CINCINNATI — When Jeanne Bell started her nonprofit in the '90s, she just wanted to get kids to fall in love with tennis. That outreach has since spanned generations.
Charie White spends a few days a week playing tennis at the Madisonville Recreation Center.
"I'm not like a professional, but I know what I'm doing," White said.
A student at Taft High School, White has been hanging around tennis courts with Inner City Youth Opportunities Cincinnati for the past eight years. But she didn't really have a choice in the matter.
"My mom was in the program when it first started," she said. "She just wanted me to have the same experience that she had a long time ago."
White is under the guidance of Nick Lazaro, who's been around ICYO Cincinnati his entire life.
"I've been coming around ever since I was a baby," Lazaro said. "I was in my car seat coming to the office all the way up until grade school."
It was Lazaro's grandmother, Bell, who started the program in 1993. White's mother was one of the first 25 kids who entered the program.
"After dropping them off going to play tennis, she saw there was still work to be done," he said.
In addition to the tennis program, ICYO Cincinnati has academic tutoring and youth development camps. The work Bell and her nonprofit did was personal for White and her family.
"(My mom) was like Mrs. Bell's daughter ... she used to stay over Mrs. Bell's house and make her own breakfast," White said. "I feel like she was my second grandmother, like my second mother."
And now, the generational giveback continues.
ICYO Cincinnati is finding solutions to get more kids excelling in schools, fostering a love of tennis and being a pillar of support. If you're interested in getting your child into ICYO, you can find more information on their website or give them a call at 513-731-7312.
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