[{"_1":2,"_85":-5,"_86":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6017050,"mediaKeyId","5778743-9f1db621a38732a98545d5d602d9656b","parentId",5778743,"title","Cincinnati committee recommends Cincinnati Children’s‑led coalition for $850,000 Impact Award to address food insecurity and violence","audioSeconds",111,"startMs",1182000,"endMs",1293000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5778743-9f1db621a38732a98545d5d602d9656b&start=1182&end=1293","thumbnailUrl","https://d352y6ypj4mjo3.cloudfront.net/AudioPlaceholder.png","articleUrl","/articles/6017050/Ohio/Cincinnati-committee-recommends-Cincinnati-Childrensled-coalition-for-850000-Impact-Award-to-address-food-insecurity-and-violence","mediaUrl","author","City Council of Cincinnati OH","date","2025-06-03T00:00:00Z","article","The committee heard details of the Human Services Impact Award and HSAC’s recommendation to fund a Cincinnati Children’s‑led collaborative that links food‑security interventions to neighborhood safety strategies.

The Impact Award is a one‑time competitive prize intended to fund collaborative, systems‑level work. Lauren Mertens, chair of the Human Services Advisory Committee, said the award “is an opportunity to pursue an innovative collaborative and bold strategy,” and that the RFP required multi‑organization proposals with a lead agency and partners serving multiple high‑need neighborhoods and populations experiencing food insecurity.

The recommended awardee is a Cincinnati Children’s‑led effort described in the application as the SAFE Network: Hunger, Healing and Hope (also referred to as the Achieve Food Equity Network in the presentation). The proposal requests a total Impact Award investment of $850,000 and describes a neighborhood hub network that would establish eight community‑designed and resident‑led food and resource hubs, incorporate urban farms, coordinate targeted supports for priority groups (including firearm‑injury survivors, system‑involved youth and public‑school students), and pursue systems‑change activities such as policy advocacy, media narrative work, transit access improvements and a public data dashboard.

The nut graf: HSAC recommended this single recipient for the Impact Award after evaluating six eligible proposals. Reviewers flagged the Children’s proposal for broad partnership, a clear sustainability plan tied to existing funds and leverage, built‑in data and evaluation methods, and explicit links between food‑security work and community safety goals.

Details and oversight: Presenters said the Impact Award required proposals to benefit residents in at least three of the city’s top 10 neighborhoods for gun violence and to include beneficiaries from multiple populations with high food‑security needs. The application described using continuous improvement methods and publicly available dashboards to track metrics ranging from meal‑gap reduction to incidents of gun violence. United Way staff and HSAC members said the recommended award will be asked to present its plan to council after summer recess.

Questions from council members focused on whether non‑award applicants could participate in the network and how the awardee would sustain work after the grant period. United Way said the rival applicants remain eligible to collaborate; changes to the award’s budget or partners would require a formal review. Lauren Mertens and United Way staff said they expected the awardee to leverage additional resources beyond the $850,000 Impact Award to carry out and sustain the proposed activities.

Ending: Committee members welcomed the decision and asked United Way and city violence‑reduction staff to coordinate so the awarded network’s activities align with the city’s Achieving Change Together (ACT) violence‑reduction plan. The committee also requested a future council presentation by the award recipient to explain implementation and evaluation details.","mediaType","Audio","parentTitle","Climate, Environment & Infrastructure Committee (June 3, 2025)","oneSentenceSummary","HSAC recommended an $850,000 Impact Award to a Cincinnati Children’s‑led network (SAFE Network: Hunger, Healing and Hope) to establish community‑designed food and resource hubs in high‑risk neighborhoods and tie food‑security work to gun‑violence prevention and systems change.","taxTitle","Cincinnati Board & Committees, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio","taxId",75954,"location","Ohio","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":50,"_51":82,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":83,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":84,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6017055,"Committee recommends deeper, larger human-services grants; caps awards at $200,000 and 50% of org budgets",2932,544000,3476000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5778743-9f1db621a38732a98545d5d602d9656b&start=544&end=3476","/articles/6017055/Ohio/Committee-recommends-deeper-larger-human-services-grants-caps-awards-at-200000-and-50-of-org-budgets","Members of the Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Committee received a presentation on the city’s Human Services funding recommendations during a committee meeting, where officials and the United Way outlined a shift toward larger, deeper grants and stronger monitoring.

“We have set aside 1.5% of the city's budget to do this work,” the committee chair said, describing the statutory set-aside and the city’s human-services priorities. Deanna White, director of the Office of Human Services, said the Human Services Advisory Committee (HSAC) was instructed this cycle “to go deep,” meaning reviewers should consider funding the full amount requested for high-scoring applications rather than partially funding many projects.

The nut graf: HSAC and the United Way recommended funding 73 programs from 68 agencies across three priority categories — comprehensive workforce development; youth gun-violence prevention and reduction; and supporting, securing and stabilizing housing for high-risk populations — using a scoring rubric tied to council priorities and evidence-based outcomes. United Way will administer grants and monitor reporting for the two-year cycle.

Most important details: HSAC recommended that funded programs be capped at $200,000 per award and at 50% of an organization’s operating budget. The committee and United Way said the cap was chosen to allow the fund to “go deep” while preserving the ability to fund multiple high-scoring programs. The presenters said the average award rose roughly 46% from the prior comparable cycle and that the panel prioritized projects demonstrating wraparound services, data-informed design and interorganizational collaboration.

Numbers and process: Officials said the workforce-development category received 57 applications (from 52 organizations); HSAC recommended 22 programs for funding with a total recommended of about $2,498,182. The youth gun-violence category drew 45 program applications (43 organizations); HSAC recommended 26 programs. The housing-stability category had 39 program applications (33 organizations); HSAC recommended 25 programs with a reported total near $2.2 million in that category. Committee members and United Way staff reported a total of 141 applications this cycle and noted that roughly 56% of applicants were new organizations.

On evaluation and oversight, United Way and HSAC described an eligibility screen, rubric-based scoring, conflict-of-interest declarations, bias training for volunteer reviewers and small-group reviews of full proposals. United Way will require midyear reporting and annual reporting, reconcile expenses every six months, and hold convenings and feedback sessions for grantees. “United Way will continue to monitor and manage this process through reporting, and through the end of the second year,” Sue Casey Leininger, director of grantmaking and impact at United Way, said during the presentation.

Committee members asked for follow-up materials, including a figure showing how much additional funding would be required to fully fund all applications in the recommended tiers. Committee discussion clarified that applicants were allowed to propose any dollar amount during the RFP; HSAC later applied the $200,000 cap during final recommendations to preserve funding for other highly recommended proposals. For one category (preventing youth gun violence), staff said they funded down the ranked list until available funds were exhausted, leaving some recommended applicants funded at a reduced percentage of their request.

The meeting concluded with the chair stating the intent to file the item and to finalize the budget in subsequent council budget work, and the item was filed at the end of the session. United Way committed to provide applicants not selected with a FAQ summary of common application weaknesses and to offer one-on-one feedback meetings.

Ending: Committee members praised HSAC volunteers and United Way staff for the time-intensive review work and for process improvements (for example, convenings, “speed networking” events and use of midyear convenings). Officials said the recommended awards and monitoring schedule will be incorporated into the council’s budget deliberations through the final passage later in the process.","City committee and United Way recommended 73 programs from 68 agencies for Human Services funding in the 26–27 cycle, prioritizing deeper awards, collaborative proposals and monitoring by United Way; grants were capped at $200,000 and 50% of an organization’s operating budget.","actionData","errors"]

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Cincinnati committee recommends Cincinnati Children’s‑led coalition for $850,000 Impact Award to address food insecurity and violence

Committee recommends deeper, larger human-services grants; caps awards at $200,000 and 50% of org budgets