Ideas to ‘Engage Cincy’ Earn 5 Local Groups $10K Prizes

2017 Engage Cincy Grant Awards handed out at annual Cincinnati Neighborhood Summit

CINCINNATI – Five Cincinnati grassroots organizations each received $10,000 from the City of Cincinnati on Saturday to fund their cutting-edge ideas to "Engage Cincy."

The monetary awards went to the winners of the 2017 Engage Cincy Challenge Grant program, a unique community building competition established last year by City Manager Harry Black. The program provides residents, organizations and local charities a chance to win funding for the development, launch and promotion of their innovative ideas for bettering a specific place in the city, or all of Cincinnati.

This year’s winners are: Healthy Food for All Northsiders (CAIN); Just Hire Me (Lawrence Jones); Physi (Marty Boyer); Bridgeable (Dani Isaacsohn); and Faces of Homelessness (ArtWorks and Strategies to End Homelessness).

• DETAILS ABOUT WINNING PROPOSALS
• VIEW AWARDS CEREMONY PHOTOS

“Every year it seems that the submissions become more creative in the ways they want to go about making our neighborhoods more engaging places to live,” said City Manager Black who has received unanimous support from the Mayor and City Council for the awards program. “We want that trend to continue for years to come.”

For the second year in a row the City Manager’s office announced the winning teams at Xavier University’s Cintas Center during the annual Neighborhood Summit, organized by Invest in Neighborhoods. Vice Mayor David Mann and Assistant City Manager John Juech presented each of the Engage Cincy winners oversized ceremonial checks during a lunchtime awards ceremony. The winners were revealed during the presentation.

“I was looking forward to the announcement of this year’s winners because these grants directly engage our residents and make a difference in our communities,” said Vice Mayor Mann who also handed out the Neighborhood Summit Awards to residents who’ve made significant impacts on the community.

“These Engage Cincy awards show that we are not only listening to our residents’ big ideas but that we want to also support them as they turn them into a reality,” he continued.

• VIDEO OF AWARDS CEREMONY POSTED BELOW

The idea behind the Engage Cincy grant program is to find a way to support local people and organizations that have big ideas to make our community more engaged but don’t have the resources to pull them off.

Once again, the City Manager received formal support and approval from the Mayor and City Council, launching a social media campaign in November to attract would-be winners and civic-minded individuals to get involved.

New to the Engage Cincy competition this year was the inclusion of three focus categories: Healthy Food Access, Making Civic Connections Through Technology, and Improving Livability.

The response was impressive. The City received nearly 120 applications in less than two months.

An Engage Cincy selection committee consisting of members of the local business community, nonprofit leaders and City employees vetted the applications and interviewed each of the 10 finalists, all of which were in attendance on Saturday.

The committee then took the recommendations to City Manager Black who ultimately selected the winners. The City Manager picked the projects he felt best “connect the government to its residents, showcase the importance of communication between residents and the government, and display ingenuity.”

“Selecting five winners was a difficult process, as there were some really inspiring projects this year,” Black said. “That type of civicmindedness is a major part of what makes Cincinnati such a special place.”

All of the allocated grant funding will be used to help these dreamers realize their vision. That could mean using the funds to complete their project in full, subsidizing a bigger project, or completing a plan that is already in the works.

For more information about the Engage Cincy Challenge Grant program, please go to the City of Cincinnati website. Additional details about the City’s overall efforts to enhance community engagement are available online as well.

About the Cincinnati Neighborhood Summit

The annual Neighborhood Summit brings together hundreds of community leaders and volunteers, City officials and nonprofits in a day-long series of seminars and workshops aimed at helping citizens work effectively together to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.

This year’s theme, Building Equitable Futures, encouraged the Cincinnati community to come together to tackle community challenges and bring forward ideas for building a future for all. Topics included widespread neighborhood revitalization and growth is unsustainable without equity of opportunity, access, and inclusion across a broad spectrum, including health, education, housing, jobs and civic participation.

The event is organized by Invest in Neighborhoods, with funding from Seasongood, PNC, Haile Foundation, First National, Cincinnati Development Fund, and the City of Cincinnati.

Photos from the Neighborhood Summit are available on Facebook.

Cincinnati Neighborhood Summit: Awards Ceremony from CitiCable on Vimeo.