A Kid Again leader planning expansion to Indianapolis area
Columbus-based nonprofit A Kid Again helps bring hope and happiness to the families of children with life-threatening illnesses.
It provides year-round adventures such as trips to Magic Mountain and the Columbus Blue Jackets or pampering and holiday events to give families a cost-free and planned way to spend fun time together and make happy memories.
The organization has three Ohio chapters and plans to expand into a national presence over the next five years.
Oyauma Garrison, the new president and CEO of the national office, brings 20 years of experience in the for-profit sector to A Kid Again to help lead the organization’s growth.
Q: How and why was A Kid Again created?
A: Our two founders were volunteers for another nonprofit and families kept asking for unique opportunities to instill some happiness and hope on a more-consistent basis. They kept coming back to the concept of “How do you get the entire family involved in the experience along with the sick kid?” and from there, “How do you do this every month or every other month?” It’s about the anticipation of a unique opportunity, the participation with other kids who look like them and the creation of memories.
Q: What type of events does A Kid Again provide?
A: If you look across our three chapters, we have an event every month and, in some cases, multiple times a month. They range from meet-and-greets with sports figures to mother-daughter pampering at Charles Penzone to one-on-one basketball at Ohio State to events in Cleveland where they can meet the Cavs or to Newport Aquarium in Cincinnati. Our only requirements are that the child be under 20 years old and be diagnosed with a lifethreatening illness.
Q: How did you come into the position as president and CEO of A Kid Again’s new national office?
A: I have been in the insurance industry for a little bit over 20 years and have served in a number of different capacities, from entry-level opportunities all the way up to executive-level status. A part of my construct has always been that corporate social-responsibility side.
Back on Oct. 1, 2016, I had my own personal experience. That was when my daughter, who was a cheerleader at Gahanna Lincoln High School as a freshman, ended up falling ill rather abruptly. She went from a healthy young girl cheerleading on the sidelines to, within a span of two hours, having collapsed and coded on the table down at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
When this happened, I had to take a step back from the corporate world. During that same period in time, one of my great mentors here in central Ohio said, “There are a couple different nonprofit organizations here in central Ohio, but there’s one you really need to take a look at because they have the potential of expanding outside of central Ohio, and they could really use someone like you on that team.” I was blown away by the board, and their level of commitment, and the leadership team, and all they had accomplished so far in the 22 years that A Kid Again has been in operation.
I absolutely enjoy the challenge of taking a “small business,” a nonprofit organization, and really making one of America’s best-kept secrets into a known entity in other states. I’ve had success in this area in the for-profit world.
Q: How did A Kid Again’s national aspirations develop?
A: We have serviced, since inception, around 51,000 families in Ohio. In the research, very conservatively, we know that there are over half a million sick kids in America who are facing some level of a lifethreatening illness. We’ve receive inquiries from families, from other children’s hospitals outside of Ohio, asking about our program and asking “When are you bringing this to our market?” The former CEO Jeffrey Damron and our board said, “Hold on, we’re building out the infrastructure.” What’s critical to our success is volunteers, a donor base to help support those adventures — because everything we provide, we provide at no cost to the families — and then you have to have the local leadership. With those components in place, we also look at proximity to adventures.
Q: What are A Kid Again’s goals and timeline for expanding its work?
A: I have already identified about 24 markets I believe we can enter into over the next five years or less. Because when we build it, we like to build it from more of a self-sustaining model. We are looking at expansion into the Indianapolis market in 2018. We identified a few neighboring states to Ohio and have received requests from as far as California and Washington, so we will be looking into those markets as well as that great state up north and into Chicago. In another 10 years or maybe less, we’ll be starting the conversation of an international component to what we do.
We are also expanding our board and bringing on some national players who are not headquartered here in Columbus and who will be representative of larger brands outside of the central Ohio. Central Ohio is truly the heart of it all. A lot of great successes in America started right here, and A Kid Again is going to be another one of those.