CINCINNATI — "Resources without a relationship creates dependency. Resources through a relationship creates transformation." That transformation is what Found Village co-founder Katie Nzekwu hopes to have for every child experiencing the foster care system in Greater Cincinnati.
"We believe young people know what they need, and we believe that if we listen to them, that we will find out what that is, and we can then partner with them to create better conditions around them, so they get access to the things that they need," Nzekwu said.
At just 15 years old, Nzekwu found herself in a detention center in the foster care system in West Virginia, not understanding why she and her peers were basically being punished for things adults were in control of.
She had support to get out of that situation but witnessed the cycle of others without that support in a decade spent working at a behavioral health facility.
She said she started seeing high schoolers "cycling back" years after they first started services in kindergarten, and they'd been "in almost every system and service across our city."
"When you talk to them, you're talking about defeat and a belief that something's wrong with them and (that) they're worse off than they were when they had left," Nzekwu said.
So, when she and her husband started Found Village, Nzekwu said they looked at starting with basic needs and then building on the trusting relationship.
"If you want to get a job, we'll drive you to the interview. We'll prep you. We'll build your confidence. You know, you walk with young people, you don't just tell them what they need to do and like, that's really where the relationship strengthens, where the trust deepens. And then you're equipping kids to be able to do life on their own… showing them value, that they're valuable, that they're worth your time," Nzekwu said.
The non-profit has seen a 50% drop in hospitalizations, suspensions or incarcerations after the first year a child is in the program and this year reports a 100% high school graduation rate. The national graduation rate for kids experiencing the foster care system is 72%.
Allen Givens is one of the coaches working directly with about 30 of the 70+ young people in the program.
"There's things that they've been through, there's other agencies or people that they've worked with they may not have the greatest experiences with. So, when I come in, I just try not to approach it as a job, and I just give them the time that they need, and just treat it like I would with anybody in my life that I'm trying to build a relationship with.
Givens has worked in group homes, as an EMT and at Dohn Community School but found relationship building more rewarding and it reminds him of what mentors did for him years ago.
"There were times in my life where I did something that was beneficial to me, but not because I believed in me, or I even thought I should do it," Givens said. "It's because somebody I trusted, or somebody I looked up to, you know, told me I could do it, or told me it would be good for me. And once I did it, or I got into that space, you know, then I made my own choices, like, hey, this is good for me. I should be here. I do like how I feel here."
Givens truly believes he found his calling at Found Village and thinks the model can be one used across the Tri-State to better help kids and more positively affect their future.
"What we do can help on an individual basis, but that's contingent upon who is in our program. If there's a fundamental change in philosophy throughout the agencies in the city… that's a macro level change, and that's that would be probably the greatest thing I think can happen."
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