Contributed by Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber
Join the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber on February 27, 2025 for its next Annual Dinner – Legacy & Promise: A Celebration of Leadership. The Annual Dinner, the Cincinnati Chamber’s premier business event, is highlighted by the induction of the newest class of Great Living Cincinnatians and celebration of the 2025 We Are Making Black History honorees.
The the even is at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, West Rivercenter Boulevard, Covington, KY 41011
In 2025, the Cincinnati Chamber will welcome to its prestigious group of Great Living Cincinnatians James M. Anderson, Dolores J. Lindsay, Charles R. Scheper and Geraldine “Ginger” B. Warner.
Since 1967, the Great Living Cincinnatian Award has been presented annually by the Cincinnati Chamber. The 2025 honorees will join our previous 172 awardees chosen by the Chamber’s Senior Council for service to the community; business and civic attainment on a local, state, national or international level; leadership; awareness of the needs of others; and distinctive accomplishments that have brought favorable attention to their community, institution, or organization.
At 87, Dolores J. Lindsay still likes to drive through the part of Walnut Hills where she grew up.
“Whenever I’m in the community, I like to reflect on the warm family connections I formed not only with my blood family, but with my neighbors and my community,” said Lindsay.
In no small way, Lindsay has recreated that safety and caring atmosphere through the founding of the HealthCare Connection, where she devoted 53 years as a champion for equal access to health care.
Born in Cincinnati during the 1937 flood, Lindsay is the eldest of three children. Raised by her mother and grandmother, she worked at Friedman’s Dress Shop downtown after school. She often stopped for lunch at the nearby Orange Bar, where she met her future husband, Arthur.
They married after she graduated high school, moved to Lincoln Heights, and went on to have five children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Lindsay is a devoted grandmother, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren are the joys of her whole life. Arthur passed away in 2013, but family was and remains extremely vital to her.
“My grandchildren have all lived in general close proximity to us, so they got the benefit of cousins and those beautiful family relationships that I myself experienced in my youth in Walnut Hills,” said Lindsay. “That was a great blessing to me and my husband.”
While Arthur worked, Lindsay made a home for their children. During high school, she had considered pursuing nursing, but was discouraged when it was hinted that she wouldn’t be accepted in the profession as a Black woman. It wasn’t until 1967, pregnant with her fifth child, that she reengaged with the healthcare field.
“I was inspired by the collective activities during the Civil Rights movement to get involved,” said Lindsay. “There were no primary care physicians practicing in Lincoln Heights, and I wanted to help bring access to my community.”
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 established the Health Center Program as a way to improve health care among marginalized and underserved communities in the nation. The then-mayor of Lincoln Heights called a meeting of community agencies to join in the movement. Lindsay was vice chair of the St. Simon’s PTA, where her children attended, and she attended in lieu of the chair. This proved fortuitous.
“That meeting showed me that it was possible to make a difference and improve lives through equal access to health care, and I wanted to help make that happen,” said Lindsay.
St. Simon’s priest, Father James Francis, galvanized an ecumenical effort to create a local option to access primary health care, and they were off the races.
“Lincoln Heights could not have done this alone,” said Lindsay. “Not only did we receive an initial $10,000 grant from the city of Lincoln Heights, but Father Francis brought other local denominations – like Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and others – together for this unified goal that would change all of our lives. He also provided a four-room apartment to get us started.”
Initially called the Lincoln Heights Infirmary, this established Ohio’s first health care center. It was such a community effort that each church involved paid the rent, utilities and phone bills on a rotating basis. The group buy-in is what led to the HealthCare Connection name of today, underscoring the connections of what would grow to serve 23 political jurisdictions and 46 census tracts in northern Hamilton County.
“We discovered that not only were some Lincoln Heights residents in need of health services, but there were pockets of poverty and need outside of our city, and we were committed to serving them, too,” said Lindsay.
Doctors, nurses, and medical professionals staffed on a volunteer basis. Dental services in the basement were funded by Cincinnati Dental Association through Christ Church Cathedral.
Lindsay’s role transformed from front office volunteer to service coordinator to administrator.
“I had the opportunity to go back to school, at the University of Cincinnati, and studied health care administration,” said Lindsay. “I thought I needed a medical background, but I realized I didn’t. I learned how to manage and coordinate the efforts and activities of the organization, build relationships, and fundraise.”
She even went back to school a second time, continuing her education at the University of Southern California through a program called On the Job, On the Campus. Lindsay attended seven-day intensive semesters during the two-year program, earning her master’s in Public Administration.
Lindsay served on many boards, including the Cincinnati Community Action Agency, and received many awards and honors, among them Enquirer Woman of the Year in 1996. She is an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sigma Omega chapter member.
During her tenure, THCC expanded services to a center in Mount Healthy in 1987. They worked with the Head Start Program to establish children and family health services in Forest Park in 1996. They established a school-based health center in 2013 in the Princeton School District. Lindsay led THCC until her retirement in 2020.
“It was not a career for me, it was a ministry,” said Lindsay. “I loved every moment of it – the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Three Questions with Dolores Lindsay
What advice do you have for the next generation of Cincinnatians?
Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join in. – Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Sometimes, you have to fly the plane while you’re building it.
Do you have a motto or creed by which you live your life?
Do all you can, for as many as you can, for as long as you can.
It takes a village to raise a child. – African Proverb
Who has been an inspirational figure in your life?
Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The women from my neighborhood, who helped to guide my life, family and career. My family – my mother, my grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, school friendships – all helped to shape me in my early years.
Other honorees include:
– Jim Anderson: When Anderson returned from service in Vietnam in 1968, a captain and decorated member of the 1st Infantry Division with three bronze stars, nothing directly foretold his future as an attorney or his celebrated tenure as CEO of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
– Charles R. Scheper: Under his leadership as Mayor of Covington, Ky. the Scheper Report was implemented, reducing the budget by $5 million. Scheper, a stage 4 cancer survivor, has held many board positions and was instrumental in the revitalization of Covington’s business district, particularly through the Catalytic Development Funding Corporation of Northern Kentucky. He invested early in Bexion, and became board chair, a position he holds to this day. Scheper continues to keep his promise to himself.
– Geraldine “Ginger” B. Warner: When Warner arrived in Cincinnati in the early eighties with her husband and two children, she continued a pattern of immersing herself in the local arts culture. She joined the board of the May Festival, one of her great passions.
There, she met Louise Nippert, Cincinnati’s most prominent and generous arts benefactor, and 1995 Great Living Cincinnatian. “I admired her so much. She was lovely, quiet, and unassuming,” said Warner of the woman she still refers to respectfully as Mrs. Nippert.
Before long, there seemingly wasn’t an arts organization in Cincinnati that didn’t benefit from the generosity and enthusiasm of Ginger Warner. Over four decades, she served and supported generously the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Taft Museum of Art, Ensemble Theater, May Festival, and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. And her love for the arts extended across Ohio.
In 1997, Governor George Voinovich appointed her to the Ohio Arts Council. She’s served continuously since then, reappointed by multiple Governors of both parties. She’s currently the organization’s Chair. Today, thanks to Warner’s advocacy, all 88 Ohio counties receive arts funding, ensuring Ohioans can access and enjoy arts no matter where they live.
An avid gardener and enthusiast for the natural world, Warner served on the Great Parks Board and joined local garden clubs. Thanks to an invitation from her friend Mrs. Nippert, she joined the board of Greenacres, an organization she still serves today.
Governor John Kasich called on Ginger to serve in 2012, asking her to join the board of the University of Cincinnati. As a Trustee, Ginger recalled her time at Cornell and her frustration at inequities between men’s and women’s sports. In a fitting tribute, Warner created the Women’s Excellence Fund to permanently support UC’s female athletes.
Feature Image: The 2025 Class of Great Living Cincinnatians features four individuals who left an indelible mark on our Region. The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber is honored to recognize James M. Anderson, Dolores J. Lindsay, Charles R. Scheper, and Geraldine “Ginger” B. Warner as Great Living Cincinnatians. Photos provided