CLEVELAND, Ohio– Right now, there are about 3000 children in foster care in Cuyahoga County, and every year 120 of them age out of the system, many of which have no support.

The Cleveland-based nonprofit Community of Hope is on a mission to change that.

“I don’t really have like a family that I actually talked to or get along with, so having them around was really great,” said Janisha Butler, who found Community of Hope after she aged out of the foster care system. She was able to select a group of volunteers to be her “community” or “table,” every day, individuals coming together to provide love, support, and guidance, “My table is just like a second family to me. They helped me through the toughest times and even the easiest ones like going back to school,” said Butler. 

Volunteers or Community Members sign on to be chosen by a young person. Hoping to help guide them in any way they can, “I can still remember the day when I found out that children aged out of foster care, and did not have any support. And I was appalled. And from that moment on, I wanted to be part of a solution to supporting those young people,” said Zelma Brown, a community member, and foster parent recruiter. 

“This is the best organization. And the reason I say the best organization is because we’re not working with these young people as they are problems that we are trying to fix. We’re coming alongside, we’re coming as treating them as they are: our sister or brother and realizing that they have things to teach us, as well as we have things to share,” said Brown. 

These women are part of a choir of nearly 100 women performing at Community of Hope’s largest fundraiser of the year “A Night of Hope: Community Choir Concert.” “I am stunned every time I see the cords ring out in the space suddenly stop a song. It’s just it’s going to be amazing,” said Amanda Cobes, who is a community member and also sings in the choir. 

A Night of Hope community choir concert is Friday, March 6, from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland.

“We’re one big community, a family, and we just want to be able to show people that were here that we want to be able to support others and also have people come to support us,” said Butler.