Cincinnati Children's and partners win Impact Award to launch neighborhood food hubs and urban farms

Cincinnati City Council's Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Committee heard a presentation on a city Impact Award on Monday that will fund a two‑year initiative to build neighborhood food hubs and urban farms in high‑need areas of the city.

Shannon Carr, representing Isaiah Inc. and the Safe Network, and Dr. Michael Lugo, a pediatrician with Cincinnati Children's Hospital, told the committee the project — branded "Hunger, Healing and Hope" — will fund 14 lead partners and more than 30 engaged organizations to create local, neighborhood‑designed food resource hubs connected to community operated urban farms.

"We sought to create sustainable change that improves food security to reduce gun violence," Shannon Carr said, describing a network approach that pairs food production, trauma‑informed supports and youth engagement.

Dr. Lugo outlined three program aims: establish neighborhood food hubs and multisite urban farms focused on firearm‑injury survivors, system‑involved youth and public‑school students; provide free and affordable fresh and frozen foods along with food education and benefits navigation; and use data and a public dashboard to track process and outcome metrics that can support citywide systems and narrative change.

Project specifics presented to the committee include plans to launch neighborhood hubs that reach eight disadvantaged neighborhoods by foot, establish five hubs and three commercial kitchens during the two‑year award period, grow an estimated 20,000 to 100,000 pounds of produce per year, prepare 50,000 to 75,000 meals in 2026 and 100,000 to 150,000 meals in 2027, and create roughly 15 to 63 new jobs with an emphasis on training neighborhood residents in gardening, cooking and entrepreneurship. Presenters said they are seeking about $860,000 in additional funds to cover staffing, vehicles and gardening development not covered by existing foundation funding and the city's Impact Award.

Presenters said initial hub sites were chosen because partners already hold or control the land or facilities, and they plan to scale with additional sites and by formalizing partnerships with Cincinnati Public Schools for youth programming and training pathways. A publicly available "safe data" dashboard exists in a preliminary form and presenters said a more developed version will be available at the start of next calendar year.

Councilmembers praised the collaborative approach. Councilmember Anna Albee called the project "new and different" from typical hunger interventions and asked detailed questions about partnership selection, site acquisition, and how success will be measured given federal and state headwinds on food assistance programs. Councilmember Seth Walsh said the award gives nonprofits space to innovate rather than only maintain services.

The committee filed the Impact Award report as item number 1 and moved on to other business.

Why this matters: The award directs city human‑services funding to a cross‑sector, neighborhood‑based strategy that pairs food provision with violence‑prevention supports and workforce training; presenters framed the approach as a prototype that could scale if metrics show impact.

Next steps: Presenters said they will confirm initial hub locations within months, continue securing additional funding, and expand the public dashboard to report metrics publicly.