Studio C helps nonprofits tackle Cincy poverty issues

With just a few weeks remaining, Studio C participants are delving deep into their projects as they work toward finding solutions that empower families to break generational cycles of poverty.

After stepping outside the walls of their respective nonprofits, teams continue to experiment with new approaches that are inspired by design thinking and intended to move communities forward.

The eight participating teams include the following: Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, Children Inc., Churches Active in Northside, Cincinnati Works, Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, NKCAC Head Start, Starfire Council and Women Helping Women.

For Design Impact’s Sarah Corlett, co-facilitator for Studio C, the process has been rewarding in that it’s inspired collaboration and new ideas that possess a timely relevance.

Cincinnati Works

Cincinnati Works is collaborating with Villedge — a social enterprise that “provides Cincinnati youth the opportunity to develop their mind, body and spirit within a community context.”

“Cincinnati Works does a lot with the adult population, while Villedge serves young people between the ages of 16-24,” Corlett says. “So they’re bringing youth expertise into their team. They see an opportunity to build life skills in a nontraditional way — through collaboration rather than implementing another program.”

Its goal: to teach young people how to do things Corlett says are typically taken for granted — balancing a checkbook, cooking and shopping, among other things — so that they’re better prepared to budget and set financial priorities as they move forward in life.

CAIN

For MiMi Chamberlin, executive director of CAIN, Studio C has created a space to listen and learn. “It provided tools and a process to help connect as partners and co-creators of services and opportunities. We want to further develop as a neighborhood service and community engagement hub.”

CAIN’s collaborative efforts include gathering together 28 nonprofits that serve Northside — WordPlay and Northern Kentucky University’s Department of Allied Health, for example, are key players — to “start a conversation about being more intentionally unified in our efforts.”

The impetus comes from CAIN’s interviews and research, in which Chamberlin says she discovered the great work nonprofits are doing when it comes to serving Northside’s low-income population, but also the difficulty residents have when it comes to being able to access resources and information.

More specifically, when it concerns basic needs like mental health and employment.

Cincinnati Youth Collaborative

Cincinnati Youth Collaborative is exploring the following question: “How might we enhance our youth services with family-centered partnerships and principles to break generational poverty for youth?”

While the nonprofit’s focus is on youth, with what team member Kayla Ritter Rickles, CYC College & Career Success Manager, says is through an education and social-emotional learning lens, the organization recognizes it can do a better job of working comprehensively with families.

“Our focused efforts are looking at family engagement,” she says. “This includes how we define ‘family’ through the lens of our students and their families, how we engage family through our programs and services and who our partners are or should be in this endeavor.”

Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio

Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio is focusing its efforts on Cincinnati’s immigrant population and how to best support them.

“When I think about what is happening in our world and with the current administration — with Cincinnati just being designated as a sanctuary city,” Corlett says, “I can’t help but recognize that Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio is a strong team. It’s a small team that’s focused on something really relevant.”

This concludes our Studio C coverage. Keep up with the individual nonprofits to see how they continue to change the landscape of Cincinnati by taking strides when it comes to tackling the problem of generational poverty.