The Northside Business Association, NEST, and the Northside Community Council, are proud to launch Everyone Is Welcome, a new program celebrating radical hospitality in our neighborhood. Everyone Is Welcome includes a Suitcase Ramp Program designed to support accessibility improvements across our business district. Suitcase ramps are temporary ramps that are portable and easy to use, allowing businesses with steps to reduce that obstacle and become more accessible to all. This program is funded with $2,000 from the NBA and a $25,000 grant awarded to NEST via the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
Inclusion and accessibility enhance social justice – it’s the right thing to do. It’s also good for business. A 2018 a report by the American Institutes for Research regarding people with disabilities’ disposable and discretionary income notes that “discretionary income for working-age people with disabilities is about $21 billion, which is greater than that of the African-American and Hispanic market segments combined.”
(Suitcase ramp shown here is for illustrative purposes only.)
Through this initiative, we aim to support the businesses throughout our district by providing a complimentary accessibility package tailored to your business that may include some or all of the following:
- A high-quality suitcase-style ramp
- Signage related to your improved accessibility/partnership in the initiative
- A device to communicate between your business and those with an obstacle to entering (IE: wireless doorbell for customer assistance)
- Training
- Small-scale art installations celebrating that Northside is for everyone (see below)
- Marketing support from the partners to highlight and celebrate your new accessibility features within the community
To fill out the application online, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RJDDZWV
If you’d rather download the PDF version of the form, you can do so here and either drop off at the Cincinnati Bartending School (4141 Hamilton Ave.) or YOMA Cincinnati (4200 Hamilton Ave.) or email it to [email protected].
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15 MAR 2026
If you’d like assistance with your application, please contact our committee chairperson, Rachel Brown, at [email protected].
Northside’s own Visionaries + Voices, in partnership with the Everyone is Welcome program run by NEST, the Northside Business Association, and the Northside Community Council, is working on small-scale art installations for local businesses. Each piece will be site specific and one of a kind, including small murals, mosaic tile designs, stamps or stickers, or other pedestrianscale creations. You will be notified before any design installation takes place. Your business is not required to participate in the suitcase ramp program to be considered for a V + V art installation. If you are interested in being a site for installation, please contact: [email protected].