Neighborhood Action Team
Join a NAT Meeting
The Neighborhood Action Team (NAT) is a voluntary civic group comprised of Lower Price Hill residents. The NAT builds equity and strengthens local representation by focusing on leadership development, civic engagement, and community organizing. NAT members co-create community leadership opportunities, engage fellow residents in community activities, and lead community-driven initiatives.
Location
Outerspace
734 State Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45204
Monthly Meeting Times
2nd Tuesdays
4pm – 5pm
Learn About NAT Leaders
NAT Leaders are group members interested in serving at a higher leadership level. These members are typically compensated for contributing their time and expertise to this deeper, community-based work. NAT Leaders act on key ideas from the neighborhood by leading initiatives, planning community organizing activities, and engaging other neighbors.
Within Community Matters, NAT Leaders also serve on the Community Leadership Committee of our governing board, and the committee chair serves on the full board. This governance structure helps ensure that those we partner with have additional formal power within our organization and a voice in program evaluation and other critical decisions.
Recent Initiatives
Youth Leadership Development
In 2019, a 15-year-old was murdered in the Lower Price Hill neighborhood. Following this tragedy, the media published many stories about how Lower Price Hill was a poor, dangerous neighborhood and how the young people in the neighborhood were a detriment to the community. When talking with teens in the neighborhood, they expressed both outrage at their peer’s death and anger that they were being painted as the villains of the neighborhood. They wanted change, and so through their energy and ideas, Justice League was born.
As a cohort of the NAT, Justice League invests in the strengths, ideas, assets, and needs of youth in our community. Most recently, the Justice League group advocated for new basketball rims to be installed on a neighborhood court, wrote a successful grant to support the purchase of new rims, and hosted a youth basketball tournament to celebrate their installation.
Pedestrian Safety
After a child from the neighborhood was struck by a car, NAT members came together with other neighbors to advocate for increased pedestrian safety measures in Lower Price Hill. They created signs, held a public demonstration, and met with members of Cincinnati City Council to raise awareness about reckless driving in and around the neighborhood.
Since then, the ongoing advocacy work of NAT members has resulted in the construction of two new raised crosswalks near Oyler School, and they continue to work on critical street calming efforts along West 8th Street in the Lower Price Hill business district.
Food Access Advocacy
NAT members organized to campaign for needed food items at the new market on State Avenue. NAT collected community input through surveys and a food event to gather insights on what items we need to have in the store and what price points are accessible to our family budgets. As a result, the nonprofit-owned Meiser’s Fresh Grocery + Deli opened in 2022 as a social enterprise grocery store offering essential items, fresh foods, and a deli. In 2026, Meiser’s closed, but NAT members remain committed to finding long-term, sustainable solutions to address food access in the neighborhood.
Affordable Housing and Economic Development Design
NAT members evaluate proposed development projects, give oversight and guidance to affordable housing developments, and keep community members informed of development projects and proposals.
Developing Resident-Owned Businesses
NAT members are working to engage residents in developing business ideas and advancing resident-owned businesses.
Advocacy for Environmental Remediation
Lower Price Hill faces many challenges with environmental hazards in the soil, air, and in-home contaminants. NAT is working to raise awareness of environmental concerns, seek remediation opportunities, and advocate with agencies and government bodies to protect the local environment for residents.