👋 GOOD MORNING, CINCY
Sometimes loving a city looks surprisingly practical.
A neighbor gets a helping hand. Someone builds something that makes life better. A family gets another shot at owning a home.
This week, we're highlighting a few of the people, places, and opportunities making Cincinnati a better place to call home.
THIS WEEK IN CINCY
🏡 21 available build sites give local families another path toward homeownership
🛠️ Cincinnati makers are building custom solutions and adaptive Halloween costumes for people with disabilities
🥟 Panda Fest + two more reasons to get out of the house this weekend
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PARTNER · YIELD COFFEE ROASTERS
Better coffee can do more than taste good.
Cincinnati-based YIELD sources specialty coffee through long-term producer relationships and gives at least 10% of profits back to meaningful projects.
🏡 WORTH KNOWING
21 new paths to homeownership are open right now
For a lot of Cincinnati families, buying a home can feel less like a difficult goal and more like an impossible one.
Right now, there’s another path.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati opened its latest Affordable Homeownership Program application period on October 10. Its current listing shows 21 available build sites, with applications open through October 26.
Qualifying families partner with Habitat, complete homeownership and financial education, contribute sweat-equity hours, and eventually purchase their home with an affordable mortgage. Habitat says homes in this application period are available with a 0% interest mortgage for eligible households earning below 80% of Area Median Income.
The current list includes two-, three- and four-bedroom homes across communities including Bond Hill, Walnut Hills, the West End, West College Hill and Hamilton.
Habitat homebuyers help build their own home and others alongside volunteers. That combination of ownership, education and participation is what makes the model different.
The most important number this week is October 26. If someone in your life assumes homeownership could never work financially, send this to them.
📍 AROUND CINCY
Cincinnati Works analyzed 602 people it placed into jobs from 2022 through 2025. The result: an estimated $136.3 million in regional economic output and 1,319 jobs created or supported. It’s a useful look at how stable work ripples through the wider economy.
Everybody’s Treehouse at Mt. Airy Forest has reopened after major structural repairs. The inclusive structure was designed so children and adults with varying abilities can experience being up among the trees.
UC physician-researcher Dr. Natalie Kreitzer received a five-year, $2.5 million NIH grant to lead a multisite clinical trial for families caring for someone with a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. The study will test a caregiver wellness program designed to reduce distress.
For 38 years, Cincinnati Parks’ Fall ReLeaf program has distributed 27,000 free trees and helped raise the city’s tree canopy from 38% to 43%. Registered residents still have pickup windows Saturday, October 17 and Monday, October 19 at MadTree Brewing.
🙌 SHOW UP
🥟 BEST FOOD + CULTURE PICK
Friday–Sunday · Oct. 16–18 · Smale Riverfront Park · $14+
More than 80 Asian food vendors and 200+ street-food options are taking over the riverfront, along with performances, shopping and family activities. Friday runs 4–10 PM, Saturday 10 AM–10 PM and Sunday 10 AM–8 PM.
Best for: Families, friends and serious eaters.
The move: Buy ahead. Gate admission is $20 plus tax.
🎃 BEST FAMILY PICK
Friday · Oct. 16 · 6–8 PM · Caldwell Nature Preserve · $10 city residents
Families follow a pumpkin-lit trail through eight interactive stations built around nature and storytelling. The non-scary experience is designed especially for kids ages 3–10. The trail includes stairs and uneven footing.
The move: Leave the stroller at home, wear closed-toe shoes and register before you go.
🐮 MOST CINCINNATI THING THIS WEEKEND
Saturday · Oct. 17 · 10:30 AM–Noon · Camp Washington
The inaugural Moo Mile leans into Camp Washington’s meatpacking history and the story of Freedom the Cow, who escaped a local slaughterhouse in 2006 and later lived on a farm. All ages are encouraged to show up in cow-inspired attire.
Best for: Families and anyone who appreciates Cincinnati at its weirdest.
The move: If you own anything cow-print, this is its moment.
🤝 ORGANIZATION OF THE WEEK
May We Help
In 2003, engineer Bill Wood met a woman with cerebral palsy who loved to read but was using a pencil held in her mouth to turn the pages of a book.
So he built a device that let her turn a page with the push of a button.
That problem eventually helped launch May We Help, a Cincinnati organization built around a very specific gap: sometimes the thing a person with a disability needs simply does not exist.
Today, 75 volunteer engineers, designers, welders, woodworkers, physicians, therapists and other makers design custom devices and deliver them at no cost to hundreds of recipients each year.
Each project starts with one person’s real-world problem.
This month, volunteers are building adaptive Halloween costumes, including designs adapted around wheelchairs. Costume requests are full, and finished projects are due October 24.
The model is intentionally personal: one person, one problem, one custom solution.
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👋 SOMEONE TO KNOW
Eileen Budo
Eileen Budo spent 28 years in supply-chain leadership at Procter & Gamble after serving as an Air Force officer.
She later applied that experience to a different logistics problem: moving good surplus food to people who need it before it gets thrown away.
Today Budo is co-founder and CEO of Last Mile Food Rescue, which connects surplus food from grocers, restaurants and commercial kitchens with local nonprofits. Since 2020, the organization says it has rescued enough food to provide more than 15.5 million meals.
Watch the 3 minute overview video on their website for a moral boost. They’re doing incredible work around our city.
🗓️ LOOKING AHEAD
Yeatman’s Cove hosts the annual gathering supporting people affected by blood cancer. The local fundraising goal is $1.4 million. Registration is open now.
Coffee, tea, chocolate and local roasters take over Music Hall. Tickets start at $15, with limited availability for some Saturday morning entry times.
Habitat Greater Cincinnati breaks ground on its Pope Leo Village project in West College Hill at 10 AM. All are invited.
Cincinnati ToolBank’s annual fundraiser runs from 6–10 PM and supports the tools and equipment used by local charitable organizations.
The Duke Energy Holiday Trains return to Union Terminal for their 80th season, with more than 300 rail cars and 50 locomotives.
The Cincinnati Zoo’s 44th annual holiday tradition returns with 5 million LED lights, animal lanterns, and Santa Village.
💌 PASS THE GOOD NEWS
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If this issue helped you discover something good about Cincinnati, send it to one person who might enjoy it too.
✝️ A GOOD WORD
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10
One of my favorite things about this week’s issue is how ordinary some of the tools are.
Engineering. Logistics. Coaching. A car. A hammer. A Saturday morning.
The gift doesn’t have to look impressive to be useful. The question is what we do with what we have. And there are plenty of places around Cincinnati where it can be put to good use.
See you next Thursday at 5:55 AM.
