Katie's House turns tragedy into opportunity

While Katie Haumesser was on her way home from taking her daughter to Children’s Hospital in February 2006, a drunk driver who was traveling at about 100 miles per hour hit her vehicle head-on. Haumesser, a single mom who had devoted her life’s work to serving children with special needs as a speech-language pathologist, died instantly at the scene. Her compassion, however, lived on and is the inspiration for Katie’s House, which is set to open later this year. 

The Katie Haumesser Foundation was founded in 2007 to honor Haumesser’s life by giving back to the children she lived to help. Led by her family, the nonprofit started raising funds for the special needs department at Haumesser’s former place of employment, Willowville Elementary.

Part of the foundation’s mission is to fund scholarships for University of Cincinnati students who follow Haumesser’s path by majoring in speech-language pathology. Initially, the organization decided to raise money for one charity per year to help students like the ones Haumesser helped; but in 2010, a broader vision emerged. 

With the help of the Hearing Speech & Deaf Center of Greater Cincinnati, the leaders of the Katie Haumesser Foundation came up with the idea for Katie’s House, a comfortable, home-like facility where children with special needs could receive speech, language, audiology and occupational therapy. The facility will be housed on the renovated third floor of the Hearing Speech & Deaf Center and will provide services to those in need, regardless of whether or not they have the ability to pay.  

“The home-like setting is going to be more inviting for the kids instead of walking into a sterile doctor’s office,” says Amy Zeisler, Haumesser’s sister and co-founder of the nonprofit. “When you get off the elevator, it’s going to look like the front of a house, and the carpet is going to be AstroTurf to look like grass.”

Within the facility, there will be a living room, which will serve as a group area, a kitchen, a gym—designed as a backyard—for occupational therapy, and bedrooms, which will serve as individual therapy areas. In addition to serving children, the Center will provide education for parents who may be struggling with how to understand and cope with their children’s disabilities. 

Katie’s House will also provide support for children with other conditions, such as autism. “Katie worked with a boy who had autism and wasn’t speaking for a while, and then he became verbal,” says Zeisler. “It was very moving for her to see how what she was doing impacts kids' futures and how important communication is to succeed.” 

According to Zeisler, her sister knew that early intervention is key to helping children with disabilities maintain a “steady life.” With Katie’s House, those ideals will take shape in a way that Zeisler is confident her sister would be proud of; and she says she can’t wait for the grand opening later this year.

“We’re taking tragedy and turning it into something positive,” Zeisler says. “And I’m hoping that people can see what we’re doing. It’s going to be amazing.”

Do Good: 
• Make a financial contribution or contact the nonprofit to donate items for silent auction.

• Volunteer at the annual fundraiser April 12. 

• Nominate a community member who serves children for an Outstanding Service Award.


By Brittany York 

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.