During his many outreach events, Phoenix Program coordinator Mitch Morris often asks the community, “What do you think are solutions to the gun violence in your neighborhood?” In early 2022, Cincinnati Works decided to expand on this and find community-led, place-based solutions to the gun violence in East Price Hill.
We found a few recurring themes in the 100+ in-depth, in-person interviews our team conducted with residents of East Price Hill and East Westwood. After hosting a public meeting with residents and stakeholders to discuss those themes in more detail, we are proud to present a series of recommendations:
Invest in Leaders: We recommend supporting leaders in the East Price Hill neighborhood to build and sustain a community group similar to the Neighborhood Action Team in Lower Price Hill, which was launched and initially led by Community Matters.
Engage the Youth: We believe funding should go to organizations already working with kids – either to expand into East Price Hill or to increase existing services in the neighborhood. Examples include MyCincinnati, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Santa Maria Family Center.
Inform & Intervene via Neighborhood Schools: We found an overall lack of knowledge of accessible information on gun-violence and mental-health services. Multiple people suggested increasing information and intervention through neighborhood schools.
Click here to read the full report.
We thank Design Impact for their partnership throughout the project.
