liking and sharing its 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.