A major national philanthropic investment aims to reshape the Mill Creek Corridor, bringing long-awaited improvements in housing, health and economic opportunity to several Cincinnati-area communities.
Greater Cincinnati Foundation has secured $5 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to expand affordable housing, spark local economic growth and strengthen health outcomes in neighborhoods along the corridor long affected by environmental harm and disinvestment.
GCF’s approach to the Mill Creek Corridor starts with the basics: stable, safe homes. Many families in the area live in aging houses with hazards that undermine their health, including significant lead exposure, according to Robert Killins Jr., GCF’s vice president of community investments. He said the new funding gives the foundation the chance to address those challenges head-on.
“We see the need clearly in the Mill Creek Corridor,” Killins said. “Creating quality housing and repairing homes for existing homeowners will build lasting economic opportunity and environmental resilience. This work also addresses some of the long-term health needs in this community, where older homes have high levels of lead and other harmful factors.”
A community ready, waiting for renewal
This blend of housing, health and economic development reflects GCF’s long-standing, place-based strategy to help revitalize communities across the region. The foundation — one of the nation’s early leaders in impact investing — serves an eight-county region across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Its successful revitalization work in neighborhoods such as Price Hill, Walnut Hills and Over-the-Rhine, as well as in Northern Kentucky, helped position GCF to secure this competitive, multimillion-dollar investment from RWJF.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in New Jersey, is the nation’s largest philanthropy solely dedicated to health, investing in areas ranging from medical access and public health to environmentally-minded construction work.
To that end, GCF will fund the building of 25 new energy-efficient homes, rehab another 25 and deliver critical safety repairs through the Mill Creek Corridor. Beyond the improved, safer housing, the projects will create local construction jobs and strengthen the area’s economic base, per GCF. The goal is to build generational wealth by growing the capacity of small and diverse contractors and expanding access to low-interest, FDIC-insured home improvement loans.
To make all this happen, GCF is partnering with Working in Neighborhoods, the Economic and Community Development Institute and Warsaw Federal — organizations deeply rooted in community development and homeowner support.
GCF leaders say the partnership model is central to their mission of creating a vibrant and equitable region, and the Mill Creek Corridor illustrates what’s possible when expertise, capital and community priorities align.
“We are honored to work closely with so many incredible local agencies, homeowners and community champions to improve the quality of life in the Mill Creek Corridor,” Killins said. “With this impact investment from RWJF, we can start reversing decades of disinvestment and build neighborhoods where everyone has an opportunity to thrive.”
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