Cincinnati awards $850,000 to combat gun violence, address food insecurity

Source: Spectrum News 1

CINCINNATI — The city of Cincinnati is looking to make an impact through a new grant aimed at addressing food insecurity and reducing gun violence. 

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What You Need To Know

• An $850,000 grant was awarded to Cincinnati Children’s and other community partners through the city’s Office of Human Services
• The city said it is designed to engage three vulnerable populations: gun violence survivors, system-involved youth and public school students
• Three neighborhood hubs will be established in the first year in Avondale, East Price Hill and the West End

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An $850,000 grant was awarded to Cincinnati Children’s and other community partners through the city’s Office of Human Services. The funds are designed to create a program to run a network of food resource hubs and urban farms in high-risk neighborhoods. 

The city said it is designed to engage three vulnerable populations: gun violence survivors, system-involved youth and public school students.

“Food is the most fundamental thing we have, and lack of access to food very rapidly leads to deteriorating communities,” said City Manager Sheryl Long in a news release. “While it may not be obvious, there’s a direct connection between experiencing food insecurity and experiencing gun violence—either as a victim or a perpetrator.”

Dr. Carley Riley, a Cincinnati Children’s pediatrician who is steward of Community Systems Science with the health system’s Michael Fisher Child Health Equity Center, said the System to Achieve Food Equity network has helped improve nutrition security since 2020.

“We have now grown into a community-based, cross-sector network of over 350 individuals and more than 130 organizations,” Riley said in a news release. “By partnering with ACT for Cincy, a city of Cincinnati initiative that builds on a public health approach to violence prevention, both organizations will be able to together address one of the root causes of the complex problem of violence – while helping to make our neighborhoods safe and vibrant through community well-being and providing sustainable access to food and opportunity.”

Three neighborhood hubs will be established in the first year in Avondale, East Price Hill and the West End that will offer food, connection to other services and community building. 

The Impact Award will also fund urban farming operations with partners expecting to grow tens of thousands of pounds of produce and create jobs for neighborhood residents. 

Funded partners include:

• Closing the Health Gap
• Findlay Market
• Feed the Soul
• Greater Cincinnati Resilience
• Green Umbrella
• Isaiah 55, Inc.
• La Soupe
• Lord’s Gym
• Urban Farming Initiative
• Verge Monarch
• Love in Action
• Produce Rx
• Whole Again

This is the second Impact Award granted by the city. For more information on ACT for Cincy, click here.