Hamilton County is celebrated Community Development Week with a Hamilton County Community Development Showcase, which featured the county’s commissioners and leaders in county planning and development.
The showcase, held April 7, was led by commissioner president Stephanie Summerow Dumas. Discussion centered around how nearly $5 million will be spread across the county and recognizing the hard work county leaders have done to help each municipality.
Each year, Hamilton County is given about $5 million in federal money from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to invest in community development.
Dumas said of this year’s federal money, $3.4 million went to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), $1.3 million was invested in the Housing Opportunities Made Equal grant (HOME) and $333,867 for the Emergency Solutions Grant, which is designed to give permanent housing to those facing homelessness.
“None of this happens without our community development,” Dumas said to the applause of elected and county officials.
Commissioner vice president Alicia Reece said she was excited to bring federal taxes back to Hamilton County as investments.
“My motto is always, we must get our fair share and be able to work with the different municipalities and administrators that are here today,” Reece said.
A consistent source of excitement and an example of Hamilton County’s successful investment was the showcase’s location: HighGrain Brewing Company in Springfield Township.
The brewery opened its second location in May of 2024, in the former Brentwood Bowl location, which shuttered as a result of the pandemic. This creating a vacant space in Springfield Township. So, the brewery used funding from the Community Development Block Grant to create the community space, said Katheen Kennedy, assistant administrator in Springfield Township.
“Being able to invest and to be at this particular location where I used to bowl, and now being one of the premier facilities in our county, being able to have beer and bring families together, I remember when it was a vision, and they brought it to our board, and our Board of Commissioners worked through our administration,” Reece said.
Other successful uses of federal dollars include the creation of a 513Relief Bus, providing health screenings, social services and economic relief to the county, according to a post on Hamilton County’s website. In addition, around $250,000 was invested into Mount Healthy via community impact grants for facade improvements, strengthening the business district along Hamilton Avenue, Reece said in her address.
“This is economic development that is going to create jobs, that’s going to bring people in, create sales tax and be able to not be a blight in the community,” Reece said.
Commissioner Denise Driehaus spoke about housing at the showcase.
She said over the past five years, nearly $400,000 in CDBG funding has supported HOME, and served more than 200 residents with fair housing services, ensuring residents know their rights and have access to safe, fair housing.
“This is what it looks like when we leverage federal dollars for real impact,” she said. “It’s a big step forward for people that need our assistance in their most vulnerable place with their families. We are very proud of the investments we have made and that the federal government has made on behalf of the residents here in Hamilton County.”
Driehaus said the CBDG grant money is not able to be spent in the City of Cincinnati, but was meant to help support other municipalities that didn’t have as many resources.