Celebrated author Michelle Singletary to discuss Cincinnati economy

Published March 24, 2009 at 12:00 a.m.
Over-the-Rhine's Emanuel Community Center is repositioning itself as a community connector, and it's bringing in a high-profile speaker to help make that happen.

On, May 11 at Memorial Hall, Emanuel and SmartMoney will present Michelle Singletary, a syndicated business and finance columnist for the Washington Post and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, and author of two books.

Singletary will be speaking on the economy and will take questions on what recovery could look like for the Greater Cincinnati region. Emanuel is soliciting further topics for Singletary through a survey on its home page.

Karyl Cunningham, CEO of Emanuel, says that the event fits the non-profit's mission of bringing disparate groups together through shared experiences.

"Michelle Singletary's appearance is an opportunity to bring residents and businesses of the community as well as those residents and businesses located in the central business district in coming together and hearing a national figure address an issue that affects us all, no matter what our age, our socioeconomic background, or our culture," she says.

Emanuel's new mission and vision involves getting new and long-time Over-the-Rhine residents talking, exposing new people to the neighborhood, creating friendships, and having fun.

They have recently launched Jazzercise and salsa classes, which have drawn people from a wide range of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

"We envision ourselves as a community connector in creating a cohesive community by providing education and shared neighborhood experiences that connect all residents of Over-the-Rhine," Cunningham says.  "Emanuel is a community center and a community center's job is to engage people by bringing them together, whether it is participation in a book club, a meet-and-greet the artist session, an author book presentation, a place where community and business meetings take place, a place where workshops, jazz sets, et cetera take place."
Cunningham says that they're trying to differentiate themselves from the numerous non-profits operating in the neighborhood.

"Emanuel Community Center is not a social service," she says.  "In its history of 138 years, it has certainly served in that social service capacity, but as the neighborhood has changed, Emanuel had to realign itself with those changes."

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Karyl Cunningham, CEO, Emanuel Community Center


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