Participating Organizations

The Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington, 2006-Present

The Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington has been working in the city since 1976. Initially, the Center addressed the causes and effects of poverty through community organizing and direct services. Its mission and has evolved to work promoting comprehensive community development strategies to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout the City of Covington. The Fellows/USA intern is working on special projects such as the Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area grant applications to HUD.

ECO (Environmental Community Organization), 2005-2006

At ECO, it is our mission to hold industry accountable for community concerns about corporate pollution. We feel that the cost of doing business must include those who are most affected by the toxic emissions of corporate production. ECO believes in the power of communities working together to restore community health. The Fellows/USA intern is working with ECO to develop an agency-wide GIS mapping strategy.

The Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati, 2005-2006

The Home Ownership Center (HOC) of Greater Cincinnati's mission is to strengthen communities through comprehensive home ownership strategies. The HOC is a private, non-profit partnership of businesses, residents, and government agencies that helps first-time homebuyers prepare for, buy, and maintain a home. The HOC offers financial fitness, homebuyer education, and home maintenance classes; one-on-one home purchasing counseling; down-payment assistance; home improvement loans; and neighborhood projects. The Fellows/USA interns work with the homebuyer training and financial fitness classes.

KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2005-2006

KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Ohio 's largest public education philanthropy, is committed to furthering universal access to educational opportunities for individuals to achieve success and for the betterment of society. KnowledgeWorks Foundation's mission is to increase the number and diversity of people who value and access education, by creating and improving educational opportunity at pre-kindergarten through high school and post-high school institutions, and through community organizations. The Fellows/USA intern is working with KnowledgeWorks to advance KnowledgeWorks' activities on community engagement.

Santa Maria Community Services, 2005-Present

Santa Maria is a privately owned non-profit social service agency which provides services that enable the families to gain the skills and knowledge they need to be healthy, productive, contributing members of the community. Santa Maria's primary service population was once the new immigrants to Cincinnati, the people of Appalachia. Today, these families, their descendants and African Americans continue to comprise a large segment of the service population. Since the mid 1990s, a rapidly growing Hispanic/Latino community is making its home in Price Hill. The Fellows/USA intern is creating a training module for the purpose of teaching social services and health care providers how they can be more prepared to service and reach out to the Hispanic/Latino community members.

Price Hill Will, 2005-2006

Price Hill Will is a neighborhood project with a mission to develop the strengths of Price Hill. Its purpose is to create a positive revolution in change to engage the "positive core" of all people and all living systems and to expand that rich potential, creating individuals and organizations that are themselves agents of community befit. The organization works to enhance all areas of the community and accomplishes this through Community Action Teams, or "CATs." The Fellows/USA intern is working to establish a Youth CAT for the purpose of teaching children about community development in their neighborhood and to get them involved in community focused projects.

SmartMoney Community Services, 2004-Present

SmartMoney's mission is to provide financial services and economic education to underserved individuals in Over-the-Rhine and Greater Cincinnati Communities. The Fellows/USA interns work with homeownership training. The SmartHome Ownership Workshop is a free six-week course that educates potential first-time homebuyers on the various aspects of purchasing a home, such as money management, the role of the realtor, finding the right house, choosing a mortgage and other related topics. SmartHome Pre-Purchase Counseling sessions take a more in-depth look at factors affecting a homebuying decision such as basic budgeting and clearing up derogatory credit.