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.
