In addition to being a world leader in improving child health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is a valuable partner to the Avondale Development Corporation and the Avondale neighborhood.

Cincinnati Children’s provides funding for the Avondale Home Improvement Program (AHIP). Administered by ADC, AHIP offers forgivable loans to Avondale residents to make home repairs for problems that can compromise the health and safety of residents. AHIP, which has helped more than 30 homeowners, is embarking on its fourth phase.

The Avondale Property Enhancement Program (APEP) is another ADC initiative supported by Cincinnati Children’s. APEP is a matching grant program that has helped more than 50 Avondale homeowners fix problems for which they have been cited by the City of Cincinnati. 

Cincinnati Children’s worked with ADC to produce the Quality of Life plan (QOL) – the official master plan for Avondale. Two years in the making and enjoying broad community involvement and support, the QOL plan has been unanimously approved by the Avondale Community Council, the City of Cincinnati Planning Commission and Cincinnati City Council. It is Avondale’s map to manage growth in the City’s hottest neighborhood to the benefit of existing residents and businesses and those who choose to be located here.

Cincinnati Children’s partners with ADC on affordable and workforce housing projects. The affordable housing-focused Hale Avenue housing development is designed to ensure housing choices that respect and sustain a vibrant Avondale and improve the marketability of the neighborhood. This multi-phased project features townhomes for sale to families and households that earn no more than 115% of the area median income. 

The Bogart Avenue infill housing project development is designed to ensure housing choices that respect and sustain a vibrant Avondale and improve the marketability of the neighborhood. The project features four new single-family homes on four separate sites – two each on Bogart and Glenwood avenues – that will be affordable to individuals within the range of 115% of the area median income. 

The Blair Lofts I low income rental housing project is a four-story, 64 unit apartment complex with a mix of one and two bedroom apartments certified to LEED-Silver standards. Ten three bedroom units will be reserved for residents at or below 30% and 60% of the area median income.

Cincinnati Children’s also supports Avondale Day, a day-long series of events centered on health and community building. Events include the Avondale Festival & Health Fair, Black Men’s Health Forum and the 5K Avondale Feet in the Street walk and run. Avondale Day is a lifeline to at-risk African American families, providing health screenings, counsel and important information in the context of a day-long festival for friends and family.

Support from Cincinnati Children’s also helps build capacity at ADC, including its communications work. 

Cincinnati Children’s is collaborating with Avondale Development Corporation, City of Cincinnati, Children’s Hospital & The Home Ownership Center to increase home ownership in Avondale with the Alaska Avenue single-family housing project and also providing new quality and handicap accessible housing options for Avondale. We plan to provide 10 accessible homes to support the disabled and senior residents.

Dr. Monica Mitchell, Senior Director of Community Relations at Cincinnati Children’s and Professor of Pediatrics within its Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, has served on the ADC board since 2011.

Established in 1883, Cincinnati Children’s is a full-service, nonprofit pediatric academic medical center and comprises the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. It is ranked number three in the nation in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2020-21 Best Children’s Hospital List and is in the top three nationally in National Institutes of Health grants and funding for pediatrics.