News
The West End Community Resident Research Team (WE-CRRT) held a Stop the Violence Rally on July 17, 2010 at Queensgate Park. This event was in remembrance of Victoria Gibson and others who have fallen victim to violent crimes in our area. Victoria was a member of the WE-CRRT and lost her life in an act of senseless violence. Approximately 300 people came together to honor victims and to support the creation of a violence-free zone in the West End. The day was a success! Neighbors enjoyed free food, drinks, games, and a talent showcase. Dr. Victor Garcia, Chief Trauma Surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, spoke at the event, encouraging residents to take back their community. He emphasized to community residents that they are a part of the solution and encouraged them to be hopeful.
Project REACH (Reaching Every Aspiration for College with Hope) - the collaborative partnership between CMHA, Miami University-Oxford and HARMONY GARDEN that prepares African-American girls living in the West End for college - celebrated its 2nd graduation on May 12, 2010. The event, Bridges to Achievement, was planned and executed by REACH participants with the support of Ginel Parham, college and career mentor at CMHA. Jorden Davis served as mistress of ceremony. The high school graduates were Lashawn Bryant, Dyesha Finch, Tymesha Gibson, Shaneisha Hocker, Ja'Lauren Lackey and Erika Smith. The food was wonderful, thanks to Marquicia Jones who is a HARMONY GARDEN board member and owner of Mesmerize Inc.
HARMONY GARDEN was invited to join Access Health 100's Consumer Engagement & Advocacy Coalition. Access Health 100 is a new initiative developed by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati to provide executive guidance and leadership to restructure the Greater Cincinnati regional health care system so that every resident has access to primary care as part of a quality health care program.
HARMONY GARDEN issued a challenge to girls and women to earn prize money for their "favorite" nonprofit organizations by organizing teams to participate in the very hilly Price Hill Pacer 5K Run/Walk on June 5, 2010, a very warm and humid day. The winning teams and their designated organizations were:
- 1st Place: $500: Grace Lobono, Team Captain; participating on behalf of StarShine Hospice at Cincinnati Children's Hospital
- 2nd Place: $300: Jennifer Weber, Team Captain; participating on behalf of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Cincinnati Children's Hospital
- 3rd Place: $200: Anne Millea, Team Captain; participating on behalf of Pregnancy Center West
The Price Hill Pacer 5K Run/Walk is an annual event that benefits two HARMONY GARDEN partners in the Healthy Communities Healthy Girls initiative - Price Hill Will and Santa Maria Community Services (www.pricehillpacer.org].
HARMONY GARDEN Associate Dr. Flavia Bastos is the recipient of the 2010 Edwin Ziegfeld Award for her work in art education. This prestigious award, given by the United States Society for Education through Art, recognizes leaders who've made significant contributions to national and international art education. This year Flavia was also appointed to head the field of art education's most important journal - the Journal of Art Education.
HARMONY GARDEN Associate Dr. Jean (Jay) Schensul is the 2010 recipient of the Bronislaw Malinowski Award for solving human problems using the concepts and tools of social science. The Bronislaw Malinowski Award is presented to an outstanding social scientist in recognition of efforts to understand and serve the needs of the world's societies and who has actively pursued the goal of solving human problems using the concepts and tools of social science during one's entire career.
HARMONY GARDEN Associate Dr. Lisa Vaughn is a founding member of the Partnership for the Academy of Multilingual Immersion Studies (AMIS), a Cincinnati Public School for students in grades preK-8 at which core subjects are taught in French and Spanish. She and Associate Dr. Farrah Jacquez served on the AMIS Partnership Steering Committee. From February-May 2010, they piloted a Girls' Club at the school.
HARMONY GARDEN Associate Dr. Jason McMullan, an emergency medicine physician at University Hospital, was a member of a Federal Emergency Management Agency urban search and rescue team that responded to the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. Jason treated earthquake victims and also helped oversee the safety of rescue workers.
HARMONY GARDEN Senior Scientist Dr. Judith Harmony was invited to join the United Way of Greater Cincinnati Research Council as a respresentative of the The Women's Fund. The Research Council is the data collection and analysis arm of the Community Research Collaborative, which assists policymakers, community leaders, and service providers in identifying the health, social, and economic issues facing the Greater Cincinnati area.
HARMONY GARDEN Intern Andrew Robbins graduated from Xavier University with a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in Business Marketing and Entrepreneurship. While working at HARMONY GARDEN Andrew also had a marketing internship in athletics at Xavier. Andrew now resides in Chicago.
