We are delighted to announce that the YMCA is partnering with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to offer free memberships for certified foster homes and approved kinship caregivers. The free one-year memberships will apply to all 162 YMCAs throughout Ohio.
There are more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States and more than 16,000 in Ohio. More than 1,000 of those children age out of foster care every year in Ohio without a place to call home. Children in care just want things to be normal. The Y is here to help!
To be eligible as an approved kinship home, families must provide a letter from the agency that approved the family on the agency’s letterhead indicating the family is in good standing with the agency and that they have a current kinship child placed in the home.
Bridges is a program designed to help former foster youth transition to adulthood. To be eligible, Bridges participants must provide a copy of the participant’s Bridges Voluntary Participation Agreement showing the participant is enrolled in Bridges and a letter from the Bridges grantee on the grantee’s letterhead indicating the participant is currently enrolled in Bridges.
Contact your branch for more information about this program.