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See the detailed calendar here.

Cincinnati Business and Professional Women, owners of the Hillrise Apartments, applied to the Cincinnati Municipal Housing Authority for a Project Based Section 8 housing designation to make all Hillrise units eligible for Section 8 vouchers.  The designation would provide a guaranteed source of income to allow a subsequent Hillrise application to HUD for government funding for improvements to the property.   Hillrise applied directly to CMHA without the support of the community.  When the College Hill Forum was made aware of this last week, a group of College Hill residents and organizations jumped into action and provided CMHA with letters and documentation in opposition to the request.

Because of the immediate community response, CMHA called a special meeting on March 2, to allow College Hill representatives to voice their opinions.  Approximately 25 residents attended this meeting, and approximately 12 residents, former Hillrise tenants, Hillrise neighbors and CH organization representatives spoke in opposition to the Hillrise application.

CMHA tabled its ruling until next month and asked the Hillrise owners and management company (Wallick Hendy) to meet with College Hill representatives to try to reach an agreement that would address the community's concerns if the designation were to be granted.  The CMHA Board acknowledged the validity of the community's concerns and directed the Hillrise owners to provide its plans for correcting past problems and to respond to the issues raised by the community.  CMHA is appointing a mediator to facilitate this meeting to see whether an agreement can be reached. Hillrise and the Forum agreed to meet pursuant to the CMHA Board's recommendation.

Any written agreement between Hillrise and College Hill must be completed before the CMHA board meeting on March 23. 

The Forum demanded a say in this process on behalf of our community.  Concerned College Hill residents provided compelling testimony about the conditions and problems at the Hillrise and the Hillrise owners admitted past failures.

We will share further information as it becomes available.  We are pleased to have the opportunity to finally bring Hillrise to the table, to determine whether the owners can meet the standards of successful affordable housing and to hold them accountable in the future.

The CMHA board meeting falls on the same date as the March meeting of the College Hill Forum membership.  Due to the importance of the possibility of improving the Hillrise for its residents and our neighborhood, it may be necessary to change the date of the Forum meeting.  We will notify you if there is a change. 
The CMHA hearing will air on CitiCable. 

Many thanks to all of the College Hill residents who attended the CMHA meeting and took time to prepare testimony.  

What do you know about The Oaks, the mansion across Belmont from Laurel Court?

The College Hill Historical Society's Facebook page (accessible even if you're not a Facebook user) now has 41 pictures of the mansion and its former residents, as well as an introduction to the house.

Check it out!

 
Building Bridges on the Avenue is a series of meetings that have occurred in the past and are continuing this year.  They are sponsored by the College Hill Ministerium, which is made up of all of the area churches.  The purpose of these meetings is to encourage dialogue among citizens to pursue together healthy, working relationships in order to achieve a flourishing climate in the College Hill area and to help College Hill continue to be a vibrant neighborhood.
 
The next meeting will be on Monday, March 8th at 7 pm at the College Hill Recreation Center, just across Belmont Avenue from Grace Church.
 
Please make an effort to attend this meeting.  Working together, we all can keep communications lines open for the benefit of everyone in the College Hill area.

Thanks to Roger Perna for forwarding this article.

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is now providing free homework help to students in Kindergarten through eighth grade at the College Hill branch library.

Staff from the library's newly organized Literacy and Homework Support department will be on hand to help students with homework assignments and research projects, as well as tutoring for grades K-6 in math and reading.

For more information about homework help, see here.

It's Not All Work at the Library

Whether it's accessing the Internet, getting help with homework, honing chess skills or making a craft, youngsters are flocking to the College Hill branch library. Branch manager Arnice Smith and her staff, including children's librarian Lisa Insenga, have designed varied program opportunities for all ages.

"A lot of our youngsters are latchkey kids and we want them here rather on the streets," Smith said. "Our library is only as good as our community and we want both to be great."

On any given afternoon, Smith said the library may see as many as 70 students coming in after the neighboring Pleasant Hill and College Hill Fundamental schools finish classes. "It's a fun place to be," said Nia Hill, 9, while working to create the day's craft of making paper flowers.

Insenga said she came up with flower project for the monthly Get Crafty program after staring out at the bleak skies. "It's just so gray and dreary," she said, "I thought this would be fun." She had the roomful of youngsters making a flower they could take home and another to adorn the library.

Smith said it can get a bit noisy when the students start trekking. "They understand our expectations for behavior," she said. "But, they've been in school all day and have a lot of energy."

The branch has a variety of programs for teens and adults including two book clubs, Wii, bingo and teen time.

For more information about programs, call the branch at 513-369-6036.