Artistic rendition of the new campus sign.
Starting this semester, Hope Ignites Cincinnati is operating out of one unified campus in Finneytown. The campus has been named The Gardner Family Foundation Campus in recognition of the Gardner’s unwavering support of our mission.
When Hope Ignites Cincinnati began as Boys Hope in 1983 we established a home in Finneytown for the boy’s residential program. In 1998, the Girls Hope home was added in East Walnut Hills. This multi-location model worked well when we offered only the residential pathway, with houses located near our partner schools to allow for easy transport to and from school and extracurricular activities.
In 2023 we ended our girl’s residential program and opened our Academy program in the Gardner home. The Academy program is an after-school program which serves students from multiple Catholic schools across the Cincinnati area. The Gardner Home was converted to serve Academy students, but the distance between our Residential and Academy programs kept us from integrating the two pathways and fully utilizing the strengths of our team, volunteer force, and resources.
Starting Fall of 2026, we have brought all our programming together on the Gardner Family Foundation Campus, utilizing the Schott and Heidt Houses. Our administration offices are also based on the campus, creating more ease and connectivity between our programs and administration. This unified campus model allows us to better utilize our resources and create dynamic programming for all our scholars.