Why Give to Imagine Cincinnati?

We have kiddos as young as 4-weeks old joining us at our programming, a much needed space of mental and emotional support for parents in the newborn phase. 

In a local radio health report from Cincinnati’s WVXU, Kate Schoder, CEO of Interact for Health, shared that locally in Cincinnati “there is a life span difference of 26 years between neighborhoods just a few miles apart. Recognizing that we are only as healthy as our least-healthy neighborhood calls on all of us to think about what we can do to invest fairly across our neighborhoods and in our personal lives. Reach out, build bridges, facilitate connection, and belonging."  

Imagine Cincinnati’s main objectives are to do exactly this work of “building bridges and facilitating connection and belonging.”

We provide creative solutions to the toxic stress and loneliness that modern families experience in their days to day lives.

Every week, we use routine, repetition, and celebration to introduce kids and adults to important concepts around self-care, connection with nature, and developing relationships across cultures. We integrate the week’s theme into all aspects of the morning, reading books, singing songs, distributing hand-outs, eating snacks, and learning self-care and/or parenting skills that tie into the season, celebration or topic.

Through these multi-layered connections, we develop critical thinking skills, curiosity, wonder and social/emotional awareness. With community support, we help each other overcome common fears surrounding the first day of school, separation anxiety, language development, and more. We also point participants to local resources and support for families struggling with the early signs and symptoms of mental health challenges and learning disabilities.

We find creative ways to support one another as professionals and intellectuals too. Some parents and caregivers have hired each other, connected families with the services of fellow entrepreneurs, or shared expertise in areas like speech therapy, mental health, and educational enrichment.

In short, we show up for each other. And it’s in these moments of intentional connect with each other, that we strengthen our neighborhoods, and our children’s futures. And sometimes we even create spiritual experiences that strengthen bonds, allow us to ask big questions, feel seen and understood. It’s these moments of meaning that help us feel like we can not only survive, but thrive, as parents and caregivers in a stressful world.

It’s the peace and support we all want for our children….and for ourselves.