Dear community,
There’s no denying that 2020 was tough. Yet in the midst of heartbreak, grief and uncertainty, the Co-op Cincy team experienced some of the biggest blessings and successes in our network’s history. We’re reaching out with a joyful recap and a request for end-of-year donations, to help propel our work forward as we enter 2021.
As we welcomed new staff members, Paloma Correa and Marakah Mancini, we also helped 5 powerful Black women launch A Touch of TLC Home Health Care Services and planted the seeds that sprang into Bhutanese Bari, a grocery delivery service being developed by 10 Bhutanese refugees.
Queen City Commons is our brand new compost cooperative, joining Our Harvest and the tireless Apple Street Market team in the food justice arena. Our Harvest was able to restructure its debt, increase production by 33%, and return to profitability.
The Cincy Cleaning Co-op, Renting Partnerships and Sustainergy Cooperative all offer equitable ways to support Cincinnati residents. Sustainergy just became the first co-op in our network to pay back its entire loan from our revolving loan fund through the Seed Commons national financial cooperative--and secure a new loan that will allow the co-op to double production and expand its solar offerings!
CareShare serves as the anchor for our national child care cooperative work, which we have the honor of building alongside Cooperation Jackson, Wellspring Cooperative, and Cooperación Santa Ana, four incredible networks of co-op developers located in Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Southern California.
At the same time, we are both deepening and broadening here in Ohio, and launched a statewide network, in partnership with Co-op Dayton and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center. Additional Ohio cooperators will be joining us in 2021!
We launched the Business Legacy Fund, which puts a transition to worker ownership within reach for retiring business owners, saving jobs, stabilizing our economy, and opening up new pathways to worker ownership for more Cincinnati workers than ever before. We are entering 2021 with a strong cohort of 6 finalists in a variety of industries.
Also in 2021: Co-op Cincy will be publishing two books and two facilitator guides, in English and Spanish. That’s 8 books!
These resources will allow us to expand the union co-op movement by putting our educational curriculum directly into the hands of co-op developers around the country. As part of this work, Cynthia Pinchback Hines, Co-op Cincy founding board member, educator, and organizer, will be joining our staff to strengthen the racial justice components of the curricula and lead our first-ever Co-op U cohort dedicated explicitly to Black-led co-ops.
You have helped make all of this possible, and our community of co-ops appreciates you deeply! If you’re able to give one last time this year, we will enter 2021 on the strong financial footing that gives us the confidence to undertake this ambitious set of projects.
In deep gratitude and solidarity,
Ellen & our team at Co-op Cincy
