Housing Task Force
Chairpersons: Dennis Coskie and Jim Schenk
This committee has been working on projects that increase the safety, beauty, energy efficiency and value of Enright Ridge by purchasing and rehabbing properties that were for sale and had a high risk of being used as investment property. The committee is feeling very upbeat about its accomplishments to date.
The Housing Task Force, working in collaboration with the Promotion's Task Force, has also been successful in attracting new residents, who are interested in the Eco-village, to purchase or rent here.
The Housing Committee needs your help! We have purchased the apartment on the corner of W. 8th Street and Enright Avenue. The goal is to turn the building into an appealing gateway to our street by rehabbing the property, renting the store front, and ensuring the building is safe for residents. We also have purchased 744 Enright, 2 doors south of the apartment building. We are excited about the prospect of rehabbing these buildings and making the entrance of our street a beautiful and safe place for all residents. We are going to need your input on these properties.
I. Through the generosity of Imago, we have purchased three buildings:
3647 W8th St. - The commercial building at the corner of Enright & W8th Streets - has a storefront and five apartments. The storefront has had a total energy efficient renovation. It is now rented and occupied by the Cincinnati Zen Center. The five apartments are being renovated. We are renovating this building slowly, making the apartments very livable, with the goal of making them even more energy efficient when we are able to receive grants to assist us with this. We received a grant from Home Depot to replace a number of windows in the apartments.
684 Enright Ave. - This building was foreclosed. We were able to purchase this single family residence at auction. With the aid of volunteers and professionals we were able to rewire the building, insulate, put in an energy efficient furnace and air-conditioning, low flow toilets, non-VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paint and worked on the interior walls and floors. We sold the house before it was totally finished. The owner has finished the work and is in the process of landscaping the yard.
744 Enright Ave. - This building was also a foreclosure. We were able to purchase it and, again with the help of professionals and a great deal of volunteer help totally renovated it with new energy efficient windows, insulation of walls and ceiling, low flow toilets and shower and non toxic floor coating on wood floors as well as built a deck in the back, a rain garden, It has an energy efficient furnace. This house has also been sold.
II. We are now looking at other properties that would benefit from our purchase and renovation as well as continuing work on the apartment building.
III. We are also encouraging and consulting with residents of the Eco-village on ways to improve their homes in an ecologically friendly way. Over two-thirds of the homes in the eco-village have been insulated, have energy efficient windows, and many have included other eco-friendly rehab measures such as landscaped yards, low-flow toilets and showers, florescent light bulbs and energy efficient furnaces.
IV. Volunteers are crucial to this project. They are the ones that are making these projects affordable. Without their help we would not be able to continue with our housing initiative.
Are you able to help out, even 1-2 hours a month, to make these projects a success? There are a variety of jobs that need to be done, from assisting with the rehab work, to paperwork, to management help. If you can share even a small portion of your time, please contact Scott Schaffer at sschaffer@imagoearth.org or attend a meeting.
Promotions Task Force
Chairs: Eileen Schenk and Lydia Stec
This small but active group's purpose is to promote Enright Ridge Eco Village as a healthy, safe, and sustainable neighborhood; A place where there is a high degree of friendliness, respect for each other and a commitment to live lightly on the earth. We expect that Enright Ridge Eco Village will be a neighborhood of choice in Cincinnati, the "hybrid car" of neighborhoods.
The committee has also agreed that we need to "brand" the neighborhood so that it is easily recognized. We have hung flags from the telephone poles in Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage as well as hang a sign across the street at the entrance. Other ideas are to put additional large flower pots placed periodically along the street and house number plates that are the same. These would provide continuity. Call Eileen or Lydia if you want to help with either of these projects.
Events that were planned and held by the Task Force to date:
Environmental Green Group (EGG)
Chair: Deborah Jordan
The Enright Energy group would like to help everyone on Enright save money by reducing energy consumption as well as reducing their use of the Earth's non-renewable resources. In order to do this, we focus on:
This is the cool group to join - we're not all techies either, but we do have ENERGY. We want to try things out in our own homes and yards. So we use and give out compact fluorescents, we get estimates on solar hot water, we network with U.C. Engineering, we sign on to a grant to get an educational audit of our homes. One member is rehabbing her home to be as sustainable as possible. She helped secure a grant for several rain gardens in the neighborhood. We also labeled storm drains on Enright Avenue and 2 other Price Hill streets with "protect our waterways" decals.
Enright Ridge Urban Eco-VIllage
c/o Amanda Johnson, Imago
700 Enright Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45205
(513) 921.5124
ajohnson@imagoearth.org