Greater Cincinnati is fortunate to have several large healthcare providers who work together to serve the community, especially over the past few months amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health Collaborative, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare and patient outcomes throughout the region, has led the region’s response to the pandemic by coordinating the collaboration between more than 270 healthcare systems, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, UC Health and TriHealth.

Uptown Consortium, Inc. recently received a $10,000 Powerful Communities Grant from the Duke Energy Foundation to continue planning and development efforts for the Innovation Greenway, a multi-acre green space that will be incorporated into the developments at Martin Luther King Drive and Reading Road.

The Avondale Development Corporation (ADC) is in the early stages of implementing its Quality of Life (QOL) plan, the neighborhood’s roadmap for managing growth in one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods to the benefit of existing residents and businesses and those who choose to locate here.

This month, Uptown Consortium, Inc. hosted its third virtual panel event. It featured several Avondale community partners and focused on how residents, business owners, organizations, and institutions can take advantage of many opportunities for community involvement.

Mecklenberg Gardens is an Uptown institution. The restaurant and bier garden has created one of the city’s best outdoor dining experiences for more than 150 years. Mecklenburg Gardens has even been ranked as “America’s Best Beer Garden” by Travel + Leisure and "Top 5 Outdoor Dining Spots!" by Cincinnati Magazine.

In 2018, a group of organizations and individuals in Mt. Auburn formed the Mt. Auburn Gardens Initiative & Collaborative, affectionately called MAGIC. The leading organizations include the Mt. Auburn Chamber of Commerce, The Christ Hospital Health Network , The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences, The Mac House, Mt. Auburn Baptist Church, The Center for Closing the Health Gap, and Mt. Auburn Preparatory Academy.

Clifton Cares, a nonprofit initiative to support local restaurants and healthcare workers, has raised more than $43,250 and served more than 4,056 meals to hospital employees since it launched on Saturday, March 28.

At the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year, Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) established its Talent Kitchen Cabinet (TKC), a collection of students and young professionals, to provide feedback on plans, designs and programming for the Uptown Innovation Corridor.

This month, Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) hosted its first virtual panel event to provide resources for small businesses located in the Uptown neighborhoods. Panelists Bob Pickford, Business Coach at HCDC, Inc., and Ella Frye, Director of the Women's Business Center at the Economic Community Development Institute, discussed emergency relief resources and support services as businesses start to reopen. The online event was free and open to all businesses and nonprofits in the community.

Like every organization and company in Cincinnati and around the nation, Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) has shifted to new ways of working during the COVID-19 crisis. We’ve adjusted to working remotely, video calls are the new normal for meetings, and social distancing from our co-workers and partners is critical to flatten the curve.