What We Do
Ohio City Incorporated facilitates programs that promote the growth of the neighborhood and help to better the quality of life for neighborhood residents.
Safety
Ohio City Safety Camera Initiative: The safety of the residents, workers, and visitors is a top priority for Ohio City Incorporated and the community. The Ohio City Safety Camera Initiative is designed to deter crime by installing, and identifying through signage, safety cameras in strategic locations throughout the neighborhood. Camera footage is a useful tool to the Second District police in investigating incidents of crime.
Ohio City Improvement Corporation: Ohio City’s Clean & Safe Ambassadors provide services that include patrolling the Special Improvement District, removing litter and graffiti, providing safety escorts, addressing public disturbances, homeless outreach, and greeting and assisting people in the district. These services are funded by property owners in the identified special improvement district. For more information, contact Molly Farris, mfarris@ohiocity.org
Safety Committee: Ohio City Inc. facilitates a Safety Committee comprised of OCI staff & Board members and neighborhood safety leaders that meets monthly to assess safety needs and concerns in the community. For more information, contact Molly Farris, mfarris@ohiocity.org
Engagement
Near West Recreation: Near West Recreation provides year-round recreation programming to over 1,000 youth & adult participants on Cleveland's Near West side. Sliding-scale financial assistance is availabe to all residents within the program service area, making the programs accessible to all. The league currently offers 9 programs and 10 partnership programs. For more information, contact Keri Palma at kpalma@ohiocity.org
Community Engagement Committee: OCI facilitates a Community Engagement Committee comprised of OCI staff & Board members and neighborhood residents that meets monthly to discuss opportunities to strengthen our engagement with the Ohio City community.
Block Club Support: Ohio City Inc. regularly attends meetings for and exchanges updates with neighborhood Block Clubs.
Volunteer Opportunities: Volunteering is a great way to get connected to your community! OCI facilitates year-round volunteer opportunities including neighborhood clean-up and planting days, Near West Recreation youth sports coaching, outreach initiatives, and neighborhood events. Click here to register with our volunteer database!
Spring Jam: Each March, OCI puts on a Spring Break program for youth residents of Lakeview Terrace. This program includes cost-free childcare for the week of CMSD Spring Break, daily educational and community building programming, meals and transportation to activities.
Economic Development
Business Assistance: Ohio City Inc. provides support for businesses looking to locate in the neighborhood. Our staff can help connect you to property owners and resources such as the Neighborhood Retail Assistance Program, the Storefront Renovation Program, the Ohio City Small Business Development Fund, as well as signage and building rebates. For more information, contact Molly Farris, mfarris@ohiocity.org
Neighborhood Planning
Ohio City Inc. helps to advocate, plan, fundraise and provide technical support for neighborhood planning initiatives that improve transit connectivity, walk and bike-ability, green spaces, and public art. For more information, contact Julia Mattler-Grove, jmg@ohiocity.org
Housing Assistance
Ohio City Inc. provides technical assistance to home and property owners and developers to aid in the permitting and design review processes. For more information, contact Ben Trimble at btrimble@ohiocity.org
Marketing & Events
Annual Meeting- Each March, Ohio City Inc. hosts an Annual Meeting to share the accomplishments of our past year with the community and announce a series of awards for excellence in the neighborhood. At this event, we also present our Annual Report, sharing the details of the work we accomplished over the past year and updates on ongoing projects.
Evening in Ohio City- Our annual fundraising event Evening in Ohio City takes place each May. The event consists of a 5-stop tour of homes throuhout the neighborhood, with food from local restaurants and beverages at each stop. Proceeds from the event support our programs and initiatives.
Ohio City Street Festival- Our major annual event is the Ohio City Street Festival, which brings in over 15,000 attendees each September. This day-long celebration of the Ohio City neighborhood showcases neighborhood restaurants, West Side Market vendors, and retail, a wide variety of interactive arts programming, live music, and a kid's zone full of family-friendly activities. This event is completely free and open to all.
Partnership Events- Ohio City Inc. provides financial and technical support for a number of events taking place in the neighborhood including Station Hope, Ohio City Stages, Open Air in Market Square and the Ohio City Run & Crawl.
Marketing- Ohio City Inc. facilitates neighborhood and West Side Market marketing initiatives through our social media, website, e-newsletter, quarterly newsletter In Your Backyard (mailed free of charge to Ohio City Inc. members,) and other communications. We also help to support neighborhood events, initatives and groups by sharing information through these platforms.
