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By Courtney Crane-Dauer
He loved math.
Reading? Not so much.
When his mother enrolled him in Whole Again’s summer program, she warned teachers that books might meet resistance.
They chose books about math.
Soon he was reading on his own. Then, aloud to his classmates.
A child who once avoided books had found a way in.
The final school bell rings. For some children, summer means freedom. For others, it means losing what school provides.
Breakfast and lunch. Daily reading. Teachers who notice when someone falls behind.
Grocery bills rise. Childcare becomes harder to find. Without access to books and enrichment, children risk losing academic ground over the summer. Those already facing financial hardship can return to school with an even steeper climb.
For 21 years, Cincinnati nonprofit Whole Again has addressed two inseparable needs: feeding children and helping them learn.
“A lot of people don’t know how many kids need to be fed,” says Executive Director Kendra Scott. “It’s a crucial need.”
Then came another uncertainty. In 2025, potential changes to federal child nutrition funding raised concerns about the meals Whole Again could provide.
The children would still be hungry. Whole Again needed to be ready.
Kendra Scott, Executive Director of Whole Again, sees potential where others see obstacles—and knows that changing a child’s future can begin with a meal, a book and someone who believes in them.
Whole Again had applied for an Impact 100 Cincinnati grant before but hadn’t advanced to the finalist stage.
“We were sad but understood,” Scott recalls. “We knew we still believed in our program and our families and were encouraged to try for the grant again. We knew Whole Again was meeting a vital need in our community and could do so much more with additional financial resources.”
Scott had worked with children on STEM projects before becoming a Whole Again volunteer, board chair and eventually executive director. Her team reconsidered what children needed most.
Instead of providing part-time instruction alongside partner programs, Whole Again proposed running two full-day summer sites itself. Teachers would stay from breakfast to dismissal, adapting lessons and building relationships.
As federal funding grew uncertain, the organization revised its proposal again, adding take-home meals.
On September 25, 2025, Impact 100 Cincinnati awarded Whole Again a $100,000 transformational grant.
“We were ecstatic! Huge joy!” Scott remembers.
Pastor Gregory Chandler, Sr., founder of Whole Again, and his wife, Diane Chandler, who helped establish the nutrition program, were there. So were board members and partners who had stood behind the mission.
Summer 2026. Avondale and Walnut Hills.
At 9 a.m., the day began with breakfast. Reading, character building, movement and meals followed until 2:30 p.m.
For five weeks, grant funding helped Whole Again staff both locations with qualified teachers and paraprofessionals throughout the day. A nutrition educator joined them.
Every child received two full meals and healthy snacks, plus at least one meal to take home each weekday. When extra meals were available, staff considered siblings who couldn’t attend the K–5 program.
“The kids were so excited about the take home meals,” Scott says.
At one church site, the program had an entire floor for classrooms, a lunchroom and a library with beanbags and pillows. They made posters about healthy eating and delighted in a yogurt bar. Project Yoga, another Impact 100 grant recipient, brought movement and mindfulness, reinforced through reading.
The real change was consistency: Teachers had time to learn which child was quiet, which loved numbers, and how to help each one participate.
1,073 children. More than 8,000 meals. Thirty-four locations.
That was Whole Again’s reach across Greater Cincinnati in summer 2026.
Among children assessed, 81% maintained or improved reading comprehension; 62% maintained or improved oral reading fluency. Every parent responding reported their child’s increased reading confidence.
But the most revealing measure might be what families told Scott.
A grandmother who had recently become her grandchild’s guardian spoke about new responsibilities, including the child’s therapy. Meals at camp — and those sent home — helped her provide for the child.
“It was such a big help to her,” Scott says.
Other parents described lower grocery bills and less worry. One asked, “Please tell me you have something for sixth graders!”
Her child was aging out. She wanted another summer.
Reading together. Books open. Imaginations sparked. Whole Again turns summer reading into a shared adventure.
At summer’s end, Whole Again displayed the children’s work at a closing ceremony.
Scott hopes they remember their growing confidence, friendships, encouragement and the discovery of a favorite book.
She hopes, too, for a future when food insecurity no longer defines what children need from Whole Again.
Impact 100’s investment helped make this summer different: meals that went home, teachers who stayed, children who were known.
For one boy, the way into reading began with math.
For Whole Again, the answer began with seeing the whole child.
That’s Impact in Action.
See how Impact 100’s investment in bold, transformative projects promotes thriving communities throughout the Greater Cincinnati region.
