Current News

Nationwide Children’s Partners with the D.R.I.V.E.N. Foundation for 3rd Annual Food Giveaway

In 2009, The DRIVEN Foundation hosted the first annual MR. DRIVEN’s TRUCK in Columbus, Ohio.  The idea was to provide families several meals that they could enjoy together during the cold winter months.  Many times, outreach opportunities around Thanksgiving involve food giveaways, but the Christmas season is typically about gifts.  As we all know, people go hungry everyday, not just on Thanksgiving.  In 2010, Nationwide Children’s partnered with D.R.I.V.E.N. to bring the giveaway to the south side at Livingston Avenue Elementary. Now, after just three years, MR. DRIVEN’s TRUCK has distributed nearly 150,000 pounds of food to Columbus-area families in need. 

With the help of nearly 300 volunteers from Nationwide Children’s and others, recipients were given a variety of breads, meats, fruits, vegetables and juices to take home with them.  These items provided several weeks worth of healthy meals for their families.

The impact that was made on Saturday, December 17th showed on the faces of those who walked away with food and holiday cheer. The hugs from men, women and children who now knew where their next meal was coming from, said more than “thank you” could express.  Volunteers who took part in the day returned home to their families to know that they made a difference in someone’s life.

For more information on the D.R.I.V.E.N. Foundation, please visit their website.

HNHF Welcomes Patient Family to the Neighborhood

Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman alongside City Councilmember Hearcel Craig, United Way of Central Ohio President and CEO, Janet Jackson and Nationwide Children’s Hospital CEO, Steve Allen, MD, celebrated the completion of an in-fill residential property created to address the specific housing needs of a Nationwide Children’s patient family.

The Long Family has a wheelchair bound child and they make frequent visits to the hospital. Due to the on-going treatment, the Long’s were eager to find a home in the area. As they assessed their housing needs, it was determined that these first-time home buyers needed an ADA compliant home. With the support of Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families (HNHF), United Way of Central Ohio and the City of Columbus, a once vacant and blighted lot was turned into a home that made the Long’s dream a reality.

Funded partially by the United Way and Nationwide Children’s, with the lot donated by the City of Columbus, the Long Family will move into their new home that accommodates their needs with a wheel chair ramp, interior hand rails and larger turning radii throughout the home for accessibility. This is the first home where the homebuyer and builders worked hand-in-hand to address the specific needs of the family.

Community Relations Newsletter

The Community Relations newsletter is distributed to Southside neighbors twice a year. The newsletter shares impactful projects that have allowed Nationwide Children's Hospital to collaborate with friends, businesses and residents in our community. As we continue our pledge to be a Good Neighbor, this newsletter celebrates our partners and the great work being done to revitalize the Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families zone. Read the newsletter»

Farmer’s Market Mondays

Fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods are being made available for employees, community residents and visitors at three Farmer’s Markets hosted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The next Farmer’s Market will be held on Monday, August 29, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. near Nationwide Children’s Human Resources building in parking lot on 18th Street across from the hospital’s Outpatient Care Center.

“The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Employee Wellness program invites all surrounding communities to our third annual Farmer’s Markets,” said Cindi Solomon, program coordinator. “Local residents are encouraged to shop healthy.” The market will accept the Ohio EBT card, WIC and Senior coupons.

During the Farmer’s Market, attendees should peruse the market for fresh produce and gather health information. On August 29th, the market hosted a grilling demonstration, featuring produce from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Community Garden. The Community Garden is planted at 591 Stone Avenue. Produce from the garden is donated to the food pantry at Holy Rosary St. John.

Upcoming Farmer’s Markets are on September 12, featuring apples and a food preservation workshop. October 10th focuses on pumpkins.

Health Care Heroes Winners

Designed to honor health care and outreach for the region, Columbus Business First annually honors institutions, programs and individuals who make a difference. This year, Nationwide Children’s Hospital was nominated in several categories and received awards for Outreach with the Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families program. The program is recognized for renovating 70 homes on the Southside, as well as striving to create access to health care, nutrition, education and safety.

The Hospital was also honored as an Innovator for the Ohio Better Birth Outcomes program. Lead by Dr. Kelly Kelleher, this collaborative brings together several central Ohio entities to reduce preterm birth. Since its inception, there has been a fifty percent reduction in preterm births for women in the program.

Dr. Lisa Repaske received an honorable mention for her work at the Ronald McDonald House of Central Ohio. Repaske utilized the NCH mobile unit to provide immunizations to hundreds of students in districts where children are in need of health care.

Read about the Nominees and Honorees in detail.

Successful “Day at the Movies” in Ganthers Place

“A Day at the Movies” was the theme of the Ganthers Place 7th Annual Home and Garden tour on July 24th.

Over 200 people visited the tour, enjoying music by Bob Hanlin on the Nationwide Children’s Stage at the Green ‘N’ Things garden, as well as rides from local pedicab drivers and refreshments.

Alan Carroll and Ken Williams head the Ganthers Place Civic Association. “The goal of the tour,” said Carroll, “is to celebrate the neighborhood.”

Partnering with Edgewood and Nationwide Children’s, a total of 18 homes were open to tour participants. Each home featured a movie theme, complete with movie poster and yard decorations to match. The theme isn’t a contest, but it inspires residents to build stronger relationships. The neighborhood collaboration “shows that we’re not all individual. We all worked together and got something accomplished,” said Carroll.

Ganthers Place regularly hosts these up-beat, community centered events. Events promote home ownership, safety and unity among their residents. All people across Columbus are invited to attend the tour annually. Next year’s theme will be “Christmas in July.” Applications will be available in May.

Southern Orchards welcomes NCH and Turner Construction

On August 6th, Southern Orchards Civic Association will collaborate with Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families and Turner Construction. For the third straight year, they will team up to give back to the community by providing cosmetic upgrades to multiple houses in the area.

The scope of work for each house will range from landscaping, concrete walk and stairway replacement, to fence repair and general clean up. The one-day event will bring together volunteers and contractors to “adopt a house”. The objective is to connect resources with man power to make improvements in 12 residential homes.

Nationwide Children’s staff established projects during a walkthrough with each homeowner.

These collaborations encourage the core values of being a good neighbor. By uniting, NCH, Turner Construction and Southern Orchards strive to build a sense of community pride in this Columbus Area.

 

Farmers’ Market Offered at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

All are invited to attend Farmers’ Market Mondays at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The market will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on each of three Mondays -- August 29, September 12 and October 10.  Offered in the surface parking lot next to the Human Resources building (574 S. 18th Street), the markets are approved to accept the Ohio EBT Card, WIC and Senior Coupons.

Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families Summer Home Tour

Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families at Nationwide Children’s Hospital will hold the HNHF Summer Home Tour, on July 9. The tour features 8 renovated, energy efficient properties now available for purchase.

Please join us from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. on Carpenter Street, Heyl Avenue and South 18th Street to experience the homes, enter to win prizes and enjoy appetizers. A shuttle service is provided to transport between the properties. Take this opportunity to learn more about homeownership near Nationwide Children’s Hospital. View the HNHF Summer Home Tour flyer provides the details!

We look forward to seeing you at the Summer Home Tour.

Realtor Care Day

On June 15, up to 50 realtor volunteers visited the Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families housing zone to landscape and beautify the neighborhood. Their primary focus was a new green space on the corner of Heyl Avenue and Sycamore Avenue. The realtors helped turn this space from a vacant lot, which once held a dilapidated house, to a space for the community to visit and enjoy. The new green space includes rose bushes and trees. The centerpiece of the space is a paved area with a weeping cherry blossom tree as the focal point.

The green space is next to an HNHF new build that is currently under construction, 787 Heyl Avenue.

Realtor Care Day is an annual event programmed by the Ohio Board of Realtors. This year’s partnership was the first between NCH and the Realtor Care Day event. The volunteers also participated in landscaping several other properties.

Nationwide Children's Hospital Community Garden Update

It’s been six weeks since the kick-off of the NCH Community Garden. During those weeks, gardeners have been spending time in the garden to tend their plots and to check progress of their growing produce. With the hot weather from late May, watering has been one of the main priorities. We anticipate some produce to begin ripening in the next few weeks, including herbs, tomatoes, and squash. The produce will be donated to the food pantry at Holy Rosary St. John on Ohio Avenue. Please visit them on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s to enjoy the vegetables from the NCH Community Garden!

The garden planning committee has started to prepare projects and programs in the garden. Garden programming is intended to teach the community about healthy cooking, growing nutritious food and engaging with outdoor activity. Another way to access healthy food is to visit the NCH Farmer’s Markets, on Monday’s, 11:30a-1:30p, August 29, September 12, and October 10.

To get involved with the garden, please contact Stephanie Perry at Stephanie.Perry@NationwideChildrens.org or (614)355-0743.

Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families June Housing Update

Summer brings exciting progress on the housing front for Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families. In the past two weeks, two properties were sold, and three houses are in contract to be closed by the end of the month. Buyers include a Nationwide Children’s Hospital employee.

Upcoming projects include a ranch-style home that is ADA compliant. This will be the first home of its kind built with the HNHF Affordable Housing initiative.

For more information on renovated properties in the HNHF Zone, please contact Robert Williams at 614-365-0693 or Robert.Williams@NationwideChildrens.org.

Plant Pride on Parsons 2011 Spring Clean Up

The Valvoline Plant Pride on Parsons 2011 Spring Clean Up event was a great success! A total of 133 volunteers participated from all parts of the city to beautify the heart of the South Side. Participants included a strong representation from Nationwide Children's Hospital as well as individuals from The Ohio State University, Chase Bank and residents of 8 neighborhoods in the surrounding area.

Plant Pride on Parsons is a neighborhood beautification effort that takes place each spring on the Southside. Organizations from across the city volunteer to do a litter clean up, graffiti removal and to plant flowerpots along Parsons Avenue corridor.

10 teams collected 179 bags of trash and litter (5,370 lbs) and filled up 22 bags of recyclables.
To top it off, another 50 hand-painted planters with beautiful new designs by the Heart of Ohio Tole Painters were added to the Avenue for a total of 97 flowering pots.

View photos of the event: Valvoline Plant Pride on Parsons Spring Cleanup 2011.

Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families

Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families (HNHF) is a five-pronged public-private collaborative, focusing on neighborhood revitalization in Columbus’ South Side, with the goal impacting more than 10,000 residents annually. HNHF is focused on creating tangible outcomes in the areas on Affordable Housing, Education, Health and Wellness, and Safe and Accessible Neighborhoods. This initiative is currently building on efforts around the recently-designed and opened Livingston Avenue Elementary School, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and current South Side housing improvement efforts.