Ohio county boosts community youth programs with ARPA funding

Key Takeaways

Hamilton County, Ohio’s INSPIRE Youth initiative is helping community organizations better serve youth in low-to-moderate income households. Small businesses that work to “improve the physical, mental and social health” of Hamilton County youth are eligible to receive up to $5,000 from the county through the initiative, which is funded through American Rescue Plan Act dollars, according to Alice Bledsoe, INSPIRE Youth program coordinator.  

Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas presented the concept to the Board of Commissioners, which unanimously approved the grant funding program in 2023. Since then, more than 90 programs have received funding through INSPIRE Youth, benefiting more than 20,000 local youth.

“I wanted to encourage [youth], as well as the adults who have decided that they want to work with these young people,”  Summerow Dumas said. “I did not want them to think, ‘Well, we need some equipment, but we don’t have the money for that. We’re gonna have to close down the program.’ I wanted the adults and the children to keep pushing and to stay positive and continue the good work that they’re doing out in the community.”

The county wanted to make the process as easy as possible for community organizations, so instead of having them track financial data and report on how each dollar of the funding is used, the program leaders simply outline what items they’re requesting in their application and the county then purchases them and has them delivered to the organizations, according to Bledsoe. 

Arabesque Dance Academy received $5,000 from the INSPIRE Youth initiative, which went toward new ballet and tap shoes for students, tumbling mats, stretching bands and books on dancing and social emotional learning. Kimberley Stewart, the dance academy’s founder, is also a school social worker and has a group of students who come to the studio for dance therapy.  

“Those are children who don’t typically do well in traditional therapy,” Stewart said. “So, they come to me for dance and art therapy, and we work through how to express themselves in other ways.”

When Stewart was growing up, affording dance lessons was “a struggle” for her family. Her mom worked a side job, and her dad volunteered at the dance studio so that she could take lessons. The INSPIRE Youth initiative has allowed the Arabesque Dance Academy to teach more underserved youth who might not otherwise be able to afford the costs associated with dance, such as costumes or shoes, she said. 

“I never wanted [money] to be a reason why a child couldn’t participate if they wanted to,” Stewart said. “So, having a student come in who may not be able to afford shoes, but me being able to tell them, ‘Hey, it’s no big deal. We’ve got a supply for you,’ has worked wonders ... It’s just one less thing to have to worry about.” 

Another recipient of the INSPIRE Youth initiative is Millvale Community Center’s youth boxing program. The center used the $5,000 grant for hand wraps, gauze, tape, boxing gloves, protective gear and other equipment. 

The funding has allowed Millvale Community Center to help keep youth “out of trouble by having them work on things like discipline, self-control, that go far beyond just boxing in itself,” said Lonnie Jenkins, who runs the center. “It gives them an option to have role models in the center, people to look up to and people they can rely on.” 

INSPIRE Youth has been such a success, that once ARPA dollars expire, it will continue to be funded through the county’s jobs and family services department, according to Summerow Dumas.

“We gave them $5,000, but you would have thought we gave them $5 million, the difference that it’s made,” Summerow Dumas said, of the recipients. “The fact that these young people can continue these positive things, they’re going to be more positive in the community, so really it’s a bigger picture.”

By investing in youth programming, Hamilton County is investing in its future, Stewart said. 

“Being able to pour into small businesses who pour into children and pour into our community … is a real benefit,” Stewart said. “The community where my studio is located is also the community where I’m the social worker and assistant principal of the school district, and is also the community that I grew up in and that my parents live in, so it makes it so that families can remain tied to the communities that they’re in.”