The 2017 Engage Cincy Challenge Competition is a unique community building program that provides $10,000 grants to community projects aimed at making Cincinnati a more engaged city. The awards go to residents or local organizations which have submitted formal grant applications to the City of Cincinnati.

This year the City received nearly 120 applications in less than two months. The field was narrowed to 10 finalists by a selection committee. City Manager Harry Black reviewed recommendations from the selection committee before picking the winners.

Below is the list of five winners who were honored at the 2017 Neighborhood Summit.

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Healthy Food for All Northsiders

Project lead(s): Churches Active In Northside (or CAIN), Apple Street Market Cooperative Grocery Story and the Northside Farmers Market

This group plans to work together to improve food access and encourage healthy eating, particularly focusing on low-income households in the Northside neighborhood.

Together, they will offer quarterly community meals followed by cooking demonstrations based on healthy, affordable recipes made ingredients available at the community’s farmer’s market.

Most importantly, the project aims to build community through sharing a meal together as a neighborhood, with the aim of providing a way to connect neighbors through the common bond of food while addressing concerns of health and budget.

Just Hire Me

Project lead: Lawrence Jones

Just Hire Me is a staffing platform where neighbors and businesses employ teenagers who live in their community.

There is a website and mobile app that automatically connect neighbors and teenagers and track activity in the program.

Participating teens, ages 14 – 18, will take part in a 4-week job readiness “boot camp.” At the end of 4 weeks the teenagers are equipped to deal with the public, they will have established their own bank account and will have a job in their community.

Beyond offering essential employment opportunities for teens and affordable services for members of the community, this project was designed to help further strengthen bonds within communities. 

Physi

Project lead: Marty Boyer

Fit, Fun and Friends will provide the state-of-the-art “Physi” activity platform in various communities within Cincinnati, with a goal of connecting individuals based on activities, interests, physical proximity and availability.

Physi uses artificial intelligence to prompt users to make connections for opportunities to get active, identifying potential pairing and presenting users new options to get active. Physi delivers all this using a mobile app. There’s also a website for those who don’t have a smartphone or tablet.

The team plans to partner with local organizations such as the Cincinnati Health Department and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC).

Bridgeable

Project lead: Dani Isaacsohn

Bridgeable's goal is to connect local decision-makers and residents to enable positive conversations that lead to healthier relationships, better decisions, and stronger communities.

Bridgeable will do so by providing various resources and expertise to community leaders and organizations to facilitate positive direct interactions with the people they represent.

How it works: Decision-makers will let Bridgeable know what kinds of conversations they would find valuable with members of their community. Bridgeable organizers then go out into the community and find the right participants.

With a large enough network of potential participants from the community, Bridgeable will be able to facilitate conversations with trusted individuals who will go through an online verification process that can be easily replicated.

Faces of Homelessness

Project lead(s): ArtWorks with partner Strategies to End Homelessness

ArtWorks is partnering with Strategies to End Homelessness to create "Faces of Homelessness," a public art, public education and community engagement program.

The goal is to encourage empathy and understanding toward all individuals, while helping to support the needs of those experiencing homelessness. This will be done by working with local agencies, shelters and the people they serve to co-create works of art that are meaningful, empowering and help them feel valued and at home in their city.

This program will pair paid youth apprentices and professional artists on various art and community-building projects. This will include a permanent public art mural in partnership with the Over-the-Rhine Community Housing's Recovery Hotel on Vine Street. In addition to the mural, the ArtWorks Apprentice and Artist team will translate the mural concept and messaging into a satellite public art installation that will travel to neighborhoods throughout the city.