By: AIF Staff
In 2016, Katie and Iloba Nzekwu felt determined to make a difference in their community of Cincinnati, Ohio. Both overcame significant obstacles in their early years, and they saw a city where youth from distressed areas were falling through the cracks. They set about leveraging these experiences and this desire to have a community support system for local teenagers by creating Found Village.
Found Village works with children, usually at age 13, who are or have been in the foster care and child welfare systems. They help these youths transform their lives through strong, family-like relationships and a community of support.
A community-based organization, Found Village works with children in the foster care system and helps these youths transform their lives through strong family-like relationships and a community of support. At a fundamental level, Found Village helps teenagers – many of whom have experienced trauma, neglect, or other challenges – regain the ability to trust others.
It is a long-term intervention and a methodical process. Found Village begins with a single mentoring relationship and then extends that trust to a wider network, providing family-like support that acts like a “village” around each youth.
In a 2023 interview, Found Village’s Community Engagement Director Shannon Yung explained: “Every young person who walks through our doors is introduced to our Pathway to Independence program, which consists of programs centered around discovery, stability, growth and independence. Our goal is to meet each individual where they are and propel them forward on a path of introspection, self-improvement and autonomy.”
To accomplish this, Found Village pairs each young person with a trained team of coaches to meet immediate needs (like clothing, safe housing, nutrition) before expanding out to a wider network of relationships to help with more long-term needs (like education and employment).
In this moving video from Stand Together, Iloba discusses the organization’s founding and how he came to understand the power of helping teenagers regain trust in their community.
Found Village measures success in a holistic way, focusing on a child’s development of self and their relationship and communication skills. As the co-founder, Katie Nzekwu, noted: “We look at success four ways. How are we contributing to your self-esteem? Your sense of value and seeing yourself in your fullness, so that you see that you have value and something to offer.”
Found Village’s goal is to create a family-like atmosphere for the teenager as they navigate the foster care system. Building a community of support is a long-term intervention and over half of Found Village’s participants have been enrolled in their program for over 3 years.
Additionally, Found Village addresses an important age gap in foster care: though the system often leaves youth on their own after they turn 18, Found Village starts with kids who are 13 years-old and stays with them as they transition into their young adult lives, with engagements on-going until age 25.
Because of the nature of Found Village’s approach, the organization is still developing a base of evidence to measure their program’s impact, but the early results are promising.
Found Village is taking a community-driven approach to helping Cincinnati’s youth have brighter futures. They are working with children who, in many cases, have faced tremendous challenges early in life and are showing them that they matter and that there are support systems available to help them reach their full potential. Because of Found Village, hundreds of youths in Ohio have been able to continue their education, experience the benefits of a safe and stable family, and enter the workforce.
The American Idea Foundation cannot wait to see what the future holds for Found Village and are honored to partner with them as they continue making a profound impact in children’s lives.
To learn more about the American Idea Foundation’s 2024 grant recipients, click here.