Clean & Safe
Learn more about how Downtown Cincinnati stays clean and safe with our friendly staff members, ambassadors, and partners.
Questions or Concerns? Call or text us.
Ambassador Hotline:
(513) 623-3429
Outreach Hotline:
(513) 498-6192
One of the key focus areas of the Downtown Cincinnati team is maintaining and enhancing a clean, safe and welcoming environment downtown. The organization works toward this goal by employing a strong staff of full- and part-time Downtown Ambassadors, as well as through providing outreach services to our neighbors in need who may be homeless or panhandling through our GeneroCity 513 program.
Downtown Ambassadors
More than 40 Ambassadors work for Downtown Cincinnati. All are trained in public safety, enhanced cleanliness and customer service. Acting as the eyes and ears of the Downtown Cincinnati Improvement District, they patrol downtown Cincinnati seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Ambassadors patrol the streets on foot, cleaning sidewalks and alleys and providing guides, maps and friendly assistance to visitors. The Ambassador team supports the Central Business Section of the Cincinnati Police Department, a community policing program with an additional complement of officers dedicated to the Central Business District and housed at the Welcome Center at The Banks.
The ambassadors are happy to provide safety escorts to Downtown destinations. To arrange an escort, call the Ambassador Hotline at (513) 623-3429. Call the hotline if you have questions or concerns, need directions or a map to a Downtown destination. This free service is available to everyone. No gratuities accepted.
During their shifts, Ambassadors:
- Look out for disorderly conduct
- Help Cincinnati Police reduce crime and panhandling
- Remove litter and graffiti
- Connect people in need with social service agencies
- Provide maps, guides and helpful directions
Ambassador Hotline
If you have questions or need one of the services outlined above, call, text, or email:
(513) 623-3429
GeneroCity 513
GeneroCity 513 is an initiative aimed at helping individuals who have been driven to panhandling, including those facing unfortunate circumstances like homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Utilizing a multi-faceted approach, GeneroCity 513 has been designed to offer a positive alternative to panhandling, help connect panhandlers to social service agencies, and provide strategic case management to the most visible homeless persons in downtown Cincinnati.
The initiative is a partnership between 3CDC/Downtown Cincinnati, the City of Cincinnati, City Gospel Mission (CGM), Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services (GCBHS), and Strategies to End Homelessness (STEH).
GeneroCity 513’s programs include a Jobs Van and Outreach Workers.
Jobs Van
The Jobs Van, which is managed by CGM, operates four days per week, picking up 10 individuals each day and transporting them to a job site for a day’s work. The program offers a positive alternative to panhandling, and helps connect panhandlers to social service agencies that provide opportunities for shelter, employment, and mental health and substance abuse services. Pickups are made a random locations throughout the urban core. Participants engage in community beatification projects, receive a free lunch, and are paid $9/hour in cash at the conclusion of their shifts.
Outreach Workers
Downtown Cincinnati works with GCBHS to provide four full-time Outreach Workers in the urban core, along with a fifth seasonal worker, who engages with clients from May through October. Outreach Workers have the ability to provide assistance to individuals on the street, regardless of their location, mental state, sobriety, or housing situation. The G513 Outreach Workers supplement the outreach work being done by GCBHS’s PATH Team.
The G513 Outreach Team helps connect our neighbors in need with other social service agencies that can help improve their quality of life, focusing on areas such as substance abuse and addiction services, mental health services, permanent employment, housing and more.
Since GeneroCity 513’s launch in July 2018, the initiative has made over 1,000 connections to social service agencies and connected over 400 individuals with permanent housing.
For more information on the initiative, visit www.GeneroCity513.org.
Outreach Hotline
If you see someone in need on the streets and would like to help, call, text, or email:
(513) 498-6192
Contact the Cincinnati Police Department's non-emergency line at (513) 765-1212 if you see aggressive panhandling or feel threatened. Call 911 in case of emergency.
Support GeneroCity 513
To support GeneroCity 513’s work connecting our neighbors in need with social services, complete the form below: