In these challenging times, I want to pen a quick love letter to 2025 and all the great new friends I have made through our work together at the Heart of Northside. I know I didn’t mention everyone for the sake of brevity, but please know that all of you have strengthened the health of this community by participating in events at the Heart of Northside. I am deeply grateful.
Every activity this past year reflected the goals of the Heart of Northside: to build health through strengthening the community and increased access to healthy food.
First, I must acknowledge the beautiful new signage around the Heart of Northside thanks to a grant from NEST. May it serve as a beacon to bring neighbors together here for decades to come. Thank you to Sarah Thomas, Janelle Kelpe, and Katie Frazier!
We had two Health Fairs in 2025, supported by the wonderful nurses of the Northside Health Center, the American Heart Association, Black Nurses Association of Cincinnati, and our newest neighbor, Therapy Cannabis, among many other new and old supporters. They could not have happened without help from Violet Oudomsouk, Northsider and friend.
We deepened collaborations with Xavier University: I taught with Dr. Heidrun Schmitzer (Physics and Engineering) about how urban farming improves community health, mentored Occupational Therapy students Kellen Gaither, Al Henry, Maia Lynch, Abby Childress, and Kirsten Pride. New collaborations include the Xavier University Nursing Department, as well as the new Medical School (expected to start classes in 2027). It is a big dream of mine that the Heart of Northside serve to teach community health to students across the city, and 2025 was incredibly successful in furthering these goals.
Generous donations from Dr. Bob Reed allowed me to purchase two more Tower Gardens so that we can now grow 84 plants at a time. I am currently growing one tower of basil as a test to see how quickly I can grow them, and will donate the results to Melt Revival.
My dream is to grow healthy produce for local restaurants and grocery stores to increase the amount of healthy food we have right here in Northside. My work with the owners of Melt Revival will help me learn what kinds of food the community wants, and how to provide it as efficiently as possible.
In 2025, I gave talks to the Rotary Club, the Heart Failure Team at Christ Hospital, Care Source, Plant-Based Eating groups, and taught the evidence behind nutrition and cardiovascular health to my own residents and fellows at the University of Cincinnati.
I’ve deepened connections with the Black Nurses Association of Cincinnati, and the American Heart Association (AHA) which has granted me funds to purchase a new AED (Automated External Defibrillator) and CPR equipment. The AHA also donated blood pressure cuffs that I have given to many neighbors so that they can check their blood pressures at home.
4H has continued to grow here! Through the hard work of Erica Farris, 4H had two job fairs and helped get several donated Tower Gardens to further our food access program.
We hosted a Blood Pressure Station last summer at the McKie Recreation Center where I learned a lot about what the community needs in terms of basic health information, and I was encouraged to see that many of my neighbors know quite a bit already. We will need all the reliable information we can to get and stay healthy in the coming years.
Freestore Foodbank is now a regular presence here through their Healthy Harvest Mobile Market van. Sam Colston brings really fresh produce in a huge van where folks can purchase it at very low cost. I hope to build enough growing capacity to provide food for the van, as well.
I made new and dear friends from the weddings that took place here (love you, Connie!) and look forward to seeing many more dreams come true at the Heart of Northside in our beautiful sanctuary and event space.
I MUST mention the wonderful Fiber Forum (Jenny Brewer from Cincinnati Reuse and Recycle), the delightful Yart Sales (we hosted 2 sales in 2025), Metro BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) info session, Puppet Shows with Visionaries and Voices, SingOUT Cincinnati, League of Women Voters (City Council Speed Dating event) and Red, Wine, and Blue (Banned Book Bingo) events, our Haunted Sanctuary, and Krampus.
The Northside Farmers Market continues to be a friend and partner, as well as the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, which sends extremely talented students to come play the organ (the first Wednesday of every month at 4pm) in the sanctuary for all of our neighbors.
Adam Moeller, neighbor and all around amazing person, helped start a wonderful pollinator garden in front of the sanctuary along Hamilton, where I hope it brings beautiful flowers and pollinators to entertain all our neighbors and bus commuters. May this coming year bring a bumper crop of monarch butterflies!
The year ended with a blast – Santamania! John Hays – I can’t say enough good things – organized this amazing musical event, and I hope we have it here every year. Everyone who helped create Santamaia were some of the kindest, most delightful people you’d ever want to meet.
Goals for 2026 include raising the $3 million we need to renovate the rooftop for the 4,000 sq/ft rooftop garden, and to bring the commercial kitchen to code. I have met several groups that want to use the kitchen for upcycling food and preventing food waste, but I can’t do that unless the kitchen is renovated and modernized.
I hope to generate some policy changes through the efforts of MD MPH student, Paxton Walton, and build on the Urban Farming business with College Hill native Jordan A Long Cullars.
Many thanks to tenants new and old: Queen City Commons, Northside Farmers Market, Meghan Henshaw of Ocotillo Herbals, Libby Hunter with Adventure Crew, Domonique Peebles and Dan Katz with Caps and Trade, Rachael Nolan with Sages of Grief. Some of you have moved on to new adventures in 2026 and I wish you well!
Last but not least, a heartfelt thanks to my friend and neighbor Maya Drozdz. You get me, and this is priceless.
Please know that any of you whom I didn’t mention specifically here have strengthened the Northside community through your presence. Yes, we had many challenges, but with your support and kindness, we are working through them all. That’s how we do this – together. To a Happy and Healthy 2026!
