Project Connect Services

Project Connect has expanded its capacity to support students and families through the launch of the WRAP Center, a holistic resource and support hub. In partnership with trusted community organizations, the WRAP Center provides coordinated, wraparound services in a welcoming, dignified environment. Designed as a one-stop location, the WRAP connects families to onsite partner services while also offering access to essential items such as clothing, school uniforms, shoes, backpacks, school supplies, and emergency food. By reducing barriers to basic needs and services, the WRAP Center helps ensure students are supported, stable, and ready to learn.

Project Connect supports families experiencing homelessness by connecting them to housing resources and community partners focused on housing stability, including housing vouchers, limited legal eviction prevention, and shelter access. Families who are unsheltered—sleeping in vehicles or outdoors—may receive emergency support such as short-term hotel stays and assistance accessing family shelters. Project Connect’s Housing Systems Navigator works closely with families to navigate housing options and streamline services through key partnerships with agencies such as CMHA, the CAP line, and the Family Housing Partnership. Beginning in Spring 2026, Project Connect will further expand housing support with the launch of Ohio’s first Safe Sleep Lot, providing families living in vehicles with a secure and dignified place to stay.

• School-based and shelter-based tutoring
• Kaleidoscope, a kindergarten readiness program
• A six-week summer academic and enrichment program
• Therapeutic writing groups
• Academic advocacy services
• Social-emotional learning and support groups

The Adolescent Liaison supports youth experiencing homelessness ages 13–17, with services extended through age 22 for students with special needs. The Liaison works closely with school administrators and personnel to support enrollment, arrange transportation, and connect students to resources that meet basic needs and remove educational barriers. By facilitating educational options and coordinating appropriate services, the Liaison helps ensure continuity and stability in students’ schooling. The Adolescent Liaison also maintains a regular presence at a local youth shelter, serving as a point of connection for students in need of shelter support, and provides professional development to school staff and community partners to increase awareness and strengthen coordinated responses.

Advocacy and outreach are essential components of Project Connect’s work. Through speaking engagements, school staff training, community presentations, and media engagement, including newspaper articles, Project Connect helps educate the public about the realities faced by children and youth experiencing homelessness. By increasing awareness and encouraging community involvement, Project Connect fosters shared responsibility and builds the partnerships necessary to support long-term stability, educational success, and positive outcomes for the students and families served.

Project Connect identifies and supports students from birth through high school graduation, ensuring that all children in a household are assessed and connected to appropriate services. When families include preschool-age children, Project Connect provides education about early learning opportunities and assists with enrollment in Cincinnati Public Schools preschool programs. In collaboration with the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Department, Project Connect offers regular mobile preschool enrollment sessions at local family shelters, eliminating barriers by meeting families where they are. The program also connects families to early learning resources and provides preschool readiness programming within shelter settings to support young children’s development and successful entry into school.

In an effort to decrease equity gaps in healthcare access for families experiencing homelessness, Project Connect partners with the Walton Mobile Direct Primary Care (WMDPC) group to provide on-site mobile health screenings.  Screenings include: vision, hearing, physical, and mental health screenings for children and nutritional counseling/lifestyle coaching for parents. Upon completion of the screening, families receive WMPDC tele-health services for a year, free of charge to the family, allowing for continuity of medical care. 

Parent and caregiver engagement is a critical component of student educational success. Families experiencing homelessness often face significant barriers to engagement as they work to meet their children’s and families’ basic health and safety needs. Project Connect (PC) intentionally creates accessible opportunities for parent and caregiver engagement by offering onsite programming at local family shelters.

Engagement opportunities include trauma-informed social-emotional learning (SEL) groups and monthly parent/caregiver workshops covering a range of topics, such as accessing early learning opportunities, navigating special education services, eviction prevention, financial literacy, kindergarten readiness, and other relevant supports.

In addition, Project Connect is currently piloting a parent career pathways program that provides parents and caregivers with opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials. This initiative is designed to support access to sustainable, livable-wage employment and increase long-term housing stability for families.

Project Connect values the voices of the families it serves and actively incorporates parent and caregiver feedback through focus groups and surveys to inform program design, improve service delivery, and ensure responsiveness to family-identified needs.

When a student does not have a legal parent or guardian available, Project Connect liaisons serve as certified educational surrogates. In this role, liaisons represent the student in matters related to identification, school enrollment, assessment, and educational placement, including participation in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings and any mediation or due process proceedings related to the student’s education. This responsibility is limited to educational decision-making and does not include medical related matters.

Project Connect collaborates with the Freestore Foodbank to provide a structured online grocery ordering system designed to reduce barriers to food access. The Order Ahead food program offers participating families a reliable source of food monthly. In addition to this program, Project Connect operates an on-site food pantry that families may access once per month.

The food pantry is located at the Project Connect Resource Center, 270 Southern Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219. Pantry hours are Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The Project Connect School Counselor program provides targeted support to 12th-grade students experiencing homelessness to increase graduation rates and support successful post-secondary transitions. The Project Connect School Counselor delivers comprehensive services that address the social-emotional, academic, and college/career needs of seniors experiencing homelessness.

Services include, but are not limited to: facilitating social-emotional learning groups; providing academic planning and credit-recovery support to ensure on-time graduation; and offering individualized, one-on-one assistance with college, scholarship, and post-secondary applications, as well as completion of the FAFSA. For unaccompanied homeless youth, the School Counselor also completes the required FAFSA verification of homelessness, including documentation related to housing status, for submission to the financial aid office of the student’s chosen post-secondary institution.

In addition, when a graduating Project Connect senior plans to attend the University of Cincinnati or UC Blue Ash, the Project Connect School Counselor collaborates closely with UC staff to ensure a warm handoff for rising freshmen. This support includes priority access to student housing, a basket of essential dorm supplies, and connection to an on-campus mentor and relevant campus resources.