Hamilton County foster care program provides life-changing experiences

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A new initiative in Hamilton County was launched Thursday at TQL Stadium to help level the playing field for foster kids.

“These young people have many life experiences, some I don’t think adults could even handle,” Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Dumas said. “We want to be a part of having the good memories outweigh the bad.”

The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, Job and Family Services and other organizations and businesses have teamed up to expose foster kids to new experiences and opportunities.

FC Cincinnati is one of the partners helping out and is offering access to summer camps and tickets to foster families to attend games.

“We don’t know if they will be the next star of the FC team one day, we don’t know if they’ll be the general manager one day, but they’ll get the chance to come and be exposed to it,” Hamilton County Commission President Alicia Reece said.

But the program does not stop with soccer.

Children can also attend various sports and theater camps, see live performances at the Aronoff Theater and visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Some will even have the opportunity to see Taylor Swift perform from the Hamilton County suite at Paycor Stadium in July.

The initiative is all about opening doors and giving them access to opportunities that may have previously been kept from.

“Now foster kids will be able to have the same opportunities as every other child and we have so many great sporting events and cultural events that we have here in our Cincinnati region, and we want to make sure that our young people are exposed to them,” Reece said.

This new initiative was made possible through donations, discounts from participating organizations and businesses and funding through the children’s services levy.

Foster kids can sign up for these opportunities through the Hamilton County Foster Care website.

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