THURSDAY, APRIL 5
Includes a 1.5 hour van ride to the preserve and back. Pre-registration required. Leaders: Alice Jones and Chris Bedel. Join Eastern Kentucky University's Alice Jones and Cincinnati Museum Center and Nature Conservancy Staff for an introduction to the 20,000 acre Edge of Appalachia Preserve System in Adams County, Ohio. Renowned botanist and ecologist E. Lucy Braun brought The Edge of Appalachia to the world's attention with her ground breaking work on eastern prairies and their underlying geology. Known as one of the great biological hotspots of the east, the preserve is rich in rare and unusual flora and fauna and will surely delight even the seasoned outdoors person. Join preserve staff on short hikes to the base of Buzzardroost Rock and to Lynx Prairie which was named in Lucy's honor for her pioneering work in ecology. Visit the preserve biodiversity collections and lab to learn about their efforts to catalog the flora and fauna of the preserve or just sit on the large covered deck overlooking Ohio Brush Creek Valley to contemplate this ecological jewel of Ohio. Level of Difficulty: Moderate. Includes some hills andhiking in rugged terrain. Note: Lunch ($20 per person) will be provided at the preserve. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-the-footsteps-of-e-lucy-braun-at-the-edge-of-appalachia-tickets-41974828843 Limited to 20 participants.
Pre-registration required. Sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Cincinnati Branch, this pre-conference at the Federal Reserve, 150 E. Fourth Street, will highlight strategies for addressing community development inthe areas of health, energy, and food systems, including potential funding sources for promising new ideas. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/walking-the-road-to-health-together-private-nonprofit-and-community-partnerships-tickets-41982805702 Limited to 80 participants.
The Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative is a multiagency effort that assists communities that havebeen negatively impacted by the decline in the coal industry. Through the initiative, federal agencies including the Economic Development Administration(EDA), the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), and the Small Business Administration (SBA) provide competitive grants to help coal-impacted communities achieve economic diversification through investment in growth industries such as advanced manufacturing, health care, local food systems, energy, and travel/tourism. This session will provide an overview of the POWER grant process.
Often, healthy-communities work involves addressing complicated problems. And, while the healthy-communities movement has evolved and many communities have seen much improvement, sometimes significant changes in health outcomes can take many years to materialize. Foundations can make significant and lasting impacts on communities by implementing new grant-making strategies, coordinating and nurturing deep partnerships acrosssectors, developing new measurement and evaluation strategies, and guiding sustainability of healthy-communities work for generations to come. This session provides an overview of potential ways to collaborate and effectively leverage resources to sustain healthy-community efforts.
Pre-registration required BY MARCH 15. In the mid-nineteenth century, conductors on the Underground Railroad aided freedom seekers on their journey north. The Ohio River Valley was an active site along this passage tofreedom. Today, on the banks of the Ohio River, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center stands as a monument to the souls who risked everything in the fight for their freedom and the freedom of others. Through engaging permanent and temporary exhibits, videos, interactive stations and special programming, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center reveals the stories of freedom's heroes from the era of the Underground Railroad through contemporary times. In addition to the wonderful exhibits, the Freedom Center features the John Parker Library Family Research Center with free family history resources and volunteer staff to help with family history research, and the Open Your Mind Learning Lab, designed to assist the public inunderstanding bias and other forms of discrimination, as well as to explore recent debates in the realm of implicit bias research. If we have 15 or more who want to tour the Freedom Center together, we can arrange a group tour. Admission cost: $13. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/national-underground-railroad-freedom-center-tickets-41984226953
Pre-registration required. Leaders: Owen Cramer and Richard Hague. Join us on a visit to some of Cincinnati's many breweries, many of which are in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky's traditionally Appalachian neighborhoods. Your generous $25 donation to the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition gets you safe and comfortable transportation, knowledgeable local beer guides and wonderful camaraderie. Beer and food are not included. The first brewery stop will include a discussion of the group's beer preferences to determine which of greater Cincinnati's 20+ breweries we visit. Experience has shown five breweries (plus or minus) is the usual cut-off between a fun evening and too-much-of-a-good-thing. There will be opportunities for food and non-beer beverages along the way. Tour guide Owen Cramer is an arrogant beer nerd and an avid home brewer. Expect to get an earful about Cincinnati's rich brewing history as well as the social, economic, technical and political forces shaping the craft beer scene. Owen will be joined by Richard Hague, Weatherford award-winning poet and raconteur. Other tour guides will be announced based on the number of participants. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cincinnati-brewery-tap-room-tour-tickets-41983987236
FRIDAY, APRIL 6
Pre-registration required. Leader: Community Learning Center Institute. OylerCommunity Learning Center, located in the historical Appalachian neighborhoodof Lower Price Hill in Cincinnati, is a pre-K-12 grade school, as well as thenational model for Community Learning Centers, whereby the school serves as the hub of the community. Providing a myriad of services to students and community members alike, such as early childhood education, mental health,primary, vision, and dental services, Oyler has been reimagined to optimize the conditions for learning and to catalyze the revitalization of the community. The tour will focus on the transformation of Oyler School to a Community Learning Center, followed by a panel of educators, service providers and community leaders who will address how this model has been adapted to serve the unique needs of a traditionally urban Appalachian community. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oyler-community-learning-center-tour-tickets-41984322238 Limited to 28 participants.
This two-session workshop will build on the work engaged in by the ASA Steering Committee at its 2017 summer retreat. Participants are invited to join facilitator Jeffrey Stec in envisioning how to better connect scholars and activists in supporting each other's work. Part 1 will introduce the model for engaging in collaborative work, and Part 2 will focus on developing specific strategies.
Pre-registration required. This Y'ALL-sponsored workshop will introduce participants to drug use harm reduction efforts and examples of successful programs in Appalachia. Participants will be provided with naloxone kits and will learn how to administer naloxone to someone who is overdosing. Pre-registration online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harm-reduction-workshop-naloxone-syringe-exchanges-and-social-justice-tickets-42081348446 Limited to 20 participants.
Pre-registration required. Leader: Nancy Laird. Following the route of migration from the river basin to Cincinnati's west side, this tour will include the site of the old incline system and classic migrant communities impacted by underemployment, water/air pollution and brownfields. Learn about the history of these communities' advocacy for environmental justice, health, and adequate, affordable housing. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/urban-appalachian-migration-eastlower-price-hill-tour-tickets-41984436580 Limited to 14 participants.
Pre-registration required. The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut Street, Twelfth Floor. Explore how the geographic region that shaped you can help shape your writing. Whether your region is Appalachia, the Ohio River Valley, or beyond,this workshop will help writers of poetry or prose incorporate a sense of place. Led by Weatherford Award winner Richard Hague, author of Studied Days: Poems Early and Late in Appalachia and Pauletta Hansel, author of Palindrome, both out from Dos Madres Press, 2017. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-the-region-writers-workshop-tickets-41984541895 Limited to 20 participants.
SATURDAY, APRIL 7
Pre-registration required. Leader: Tom Wagner. Join Tom Wagner, University Professor Emeritus of Planning and Urban Studies, for a short walk to the Carew Tower. Completed in 1930, Carew Tower is the second tallest building in Cincinnati; however, it is still the highest elevated building in the city. We will visit the 49th floor Observation Deck for spectacular panoramic views of the region. Tom will present brief information about the historical development of Cincinnati and introduce you to three of the city's urban Appalachian neighborhoods viewed from on high. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/visit-cincinnati-and-urban-appalachian-neighborhoods-from-the-top-of-carew-tower-tickets-41984657240
Pre-registration required. Leader: Community Learning Center Institute. Guided by the philosophy that the success of the school and the success of the neighborhood are intrinsically linked, the Community Learning Center Institute (CLCI) based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is an emerging leader in school-centered community revitalization, whereby neighborhood reinvestment focuses on improving academic outcomes for children by addressing neighborhood variables that impact school performance, such as health, housing, blight and crime. Beginning at the Oyler Community Learning Center, the CLCI, along with community residents and neighborhood stakeholders, will lead an interactive tour of the traditional Appalachian neighborhood of Lower Price Hill while addressing the importance of grassroots engagement in community revitalization, reviewing the recent Lower Price Hill planning process, and finally, highlighting completed and planned investments as a result of this work. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lower-price-hill-community-tour-economic-development-education-and-health-initiatives-tickets-41984729456 Limited to 28 participants.
Pre-registration required. Leaders: Maureen Sullivan, Michael Maloney and Larry Redden. This walking tour will visit sites important in local Appalachian history. Originally a German immigrant settlement, Over-the-Rhine became an Appalachian port of entry in the 1940s. In the 1970s it became primarily African American. Now the section below Liberty Street has been largely gentrified and is a fashionable bar, restaurant and small startup business district. The area above Liberty houses some of the city's most distressed families. Tour leaders will provide first-hand accounts of living and serving urban Appalachians in Over-the-Rhine. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/walking-tour-of-over-the-rhine-yesterday-and-today-tickets-41984846807 Limited to 15 participants.
Pre-registration required. Leader: Nancy Laird. A grassroots environmental education organization serving schools and families for over thirty years, Imago has been modeling and educating about living in concert with the natural world, both animate and inanimate, human and non. Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage is an intentional community dedicated to alternative land use practices and leading urban revitalization and sustainability. The complex includes Urban Earth Farms and Common Roots, a unique bar and caf� offering local, organic,sustainable and thoughtfully sourced foods and beverages. The tour will conclude with a visit to Lower Price Hill, a community with a history of environmental justice activism and advocacy. Pre-registration online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/west-side-environmental-justice-and-sustainability-tour-tickets-41984896957 Limited to 14 participants.