Kaleigh Dunahee and Julian Collings also enjoy Fright Fest at Six Flags along with the OHU youth.

Several youth in One Hope United’s Centralia Residential program received the opportunity to visit Six Flags in northern Illinois thanks to a Cardinals Care Grant. Cardinals Care is the nonprofit foundation of the St. Louis Cardinals, which has distributed more than $14 million to support organizations in and around St. Louis since its inception in 1997.

Generous donations such as this, give our youth opportunities to have experiences they would not otherwise have prior to residing at OHU.

“It gives them an opportunity to learn how to try their new behavioral skills in a larger arena, with greater variables,” said Melissa Webster, residential supervisor at OHU. “Even more importantly, having the ability for special trips helps increase youth’s self-confidence.”

Like all OHU activities, only youth who worked successfully with in their program and earned the highest level of success get the opportunity to participate in this type of activity. The children and teens in OHU’s programs really appreciate the special nature of a Six Flags trip: generally, activities include physical fitness in the park, bowling and movies.

One Hope United is so grateful for the Cardinal Cares Grant, which allowed us to offer our youth these adventures—thank you!