How Cincinnati residents are making environmental changes in their own neighborhoods

Avondale is the latest Cincinnati community to be the focus of environmental justice. The nonprofit Groundwork Ohio River Valley
is forming a climate advisory group there to clean up the air and find ways to get more green space and reduce flooding.

It's part of an EPA grant that already includes the Beekman Corridor. WVXU's Nick Swartsell reported on it in 2022. He says, "About $200,000 of the $482,000 grant will go directly to paying participants in North Fairmount, South Cumminsville, Millvale, Roselawn, Bond Hill and other neighborhoods. Participants will also include members of Groundwork's youth jobs program. The rest of the funds will be used to purchase equipment and provide training on how to use it."

Groundwork's Community and Climate Resilience Program Director Kelsey Hawkins-Johnson says Norwood is next on the list.

What makes these neighborhood efforts and others in Lower Price Hill and Bond Hill so successful is that residents are empowered to make changes in their own backyards.

Climate Advisory Groups are made of people in those neighborhoods who have a vested interest in reducing heat and flooding and cleaning up the air. Groundwork currently is looking for paid participants for Avondale.

The city of Cincinnati is listening to what residents in these various neighborhoods are saying, according to Hawkins-Johnson. "We were able to have success with the Green Cincinnati Plan having their maps, their plans put into the appendix of the Green Cincinnati Plan and we are working towards funding with the city to activate their vision of what they would like to do within our community," she says.

Getting minority youth engaged in the environment is important, experts say. WVXU reported in November 2022 how the green economy is leaving marginalized workers behind and the efforts of one organization to change that.