2022 Annual Report

Avondale is experiencing significant investment and growth, resulting in thousands of jobs and renewed attention to the neighborhood’s development. Located just two miles from downtown Cincinnati with convenient access to interstates I-75 and I-71, Avondale is home to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital & Medical Center and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden., with the University of Cincinnati and Tri-Health nearby. Despite these advantages, Avondale remains one of Cincinnati’s poorest neighborhoods and is without many of the basic services enjoyed by other neighborhoods. 

The Avondale Development Corporation (ADC) is committed to ensuring current residents benefit from the current growth and future progress. As well, ADC remains committed to initiatives that are aligned with the Avondale Quality of Life plan. In 2022, ADC made significant strides towards this mission by conducting studies on digital inclusion, economic mobility and completing two major housing developments--with other projects in pre-development stages. The ROOT Ambassadors program continued its compassionate outreach, addressing the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences with support and resources. 

ADC ended the year in sound financial condition, thanks in part to the support of funders such as Fifth Third Bank, Bank of America, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, the City of Cincinnati, Uptown Consortium and The Community Builders. This annual report highlights the progress made in 2022 and ADC looks forward to exciting growth and bold developments in 2023.

These are just some of the highlights you’ll read about in this annual report. Much more is in store for 2023.

ADC simply cannot fulfill its mission in support of Avondale residents without the help of our  funders, which include Bank of America, Fifth Third Bank, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, the City of Cincinnati, Invest in Neighborhoods and Uptown Consortium. We – and those for whom we work – greatly appreciate their generosity.

Russell Hairston, ADC Executive Director | Royce Sutton, ADC Board Chair

Avondale Mediation Mural by ArtWorks

Goal #1 - Connect Avondale residents and enhance their overall well-being by communicating information that helps them live, work, play, worship and thrive.

Since its founding more than a decade ago, ADC has served as the primary voice of Avondale. This includes sharing useful information to Avondale residents and telling the neighborhood’s story to a wider, regional audience.

Resident-facing communications in Avondale is especially challenging given the fact that neighborhood residents have less access to computers and internet services than the City of Cincinnati as a whole, a situation we’re working to remedy. Our job is to find the best means to communicate with residents where they are, using a broad toolbox of tactics.

Telling the Avondale story to a broader audience drives interest in the neighborhood, leading to new partnerships, capital and advocacy. It also helps build capacity at ADC by illustrating the opportunities for development and funding our organization provides.

A. Coordinate with community partners to share housing, job, health and community resources in area newsletters and social media.

ADC works with its community partners to ensure Avondale residents know about the broad and growing range of resources available to them. These resources can help them find a job, maintain their homes, manage their finances, connect with their neighborhood and address physical and mental health needs.

2022 Outcomes

  • Increased e-newsletter subscribers to 1,573 (99 new subscribers in 2022)

  • Continued to grow its social media presence with impactful, engaging content. In 2022, ADC’s Facebook followers reached 3,340 (53 new followers new in 2022) and Twitter followers grew to 1,071 (9 new followers in 2022).

  • Published 30 newsletters to promote ADC community engagement efforts and initiatives.

  • Distributed ADC Influencer e-newsletters and subsequent web blog pages pertaining to ADC’s new strategic plan, funder spotlights, housing development and the overall momentum of the neighborhood.

  • Published 26 resident-facing Inside Avondale e-newsletters containing information about health, economic, financial and housing services.

Avondale Day

ADC’s Avondale Day event, held in September at Hirsch Recreation Center and including the Avondale Festival & Health Fair, is a full-day sequence of events that serve as a lifeline to at-risk African American families by providing health screenings, digital counsel and important information – all in the context of a day-long series of programming. The event includes the and features a long list of partners, including Avondale Community Council, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, The Center for Closing the Health Gap, Avondale Youth Council, Avondale Running Club, YBF Fitness, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, The Community Builders, Urban League and Ronald McDonald House of Greater Cincinnati. The 2022 event drew more than 500 residents. In addition to games, facepainting, the Feet in the Street one-mile fun run, animal petting and other programming, Avondale Day featured a wide variety of important information and access, including:

  • Open job interviews with Amazon

  • Vision and health screenings

  • Healthy cooking demonstrations

  • Free mental health consultations

  • Fitness demonstrations

  • A COVID trauma workshop

  • Mammography van

B. Prioritize communication needs and determine digital access needs and solutions of residents.

We live in a digital world, and anyone locked out of that world is also locked out of the economic opportunities and learning opportunities it offers. In 2022, ADC and its partners took critical first steps to help improve digital access to Avondale residents.

2022 Outcomes

Avondale Digital Inclusion Study

This study is a collaboration between ADC, the Uptown Consortium, Inc. and the University of Cincinnati. It is designed to assess digital access, needs, and resources in Avondale and identify how to improve area-wide Wi-Fi and connect Avondale residents to reliable internet, devices, technical support and training. ADC is leading the community engagement component of this study through focus groups and surveys.

Avondale Social Capital Survey

This ongoing survey began in 2013. It is funded by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Cincinnati, prepared by the Community Building Institute and supported by ADC and is designed to track the “quality of life” perceptions of Avondale residents (as well as other regional neighborhoods). ADC manages data gathering for the Avondale portion of the study and collected 217 surveys for the 2022 installment.

By tracking perception changes over 10 years through five data points, this study helps identify areas of need in communications and resource development and allocation. Full results are available at www.growavondale.org.

C. Work with community partners to identify shared initiatives and create common messaging to achieve these goals.

Avondale is fortunate to have a variety of organizations who want to participate in its revitalization. ADC helps to coordinate and amplify these initiatives by facilitating the voice of residents, sharing information about the initiatives and communicating the results.

2022 Outcomes

Uptown Mobility Needs Assessment Study

This study is a joint effort by the Uptown Consortium, Inc. and Metro. Its purpose is to help improve overall mobility in Avondale and the Uptown area by evaluating mobility needs and gaps in service. Using this data, Metro will identify ways to improve and leverage existing facilities and services that are working and by adding connections between services.

ADC’s community engagement staff worked with UCI to form focus groups of community leaders to address where residents want to go, as well as when and how they like to travel.

Goal #2 - Strengthen and expand the housing stock in Avondale, while leveraging partnerships that advance sustainable economic development and growth opportunities for residents.

As its name suggests, ADC plays a significant development role in Avondale. Our involvement runs the gamut from strategic planning and land banking to capital stack assembly, advocacy and community engagement. We may be the lead developer, a partner or a facilitator. But no matter the scope of the development role, our focus is always on projects that help our improve life for Avondale residents and ensure they benefit from the fruits of the neighborhood’s revitalization.

A. Complete the Hale, Bogart/Glenwood Avenues housing projects and develop workforce housing units for current and future Avondale residents.

Housing is a critical need in Avondale. Our neighborhood needs a full portfolio of housing options, including affordable, workforce and market rate. In 2020, continued to address this need by moving forward on 136 new mixed income housing units in Avondale with a total investment of approximately $20 million. 

2022 Outcomes

  • Hale Avenue Townhomes Phase I

    • Hale Avenue – the first workforce housing development in Avondale – is funded by Cincinnati Children’s, the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Development Fund. When completed, this three-phase townhome project will bring 24 new townhomes to Avondale. It features an all-minority architectural firm (BTH Construction), a minority realtor (Bobbie Bean Realty) and a minority construction manager (Kaiker Construction).

    • Phase I was largely completed in 2022, with the townhomes expect to hit the market in the second quarter of 2023.

  • Blair Lofts Phase I

    • Blair Lofts is a public/private partnership between ADC, Kingsley + Co. and Fairfield Homes Inc. It comprises two phases resulting in 112 units of multifamily housing. Phase I of this award-winning project features 64 affordable housing units with a total development cost of approximately $14 million.

    • In 2022, we provided community engagement and co-development support, including assisting with securing project financing and project negotiations for Phase I, which is scheduled for completion in spring 2023.  

  • Alaska Avenue Phase I

    • Alaska Avenue is a public/private partnership between ADC and Titan Real Estate Group and features 20 single family detached homes on a currently vacant lot owned by the City of Cincinnati.  Titan and ADC secured approvals and funding for the project from Cincinnati Children’s, the City and Spring Valley Bank. 

    • In 2022, ADC help with site assemblage, technical assistance and community engagement services. Ground was broken on the project in November 2022.

  • Avondale Home Improvement Program

    • In partnership with Fifth Third Banks’s Empowering Black Futures investment program, ADC implemented the fifth phase of this popular program. AHIP provides interest-free home improvement loans up to $20,000 to help homeowners improve living conditions by fixing critical exterior home repairs that often contribute to safety and health concerns. If recipients stay in their home for more than five years, the loan is forgiven. 

    • In 2022, ADC began administering 11 forgivable loans to homeowners as part of the three-year program. Fifth Third Banks’s Empowering Black Futures investment program provided $595,000 to fund the program. 

  •  Gabriel's Place

    • Gabriel’s Place has been an important landmark and gathering place for generations of Avondale residents. ADC is in the process of purchasing the property from the Diocese of Southern Ohio, with a plan to redevelop the parcel for multifamily housing and commercial space.

    • In 2022, ADC moved forward in the pre-development phase and issued a request for proposals to developers.

  •  MBE/WBE participation

    • ADC is committed to meeting or exceeding MBD/WBE participation targets in all of its programs.

    • In 2022, ADC had a utilization rate of over 90% MBE/WBE participation in the AHIP and APEP home improvement programs, which exceeded the 27% baseline requirement established by the City of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s. ADC currently has a 27% utilization rate of MBE/WBE in its Hale Avenue Townhomes project.

B. Work with community partners in promoting Avondale as a place to live for employees that work in the neighborhood.

  • Fossett Village (Alaska development)

    • Groundbreaking in November 2022

  • Hale Avenue Townhomes

    • Construction completed.

    • Homes expected to hit market in June 2023.

Goal #3 - Propel ADC by building cooperative partnerships to leverage collaborative project support.
Partnership and collaboration underpin virtually all of ADC’s efforts to improve the lives of Avondale residents. Combining the resources of ADC with the strengths and resources of allied organizations creates successes that simply aren’t possible by working alone.

A. Cultivate and grow partnerships to keep Avondale residents and families safe.

Safety remains the primary concern of Avondale residents, and so keeping residents and families safe continues to be a major emphasis for ADC.

  • Avondale ROOT Ambassadors

    • The Avondale ROOT (Resilience Over Our Trauma) Ambassador Team concept was developed by ADC in partnership with Joining Force for Children and Cincinnati Children’s Mayerson Center to assemble best practice research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and develop messaging that would reach parents, teachers, community members and youth in meaningful, relevant ways.

    • ROOT Ambassador outcomes in 2022 included:

      • Working with the Avondale community and various partners to establish a safe space to share information regarding community trauma.

      • Providing information at the Pastor’s Wives Mental Health Symposium, a panel to discuss mental health with other community leaders.

      • Formed a Teen Girls Group partnership with Avondale Branch Library. This included hosting a “Girls Night In” in partnership with Voices of Hope.

      • Formed Avondale Boys Group in partnership with Ennis Tait Ministries to provide a space for young men to talk about life.

      • Established a community “Playbook” strategy to increase neighborhood resilience and promote healing.

      • Conducted a Youth Mental Health First Aid session with residents living in TCB properties.

      • Hosted a Back to School Fair at Seasongood Park in partnership with Ennis Tait ministries.

      • Hosted a community kickball game to talk to residents about resilience and build relationships.

      • Participated in Juneteenth program to build relationships and increase community awareness on trauma and resilience.

      • Partnered with Puzzle Piece Cincy & Wave Pool for the Avondale History Mural to provide interviews and connect with Avondale residents so their voices and stories were included in a new mural.

      • Presented Theology on Tap to Bellarmine Young Adult group on ACEs, trauma and applying the concepts to faith-based work.

      • Hosted a Summer Reading Program at Peace Baptist Church in partnership with Compassionate Justice

      • Participated in the Gun Violence Summit at Christ Cathedral Church.

  • Avondale Safety Group

    • The Avondale Safety Group is a collaborative partnership of Avondale residents, the Avondale Community Council, Uptown Consortium, ADC and the City of Cincinnati to lead safety efforts in Avondale.

    • Avondale Safety Group outcomes in 2022 included:

      • Built and strengthened relationships between police and neighborhood stakeholders.

      • Supported the Avondale Safety Committee

      • Established and maintained regular communications forums.

  •  Safegrowth Partnership

    • Safegrowth Partnership seeks to revitalize the park that sits on the corner of 69 Forest Avenue and Irving Street. This park is inactive and was selected for safety and improvement.

    • Safegrowth Partnership outcomes in 2022 included:

      • Implemented a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) effort.

      • Activated the space with a message board that shares daily affirmations

      • Reduced drug activity in the space

      • Installed new basketball and recreational equipment

      • Installed a memorial fountain as a place to honor fallen community residents/members

      • Installed additional lighting

      • Installed an interactive fence in the space

B. Jointly develop resources with partner organizations to support mutual goals.

  • Project XLR8

    • Project  XLR8 is a fast pitch storytelling competition and investee selection program designed to provide funding for nonprofits with a socially innovative idea. ADC pitched its ROOT Ambassadors program.

    • ADC has been selected to participate in the second phase of a three-phase competition. The final phase results in the selection of one nonprofit to receive a sustained, multiyear community investment. 

  • Avondale Economic Mobility Fund

    • This fund is designed to improve upward mobility of Avondale residents by supporting the next generation of homeowners. It is funded by Fifth-Third Bank’s Empowering Blake Futures Neighborhood Program and provides grants of up to $1,000 for both Avondale renters and homeowners as to foster homelessness prevention and housing stabilization.

    •  2022 outcomes

      • Administered $16,000 in EMF awards administered

      • Facilitated budget and financial literacy training provided by partnership with Greater Cincinnati Urban League.

  • Artworks Mini Mural Project

    • ADC and ArtWorks are creating a walking trail with mini-murals highlighting important local figures with ties to the Avondale community and the civil rights movement. The shared desire is to create connectedness amongst residents and institutions – a goal of Avondale’s Quality of Life Plan –  while making the walking trail a focal point of the community. The mini murals are designed by artist Nytaya Babbitt and the project will employ two teaching artists and seven youth apprentices. In addition, ArtWorks has partnered with Urbanist Media, a community preservation cooperative, to identify notable Avondale figures and corresponding site-specific mural locations. The agreed upon murals will feature:

      • The Revered Fred Shuttlesworth, a national champion for Civil Rights. Rev. Shuttlesworth founded  Greater New Light Baptist Church in Avondale in 1966, of which he was pastor for 40 years.

      • Fannie Graff, an Orthodox Jewish real estate agent who, during the era of redlining, blockbusting, and steering, used her special connections to find quality housing for minority populations and was a strong proponent of fair housing for all.

      • Theodore Berry, a lawyer by trade and leader for Black rights. Berry was elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1949 and in 1972, he became the city’s first African American mayor.

      • Marjorie B. Parham, publisher of the Cincinnati Herald Newspaper founded by her husband, Gerald Porter, in 1952. Parham was an advocate for the Black community who believed in the power of press and media to elevate African American stories.

      • Artie & Annie Matthews, Avondale residents who, in the early 20th century, opened Cincinnati’s first Black music academy in downtown Cincinnati. Artie Matthews was known for helping to define the ragtime music genre.

Goal #4 - Advance organizational sustainability through community leadership and resource development.

2022 Outcomes

  • Identified fund development expertise to support ADC priorities (i.e., Seek support from executives of Avondale/Uptown anchors).

  • Measure resource development progress and successes and report them quarterly and annually.

  • Using the Housing Strategy, identify, develop and sale a neighborhood residential property to kick-start resource development.

    • Van Antwerp

    • Hale Phase I

# of times ADC is mentioned in mainstream local news/media = 7

# of new operating sources: 4

The Avondale Development Corporation formed many new strategic partnerships in 2022, via new operating sources:

  • Empowering Black Futures Investment Program (Fifth Third Bank & Enterprise Community Partners)

    • Philanthropic

    • Program Related Investment

    • Fifth Third Bank Products

  • Neighborhood Activation Fund (Invest in Neighborhoods)

    • Avondale Economic Mobility Fund

    • Avondale Community Engagement

  • Social Ventures Partnerships & Project XLR8

    • ROOTS Trauma Care Program

    • Avondale Quality of Life

  • PNC Bank

    • Avondale Economic Mobility Fund 

2022 Fiscal Report

Avondale Development Corporation (ADC) ended 2022 in sound financial condition, thanks to the generosity of funders like Fifth Third Bank, Children's Hospital, the City of Cincinnati, Uptown Consortium, The Community Builders, LISC and Homebase.  ADC assisted many Avondale households with rent and utilities through its Economic Mobility Program. Through the APEP and AHIP programs, ADC assisted Avondale residents with much needed home repairs. We constructed seven affordable townhomes on Hale Avenue. Our Trauma ROOT Ambassadors helped make Avondale safer with compassionate care. ADC's 2021 audit received a clean audit opinion on its financial performance.  Furthermore, in December, Fifth Third gave Avondale an award of $600,000 to fund the AHIP program, and $23,000,000 to fund home ownership and business development in the community.