News

Closing the Wealth Gap: Race, Wealth, and Homeownership

This virtual conference will explore ways to uplift our Black and Brown communities through homeownership which builds individual wealth and will ultimately help Cincinnati create a more vibrant, diverse, resilient and equitable community. The most significant indicator of systemic racism in the United States is the wealth gap between Blacks and Whites. The disparity in homeownership accounts for a significant part of that wealth gap. The gap in Cincinnati could not be more clear. Black home ownership in Cincinnati is around 31% while white home ownerships is around 73% - a 42% gap. As we seek to address the crisis in affordable housing there is the need to look at this deeper, systemic issue of the wealth gap. This means addressing the question not only in terms of subsidized rental markets but also in terms of homeownership and fair housing. This event will raise consciousness about this inequity and further discuss how we might address it in the Cincinnati region. We invite you to join us to address the many issues surrounding Black homeownership locally and nationally. We will explore how an increase in Black home ownership can become a key component in helping to create Black wealth. We will explore how this is being done in other parts of the Country and what we should do locally to promote greater homeownership among To participate, register online here, or copy this address into your browser: https://hopin.com/events/race-wealth-and-homeownership-49deb11f-ac63-403d-be8e-f7526431a0a2#top

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Fall Interfaith Retreat: Pilgrimage & Power

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RefugeeConnect Welcomes Afghan Refugees to Cincinnati

RefugeeConnect’s mission is to connect refugees (people forced to flee their country to escape persecution or war) with resources to rebuild their lives as United States citizens. The Junior League of Cincinnati launched RefugeeConnect in 2013 after a routine community needs assessment determined that connecting refugees to existing resources was a pressing need for women and children in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. In 2018, RefugeeConnect became an independent nonprofit and today offers support to refugees across the region to navigate often unfamiliar systems, new cultural norms, and language barriers. RefugeeConnect promotes coordinated services so that this specific population of new Americans, who may be unaware of the patchwork of crucial resources already in place, reach their full potential as individuals, families, and civic and community leaders. Programs such as our Community Navigator program ensure that refugee families have access to information and resources in their native language. Our Community Navigators are cultural leaders, many of whom came here as refugees themselves. A Community Navigator will work to develop a strong relationship with identified families in need and help them navigate often complex and confusing systems while supporting a family's long-term goals. Our work is not done in a silo, as we recognize that for refugees to be successful in their new communities, we must all work together to create a more welcoming, safe, and supportive environment for our newest neighbors. This is why we partner with over 150 organizations and service providers across the region to ensure that refugees can access the myriad of social, financial, and health supports that will enable them to thrive. We partner with other nonprofits, faith communities, and healthcare providers through a collaborative effort to make the Greater Cincinnati area truly a welcoming city. As the current administration announced that it will raise the Presidential ceiling of new refugee admittances to the United States and as the crisis unfolds in Afghanistan and we evacuate Afghan allies and process SIV applicants (special immigrant visas), we are preparing to welcome more refugees into our city. Our hope is that as there becomes a greater awareness of refugees across the globe and the need to resettle them, more people in our community will come forward as supporters and help us to welcome our newest neighbors. RefugeeConnect specifically needs support through private donorship and volunteerism. You can donate directly to support our Community Navigator program, our Scholarship fund, or to assist our general operations by visiting our website at https://www.refugeeconnect.org/ . We are always looking for people who want to be more involved through volunteerism, such as being a peer or family mentor to a college aged student or family, sitting on a planning committee for our fundraising events, or helping us with administrative tasks. As the local resettlement agency, Catholic Charities of SW Ohio, prepares to welcome new refugees, they also need assistance with finding affordable housing to place refugee families, household goods, and volunteer support. Please, visit their website at https://www.ccswoh.org/programs/refugee-resettlement-services/ to learn more.

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4th Annual Festival of Faiths  Acknowledges "We are in it Together"

Registration is Open as Hundreds Sign-up for Online Events Starting Sunday, August 22nd at EquaSion.org CINCINNATI, OH – July 26, 2021 – The 4th Annual Cincinnati Festival of Faiths, the signature program of the interfaith group EquaSion, is drawing hundreds of online participants for a 7-day program, August 22 through 28. This year’s theme, “Compassion Through Action: We are in it Together," will deliver a program filled with interfaith prayer, music, spiritual meditations, lunchtime webinars about faith, workshops for teachers and spiritual leaders, a panel discussion for youth, and more. Click Here to view the entire 2021 schedule of programs. In its fourth year and in response to the lingering threat of the pandemic, the Festival will again be presented virtually.  More than 50 community leaders joined this year’s Festival of Faiths Co-Chairs Penny Pensak, Afreen Asif, Bishop Marvin Thomas Sr., and Jaipal Singh to create 15 events with broad appeal for communities of faith, families, and all individuals seeking inspiration from the collegial and respectful interfaith relations they will witness throughout the weeklong festival. For the first time, the Festival is honoring a local individual as Honorary Chair of the Festival.  To inaugurate this recognition, the EquaSion board selected James P. Buchanan, Ph.D., the recently retired Executive Director of the Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University.   Dr. Buchanan, a widely recognized scholar and civic leader, has devoted twenty years to promoting interfaith education, dialogue and collaboration both locally and nationally.  He is currently the director of Interfaith Cincy and A Blessing to One Another and serves on the boards of numerous charitable organizations. The Festival activities will again embrace the 30 faith communities and 13 world religions that have participated in previous festivals. A few highlights include:

• An Opening Interfaith Devotional involving prayers from more than a dozen religious traditions
• Spiritual Meditations practiced by 10 different faith traditions (3 sessions)
• Social Action workshop, ”Faith and Food:  Moving from Insecurity to Sustainability"
• Compassionate Conversations:  "What is the meaning of GRIT?"
• Workshop on "How to be a Sacred Activist for Racial Justice"
• Beloved Community Youth Panel Discussion on the topic of Food Insecurity
• “People Got to Be Free” – An Interfaith Celebration in Music, Song and Dance, followed by the Closing Interfaith Devotional on August 28th at 4:45 pm.

For a complete listing of events, days & times, and Zoom sign-up links for each, please visit https://www.equasion.org/festival-of-faiths/calendar-of-activities/  

About EquaSion

EquaSion is a nonpartisan civic association whose mission is to promote Compassion through Action: acting on our compassion, we engage people of all faiths to discover their shared humanity and spirituality, and to work together for an equitable and just community for all. Its signature program is the Cincinnati Festival of Faiths. For more information on EquaSion’s interfaith community and the Cincinnati Festival of Faiths, visit www.equasion.org.

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Faith Communities Go Green Invites You Join the Plastic-Free EcoChallenge

Green Umbrella’s Faith Communities Go Green Team invites you to take the Plastic Free EcoChallenge throughout the month of July!

• Have you considered using reusable grocery bags, but have not remembered to take them out of your car before going to the grocery store?
• Have you thought of reducing your plastics usage, but have been unsure of where and how to start to make the biggest impact?
• Have you been interested in learning what happens to the plastics once you put them in your recycling bin, but haven’t had the time or motivation to do so?
If so, you are not alone. Many of us have the best of intentions, but have just not formed these good, environmentally-friendly habits yet. Joining the Plastic Free EcoChallenge can help you form some of these good habits. Our team “Cincinnati Area Faith Communities Go Green” will be one of several hundreds of teams from all over the world, competing to see who can make the biggest impact in reducing their plastics usage. The goal of EcoChallenge is to help us change our behavior towards a greener lifestyle, while doing so in a fun, collaborative, and mildly competitive environment. You can choose your level of involvement. You can sign up for, say, one one-time activity that you may spend an hour doing in the entire month. Or, you can sign up for a few daily activities and some one-time activities. Click Here To Read More

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