Non-Profit

Cincinnati Cooks and Kids Cafes satisfy city hungers

"Try the macaroni and cheese," urges the chef-in-training behind the buffet line, his white apron starched and his hair neatly tucked inside a plastic cap. "It's the best." His classmates nod as guests load up on the rich, creamy dish. The consensus is clear: guests will not leave hungry, or disappointed. Budding chefs at the Freestore Foodbank's Cincinnati Cooks program take their food seriously. They plan on making a career out of food service. Each new 10-week class that starts at the Rosenthal Community Kitchen downtown demands its members stay clean, sober and dedicated to learning the trade. In return, students receive free classes and leftovers to take home. Every day, the classes' work feeds about 1,200 schoolchildren at 20 Kids Cafes located throughout Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. After school, students look forward to sampling chicken and noodles, beef stew, jambalaya and, of course, mac and cheese. Every school day, Kids Cafes offer free fresh food alongside tutoring, homework help and organized activities. Program Director Dennis Coskie, who has been with the Cincinnati Cooks since its inception 10 years ago, explains that the program operates as a model of efficiency. "We're utilizing donated foods so they don't go to waste. We are training people with marketable skills. And we're feeding 1,200 hungry kids every day," he says. "It's got a lot of magic to it."Coskie has overseen 94 classes and 780 Cincinnati Cooks graduates so far. "It's a thrill to watch people make a positive change in their lives," he says. The success rate for graduates continues to attract more students along with community praise. More than three-quarters of graduates find jobs within two months of graduating and 60 percent are still employed a year later. Do Good: • Spice up your next event. Try Cincinnati Cooks Catering and let professional cooks serve you top-quality foods while the funds raised support Cincinnati Cooks. And yes, they do weddings. • Join the Virtual Food Drive. Help the Freestore Foodbank serve more clients from the comfort of your computer. • Send a message of hope. Write a personal note to let people struggling in our community know they have not been forgotten. For Good News Editor: Elissa Yancey (Sonnenberg)

Inmates find expression, hope through art and performance

The group of women listened carefully to their art teacher, lifting fresh damp brushes and putting watercolor paints to paper, expressing thoughts and feelings through strokes and swirls of color. Many couldn't wait to take their new skills home and try watercoloring with their children. But all of the members of this class would have to wait until completing their sentences at the River City Correctional Facility in Camp Washington, which offers a diversionary program for non-violent felony offenders with substance abuse issues. For 10 years now, Inside Outside, The Prison Project (ISOS)  has engaged groups of River City inmates in eight-week sessions exploring visual, written and performing arts as an avenue to build interpersonal and life skills. Each session culminates with a performance for fellow inmates and the public. Shows mix hard truths, humor, music, movement and deeply personal revelations as inmates read poetry, act out dramas and talk about the artistic process. Fellow prisoners offer enthusiastic support -- whoops and shouts -- as they watch from perches outside their cells, while members of the public, stripped of cell phones and other accessories, enjoy the multi-media show. "We know how important the arts are," says Jefferson James, the development administrator for ISOS and the artistic and executive director of the Contemporary Dance Theater. "ISOS makes it so much more immediately obvious." James, who administrates ISOS through the CDT and coordinates the team of ISOS artist-teachers, brought the project to Cincinnati ten years ago. Since then, she has watched 13 performances that serve to narrow the gap between life inside and outside of prison. "They work very hard," James says. "They want their art to be an accurate reflection of themselves." Poem by the Women of Chrysalis Pod, December 2010: "Of What Do We Make Our Homes" Of brick. Of sheet metal. Of hope. Of disappointment.Of tears. Of truth. Of lies and deceit. A wood burning stove.A sister. A brother. Of pain. Of fire. Of siblings. Of both parents.Of cardboard. Of broken dishes.Of haylofts. Of bunk beds. Of blanket tents.A forest can be a home.A beach can be a home.Laughter can be a home.A teddy bear. A dog. A cat.Of addiction. Of stress. Of shame. Of drugs to blame.Of cats. Of chaos.A music box. A few crayons. Of silence. Of sickness.Of the dead. Of night. Of tenderness. Of leaving.Clouds can be a home.Nature can be a home.A good meal can be a home.I'll build my house of dreams.I'll build my house of roses and grass.I'll build my house with bare hands and hard work.I'll build my house of love, of leaving, of trust, of silence, of my own kind. By the Women of ISOS 2010, compiled by Carolyn Brookbank (After Jean Nordhaus) Do Good: • Donate. With no 14th session yet planned, the future of ISOS depends on financial support. Find out how you can donate via the Contemporary Dance Theater. • Watch part of the 2009 ISOS women's performance online. • Get connected. Join the CDT's mailing list, receive ISOS invitations, or contact James directly to find out more.mailFor Good News Editor: Elissa Yancey (Sonnenberg)

Youth, elders learn through Council for Life Long Engagement

In an elementary school history class studying the Civil War, guest speaker Harriet Krumpleman arrives in full period costume, excited to talk with students about her family's history during the historical period. Another group of young learners gets a hands-on lesson in recycling from retiree David Lowry, whose passion for going green energizes the room. A pilot program of the Episcopal Retirement Homes, the Council for Life Long Engagement aims to eliminate the negative impact of ageism by creating opportunities for residents of their facilities to share their expertise and interests with students at Nativity Elementary School in Pleasant Ridge. "Children will learn first-hand from elders who have lived rich and rewarding lives," says Laura Lamb, vice president of residential housing and healthcare, and a Nativity parent. "They will make history, science and even math come alive through their experience and wisdom." Lamb hopes to create a model program that can be replicated in other communities around the city and around the country in an effort to enrich lives, not only of students, but of older residents. Her ultimate goal: eradicate ageism, which studies have shown can result in shortened not only quality of life, but life itself. Since class visits started last fall, residents have enjoyed the interactions. Corning Benton, a resident at Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Facility in Hyde Park, spoke with a class about one of his passions, space travel. "It has been a joy to have a renewed sense of energy," he says. Do Good: • Visit with Patch Adams. Support CLLE by attending a March 5 benefit dinner with the renowned doctor who inspired the movie. • Call bingo! Volunteer to call a game at St. Paul Village, Canterbury Court or Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Community. • E-communicate. Sign up for e-newsletters to find out more about Episcopal Retirement Homes activities and programs.For Good News Editor: Elissa Yancey (Sonnenberg)

Fisher finds fulfillment at Women Helping Women

When Kendall Fisher started college, her math skills and no-nonsense approach to life propelled her to major in accounting and finance. She envisioned a life of steady employment and better-than-average pay. Then, in her first year away from home, one of the Columbus, Ohio, native's undergraduate friends was sexually assaulted. She was outraged at the lack of support systems available to help her friend. So she helped start a campus sexual assault program. Then she trained to be a rape advocate. At 19, she began financing her education through full-time work at the Butler County battered women's shelter. The determined red-head with a mane of curls and an easy laugh had found her calling. She shifted her major to sociology and women's studies."My dad was mortified," Fisher says. "But I'd rather be broke and making a difference." As executive director of Women Helping Women, Fisher, 41, continues the quest she started more than half her lifetime ago: to stand up for the underdog and make sure people are treated fairly."We pride ourselves on being there when people need us the most," she says. In her time at Women Helping Women, Fisher has helped raised funds to place one full-time employee in the Personal Crimes Unit, the equivalent of the SVU, of the Cincinnati Police Department; two full-time employees within the Cincinnati Police's Domestic Violence Investigation Unit; and one full-time worker at Legal Aid. Fresh from a 12-plus hour day on the job, Fisher laments the 42 percent cut of city funding this year and praises the often-overlooked efforts of her staff. Women Helping Women workers are in arraignment court every morning, Monday through Saturday. As the only rape crisis program in Hamilton County, the organization ensures that advocates arrive at hospitals within 20 minutes of a call about a case. More than 60 trained volunteers log 700 hours of service a year, allowing WHW to serve more than 12,000 women each year.With the skill of an experienced negotiator and the patience to meticulously renovate a historic home in Northside, Fisher saves her biggest praise from the women her agency serves every day. "They are the ones doing the hard emotional work," she says. "They are their own heroes. We are their cheerleaders." Do Good: • Raise your cultural IQ. Attend a Sunday Salon, a series of Sunday afternoon gatherings with topics as diverse as FBI tactics and cupcakes.• Be an advocate. After 40 hours of training, you could be a court, hospital, hotline, education or clerical advocate. Background checks required.• Take a quiz. Do you know someone in an abusive relationship? Point and click to learn more.For Good News Editor: Elissa Yancey (Sonnenberg)

Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream microloan program expands out of New England into Ohio with BGV

Welcoming the new kids on The BLOC

Tucked behind the shiny new Kroger store on Warsaw Avenue in East Price Hill, an old, once-majestic red brick church welcomes a new wave of immigrants. At the McPherson Avenue BLOC Center, Guatemalan families find English and Acculturation classes, homework help for their children, computer training and a growing sense of community. The BLOC, a non-profit, faith-based organization, was founded in 1998 by Executive Director Dwight Young and his wife Stephanie, a licensed counselor. Its Price Hill and Cleves centers offer at-risk youth after-school programs, from theater classes to tutoring to sports and games. Some lift weights, others play pool or navigate new computer programs. All students who hang at The BLOC create their own communities and learn how to make positive decisions part of their daily routines. They take those lessons home, and, Young believes, contribute to building stronger families because of them. "We just try to help them with everyday life," he says. A new initiative, though, brings The BLOC closer to the homes of some of its most at-risk neighbors. Young wanted to serve the growing number of Hispanic families in Price Hill—families with parents struggling to learn English and children struggling to fit in. Providing healthy, affordable housing, and establishing a community one street at a time, seemed like the perfect way to start. Bolstered with a grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, The BLOC has launched a concerted effort to renovate three homes and an eight-unit building on McPherson, providing space for 12 to 14 Guatemalan families, by this summer. "Our goal is to bring a better attitude to the people who live on that street," he says. Do Good: • Donate: Support the efforts online at The BLOC. Each apartment unit will cost $5,000 to renovate. All donations welcome. • Have some coffee: Visit one of the two Corner BLOC Coffee Houses. • Make a Friend: Like BLOC Ministries on Facebook.

CAIN builds confidence, creates opportunities with books

Forget candy sweethearts, this Valentines Day one local non-profit hopes to spark lifelong love affairs between its youngest clients and . . . books. Throughout February, Churches Active in Northside, CAIN, is accepting donations of gently used books to be given to children as part of its Choice Pantry offerings. Research scholars and educators know that reading helps children build vocabulary, as well as academic confidence. But how much does vocabulary acquisition vary, based on family income level and social status? Quite a bit. Consider the research: By age three, children from privileged families have heard 30 million more words than children from poor families, according to the American Federation of Teachers. By kindergarten the gap is even greater. Other research maintains that by age three, the observed cumulative vocabulary for children in professional families was 1,116. For working class families, the number dropped to about 740. Welfare families fared the worst, with their children's cumulative vocabulary averaging about 525 words. The National Commission on Reading puts it simply: "The single most significant factor influencing a child's early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school." Since its official organization in 1991, CAIN has provided food, clothing, household items and emergency financial assistance for more than 300 low-income individuals and families. The non-profit, with a paid staff of just five part-time employees, relies heavily on volunteers for its ongoing programs and special monthly Food Pantry spotlights, like this month's focus on books. CAIN Executive Director Mimi Chamberlain enjoys watching former clients become volunteers for the non-profit. "In the day to day, we can see the difference we are making in the people's lives that we serve," she says. "But it is amazing to see how much it means to give people the opportunity to volunteer. It's a great affirmation of the importance of the work we do." One volunteer described CAIN, rated tops by the national Great Non-Profits review site: "This local charity is SUCH an asset to my community. They regularly bring awareness of need without guilt (for givers or receivers). I think this encourages donations and helps receivers avoid stigmatization. They also make it easy to give and have come up with some amazing ideas." Do Good: • Donate: Support CAIN's mission and its many programs by visiting the Network for Good. • Read the Blog: Keep on the latest CAIN news and tell your friends about the CAIN Blog. • Read, write, review: Visit CAIN's ranking page and read how others rate the organization.

Finding hip-hop hot, inspirational at Elementz

At the Cincinnati Pops 2010 Christmas concert, "The Little Drummer Boy" never looked so jazzy. When dancers from Elementz, the Central Parkway studio where "hip-hop" is always mentioned in the same breath as "respect," took the stage, Tom Kent could not have been more proud. "This is an unusually gifted group of youth," says Kent, an initial funder and now executive director of the non-profit Elementz. What started in 2005 as an outreach effort designed to give young people in Over-the-Rhine and the West End a safe place to hang out after school has evolved into an incubator of positive creativity. Open four days a week from 2:30 until 10 p.m., Elementz uses hip-hop to engage and inspire youth. Young men and women take classes and practice honing their skills in rapping, dee-jaying, dancing and grafitti, or urban art. Kent says that on an average night, 30 to 45 young people show up to record, to learn, to talk and to listen. "We're developing a real reputation as a safe place where you are treasured," Kent says. With more than 320 members, Elementz ranks include aspiring artists aged 14 to 24, some of whom have attained their GEDs since starting at the studio. Some are preparing for college; some are already enrolled. But Kent says that many of the young artists don't want to talk about outside measures of accomplishment. "They want to talk about how they found themselves, how they found family when they needed family," he says. At the same time, they are preparing for public performances at neighborhood coffee shops, community centers and special events, including their upcoming sixth anniversary concert at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley. A sample rap from MC Forty: "Cincinnati We Be" C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I's where I'm at.That is where I live and that is where I rap.If you're raised by the city of the gray and the grittyYou can take from the city, but try and give back.I walk past mass cats everydayWith a "C" on their hat, claiming "Down The Way"And "Over the Rhine," but what do they sayWhen asked about faith and hope and change?Most will say that they gon' stay hustlers,Posted on Vine Street waiting for customers -Grinding, crunking, swagging, stunting,Passing time and up to nothing!But what about buildin' children,Education, preachin', prayin',Working, legally. Are you feeling me?I'll help healing you, you help healing me. Do Good: • Donate: Visit Elementz and make a contribution to their creative cause. • Enjoy the show: Attend Elementz Sixth Anniversary Showcase, March 10, 2011, 8-11 p.m., at the 20th Century Theater. Tickets are just $10. • Tweet about it: Follow Elementz on Twitter, @elementzhiphop  

Homeless, but not hopeless at the Cincinnati Zoo

  Antonio lingers at the elephant house, taking pictures and marveling at the size - and the smell - of the creatures before him. UC undergraduate Zach Koons laughs as he watches his 10-year-old charge snap photo after photo before the two move on to the Reptile House, where snakes hold the charm for the wide-eyed Bond Hill Academy student. The elephants and snakes have a serious if invisible advantage over Antonio, though. They have permanent night-time addresses. Antonio is homeless. Koon meets with Antonio every week as part of Zoo-Mates, a partnership between Project Connect, the University of Cincinnati's Center for Community Engagement and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. "Zoo-Mates enables UC students to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood," says Koons, 21, who changed his major from Business to Middle Childhood Education as a result of his work with the program. "We can touch the lives of inner-city youth, and they can remind us of what is truly important in life." When it began, Zoo-Mates was a once-a-month program, with UC students meeting their young partners at the zoo, where they toured and talked. Now in its sixth year, Zoo-Mates pairs meet weekly, including regular visits to UC's Clifton campus. The success of the program has exceeded its organizers' expectations, according to Center for Community Engagement Director Kathy Dick. "The a-ha moment for me was when two families decided to keep their children in their home school so that they could continue to be a part of Zoo-Mates," she says. For families without homes, maintaining stability at school is a major challenge that can lead to academic problems for kids. Koons started volunteering because he needed to log community service hours to maintain a scholarship. But that's not why he stays. "Time can be worth more than any amount of money you can spend on someone," he says. For Antonio, any time he can spend away from worry is particularly sweet, even when it's laced with the smell of elephant. Do Good: • Donate: Make a financial contribution to the non-profit Faces without Places, which provides local homeless children with a wide range of services. Specify that you want your donation to support Zoo-Mates. • Cast your vote: Visit True Hero and vote for Zoo-Mates to receive additional funding. • Follow the blog: Find out the latest program activities at the Zoo-Mates' blog.