Breaking barriers

Jameka Humphries and son Jayden at a book signing event featuring his children’s book, “Bigger Than Me!”

Jameka Humphries never imagined that an email could change her life. Yet in 2020, the then-37-year-old single mother read a newsletter from New Directions Career Center highlighting The Ohio State University’s community health worker program. What started as curiosity about a certification led to a life-changing introduction to Families Flourish — a program that would help her and her 10-year-old son Jayden transition from Columbus' South Side to the tree-lined streets of Bexley.

“Families Flourish was a program I would literally dream of,” Humphries says. “I wished there were a program that could help me become a better person and a better mom. That’s what the program did for me.”

Founded in 2016 as Move to Prosper, the program began with a fundamental insight: a child’s neighborhood can dramatically affect their future. The visionary founders behind Families Flourish — commercial real estate broker Steve Heiser, housing expert Amy Klaben and Rachel Kleit, PhD, from Ohio State’s City and Regional Planning — set out to break the cycle of generational poverty.

Their innovative approach was unique. Instead of focusing solely on neighborhood investment or job training, as many have over the years, they created a comprehensive model combining three key elements: rental support for access to higher-resource neighborhoods, intensive one-on-one life coaching and monthly family educational workshops. The program was designed to support participants for three years — long enough for meaningful transformation to take root.

Early support from Ohio State’s Women & Philanthropy was pivotal in shaping what was then a fledgling organization. “We were still so young that we were relying on other people's reputations to give us some gravitas,” says Shiloh Todorov, development and communications director. The Women & Philanthropy grant — the largest gift Families Flourish had received — provided crucial early validation, inspiring other donors, including KeyBank, to make significant investments.

Taking a leap of faith

For Humphries, entering the program meant leaving behind everything familiar. “I was taking my son away from everything he ever knew. I was leaving a house, a three-bedroom home with a front yard and a backyard to live in an apartment. My son thought we were living in a hotel,” she says.

The transition wasn't just about changing addresses — it was a leap of faith that required confronting deep-seated trauma and fear. “My first 90 days (with the program), I had gone through a lot," Humphries says. "I was coming out of a difficult relationship, and my father passed in those early months. There were many times when I just wanted to go back home.”

But Humphries found strength in the program's structure. “All I had to hold on to was, I just got into this program. I’ve got three years to go. I have to stay focused for my son.” The monthly classes and life coaching kept her going — even when she didn't feel like showing up for herself.

Choosing Bexley, one of several higher-resourced areas in which Families Flourish offers housing options, was not random for Humphries. “Growing up, my grandmother lived about four blocks from where I live now, and we would come into Bexley for better quality of things,” she says. The community represented opportunity, and a way to pay homage to her upbringing. Bexley is also where her grandfather once tried to buy a home but was denied because of racial tensions. “And now I'm here,” she says with quiet pride.

The program’s comprehensive approach extends beyond relocation support. Qualifying families receive $500 in monthly rent support for the first 18 months, and $400 for the next 18 months to access market-rate housing in areas with strong schools and low crime rates. Families also work one-on-one with life coaches who help them set and achieve incremental goals while building confidence and resilience.

The program’s impact on children has been remarkable. Recent data shows that more than 90% of families with school-age children report good or very good adjustments to their new schools, and more than 75% saw overall positive impacts on their children. During the 2018–22 pilot, participant mothers increased their incomes by an average of $17,000 (a 58% gain), and credit scores rose by more than 100 points.

When the pilot concluded, eight of 10 families remained in their same apartments but took on market-rate rent on their own, while one bought a house and one found a larger unit to accommodate her family.

For Humphries, the financial gains were accompanied by profound personal growth. “I’m in the 700s with my credit,” she says. As a certified community health worker and medical assistant working on her peer support certification, she is nine classes away from completing a bachelor's degree.

The program also opened the door to new opportunities for Jayden. Living in Bexley allowed him to take part in the Bigger Than Me: My Story, My Culture intergenerational heritage workshop series sponsored by Ohio State and the Bexley Public Library. Through this series, Jayden became a published author, sharing the story of his family with the larger community.

Moving forward with confidence

Perhaps the most significant transformation has been psychological. “Once I embraced that this is my program, this is my course, this is my purpose, things just started to happen,” Humphries says. This fall she will graduate from the program. Her plans reflect the confidence and stability that Families Flourish helped her build. “My plan is to keep Jayden in Bexley. I would like to buy a house here,” she says. The community that once seemed worlds away from her childhood neighborhood has become home.

The program itself continues to intentionally expand as well. Established as an independent nonprofit in 2022, Families Flourish welcomed its 100th family this year and aims to increase its reach with a second location in Ohio’s Miami Valley by late 2025. Within the next decade, the program plans to serve 200 more families locally and expand in five other cities.

The impact of the initial Women & Philanthropy grant continues to bolster Families Flourish, helping establish it as a credible, innovative solution to generational poverty. Humphries is looking forward to continuing a forward trajectory — for herself and Jayden. “I know the work and community I have built with Families Flourish will carry me through. When I lost my dad, I only had this. Now I have community — a village I never imagined.”

From its origins as a pilot program at Ohio State to serving dozens of families, Families Flourish demonstrates the catalytic power of the strategic philanthropy Women & Philanthropy has made central to its mission for 20 years, helping Ohio’s families not just survive but truly thrive.