Cincinnati Bar Foundation
2007 Award Recipient
The Cincinnati Bar Foundation is the recipient of the 2007 National Conference of Bar Foundations (NCBF) Award for Bar Foundation Excellence in Public Service Programming. This award is given annually to a bar foundation demonstrating excellence and impact in either its programs or grant-making awards to its community. In establishing this award, NCBF seeks to recognize and honor the noble work of bar foundations that quietly and effectively build communities, understanding and hope.

The foundation's project, Out of the Crossfire, is a gunshot violence intervention program created to address the dramatic rise in the incidences of gun violence-a 500 percent increase in Cincinnati from 2000-2005. During the year 2000, 75 gunshot wounds were treated at Cincinnati's University Hospital Trauma Center. For the 2005 calendar year, the hospital saw more than 350 gunshot wounds. This dramatic increase in gunshot wounds was accompanied by a staggering health care cost as well as an enormous personal impact on the injured victims. The purpose of Out of the Crossfire is to break the cycle of violence, help the participants lead a productive life and relieve the community of crime and the economic drain on limited resources.

The program utilizes the expertise of social service providers, outreach workers, lawyers, business and faith-based organizations, community members, physicians, nurses and other members of the trauma team. Collaboratively, these individuals focus on the restoration of health and well-being of the gunshot victim. The program begins on the first day the patient is able to consent and continues for years during his or her recovery.

Out of the Crossfire includes an evaluation of the survivor's social circumstances with specific attention to issues such as job and vocational rehabilitation, continuing education, substance abuse and/or mental health counseling, circumstances of living conditions, environmental factors and peer group, as well as legal and court responsibilities. Survivors are mentored and referred to local agencies providing educational and job training programs, employment opportunities, counseling, life skills training, legal assistance, medical coverage and follow-up care.

In the first year of this program, a weekly life skills class for Out of the Crossfire participants, including in-patients, discharged patients and their family members, has been formed. Some participants receive assistance with completing their GEDs and help with relocation. A database of qualified community resources has been developed for referral-making purposes and volunteer peer role models have been recruited as volunteers to assist clients pursuing lifestyle changes.

Thirteen years ago, two members of the Allegheny County Bar Association started Attorneys Against Hunger as a grassroots campaign to raise money for hunger relief. Over the course of the last 12 years, the campaign has evolved into one that hunger service agencies rely on to fight hunger in Allegheny County.

In 2004 and 2005, the campaign raised over $171,000, bringing the total raised over the 13-year history of the campaign to over $500,000. The funds raised are distributed to 12 hunger service agencies in the community. The campaign benefits from the long-standing support of LexisNexis, which underwrites the administrative costs of the campaign, enabling every dollar donated to go directly to hunger service agencies in need. Additionally, a family of the bar association and a local firm award a challenge grant as an incentive to encourage member participation. If the target goal is met, the grant is released to the campaign.

For more information about "Attorneys Against Hunger," visit www.acbf.org/grants/atty_against_hunger.