Four stories written in 2020 as part of the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative’s (NEO SoJo) focus on the coronavirus were honored at the Society of Professional Journalists Cincinnati Chapter’s 2021 Excellence in Journalism Contest on Thursday, June 10.

The stories were submitted by “Eye on Ohio” as part of a five-part series on continuing coverage of minority issues. All four NEO SoJo stories were winners in the “Best Minority Issues Reporting,” category.

FreshWater Cleveland journalist Sydney Kornegay’s story, “Kindred care: Congolese refugee community takes care of its own, and others, during COVID-19,” which covered how Cleveland’s Congolese community pulled together to ensure everyone was cared for during the pandemic, was one of the winning stories.

Other NEO SoJo award winners were Jordan Walker’s “LGBTQ+ youth face unique mental health risks in isolating times during the pandemic” about the anxieties LGBT+ students faced last year and the organizations poised to help them; Lee Chilcote’s and Conor Morris’ “Making it count: Community groups get creative in collecting census data during a pandemic” about efforts to get minority groups counted in the 2020 U.S. Census;  and Miesha Wilson Headen’s “Home Visitation Program Reduces Infant Mortality in Medicaid Recipients” on infant mortality among minority communities and the efforts to bring customized healthcare into homes.

These are just some of the stories NEO SoJo covered during the pandemic in 2020. FreshWater Cleveland, which is part of the 20-plus member collaborative, congratulates “Eye on Ohio” and all of the winners in the SPJ Cincinnati Chapter’s Excellence in Journalism Contest.