Cincinnati City Council, Healthy Neighborhoods meeting: May 13, 2025

Scene:

The meeting was called to order at 12:33 p.m. by Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney, who is the chair of the Healthy Neighborhoods Committee.

Other board members present were council members Scotty Johnson and Anna Albi.

Public comment

Two people addressed the healthy neighborhoods committee during public comment.

Kevin Corey, executive director of the Wesley Chapel Mission Center, an after-school program serving 80 to 100 children a day in Over-the-Rhine, talked about their funding shortfalls.  

Corey said he is concerned about how gun violence this summer could impact youth, particularly those 10 to 16 years old.

Kearney said Cincinnati City Council would hear more about leveraging funding opportunities once they start budget work on May 22. Those who want to be considered should speak during the June 3 public comment, she said.

Stephan Pryor, the next public commenter, spoke about Staggerlee’s liquor store in Corryville. The owner is planning to move from Short Vine to Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine, Pryor said. The Cincinnati Police Department objected to the issuance of a liquor license at the new location, according to the permit application. 

Pryor said the owner had nothing to do with the fatal shooting outside of the store on April 12, and the objection was unfair.

Presentations

Kearney said a draft of the city’s budget for the next fiscal year would go to the mayor on May 22. The mayor has two weeks to review it, then bring it back before council.

Public comment on the budget will take place June 3. Cincinnati City Council has until June 30 to approve it.

Fathers’ UpLift presentation: Item 1

Two members of the leadership team at Fathers’ UpLift spoke in support of their organization.. Fathers’ UpLift is a Boston-based nonprofit that helps fathers overcome emotional challenges that can hinder active involvement in their children’s lives. Officials are opening a branch in Cincinnati.

Fathers’ UpLift CEO Charles Daniels and COO Samantha Fils-Daniels explained the organization’s mission and strategy. A primary goal is to support fathers of color with mental health services without fear of stigma.

Black and brown men are nearly twice as likely to go without mental health services as their white counterparts, presenters said.

“We believe that fathers are a cornerstone of supporting the community,” Fils-Daniels said. But a lot of times, emotional barriers prevent them from being present in their children’s lives, she said.

The organization sets up fathers with culturally sensitive therapy provided by clinicians who share the population’s background. It also provides peer coaching and support groups, as well as re-entry services for men following incarceration.

Fathers’ UpLift plans to start operations at an Over-the-Rhine office in September. It will serve 50 clients in its first year, according to presenters.

Committee remarks on Fathers’ UpLift

After the presentation, Kearney asked about the health service gap among people of color. Presenters noted the program aims to help men of color destigmatize mental health care.

Daniels also cited a fellowship the organization provides to increase the number of BIPOC therapists in mental health, behavioral health and addiction fields. It facilitates a fellowship for graduate school students, which provides mentorship opportunities in those fields, as well as a $15,000 stipend, to assist their professional development.

Graduates who fail the licensure exam the first time are less likely to take it again, Daniels said. It also costs $250 each time you take the test, and those who fail the first one must wait three months to take it again.

“The goal is to help people address those issues,” Daniels said.

Council Member Johnson thanked the pair for working in communities where there is a gap in care.

“My prayer is Black and brown men understand there is strength in asking for assistance,” Johnson said. “There is strength in saying, ‘I can’t do this all by myself.’ The systematic lie is that it’s a sign of weakness to say, ‘I need some help,’”

Council Member Albi also praised their work, saying studies have shown that when fathers are present, the community benefits. She also agreed there should be more BIPOC mental health care providers.

Daniels said they are working with University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University, Mount St. Joseph University, and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary to find students who fit the criteria. 

Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub presentation: Item 2

Donna Zaring, executive director of Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub, presented on behalf of the nonprofit. As a start-up accelerator, it helps early-stage entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. The entrepreneurs Flywheel supports are starting businesses that drive social change in their communities, according to the nonprofit’s website. 

Since it was founded in 2011, Flywheel has helped launch 95 start-ups that aim to solve social and environmental problems. In the last three years, it supported 35 start-up founders, employing 359 people and earning $4.7 million in investment, according to the presentation. 

“That is very impactful to our community,” Zaring said.

Three recent participants in the program spoke to the committee about their experiences with Flywheel.

Ben Booker went through Flywheel’s accelerator program to launch the Urban Farming Initiative (UFI) this year. A co-founder, he described the start-up as a social enterprise that organizes and coordinates food systems in neighborhoods and cities.

Currently, the organization stewards nine publicly accessible gardens in the Cincinnati region, Booker said. Neighbors can volunteer and get fresh produce from the gardens; UFI also partners with churches and food pantries for donations.

Brandon Reynolds described his experience with Flywheel while launching B the Keeper, a company that creates pollinator gardens and habitats surrounding the city. Reynolds left a career in advertising in 2017 to pursue landscaping and beekeeping apprenticeships. He was inspired because green spaces in urban areas are suffering as native bee populations decline.

Pollinator gardens promote a healthy bee population and help green spaces in those areas thrive. The gardens also serve to activate the community, especially youth in the urban core, to learn about farming practices.

“For us to make a more welcoming, equitable and activated city, we’re going to have to preserve as many resources as we can for our growing list of social entrepreneurs,” Reynolds said.

The last Flywheel participant to speak was Valda Freeman, founder and CEO of AARON Wearable Tech. AARON is a GPS- enabled device worn by police officers that informs them they are approaching someone with a cognitive disability or mental health challenges who would have a poor chance of communicating with police, Freeman said.

Freeman, an electrical engineer, has two sons with autism and was inspired to create the technology after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. She said she is working with a Cincinnati-area software company to develop the device and currently has at least 22 of 42 area law enforcement departments on board.

She said she has not heard back from Cincinnati police to discuss implementing the technology. Kearney said they would work with the city manager’s office to get that meeting set up.

Johnson, a former police officer, said AARON would be a great tool for officers to find out if it’s a normal run or involving mental health challenges.

“This is something we should really have a conversation about here in Cincinnati,” he said.

Item passage, adjournment

Kearney moved to put the presentations into filing for city budget consideration. No committee members objected.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:38 p.m.

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