The dream has lingered for years. Now it is moving toward steel, concrete and a groundbreaking shovel.
The Nuxhall Foundation has exceeded a $1 million matching challenge from The Hatton Foundation to help build The Hope Center, a year-round indoor recreational facility for athletes with physical and developmental disabilities. Donors contributed more than $1.25 million toward the match, accelerating plans to break ground in 2026 and marking a defining moment in the foundation’s $12 million Heading for Hope capital campaign.
“I haven’t been able to pick my jaw up off the floor for two months,” said Kim Nuxhall, president and board chairman of The Nuxhall Foundation. “This overwhelming total was a team effort from a community of givers who get why our mission matters – and more importantly, they realize that The Hope Center is a dream worth believing in.”
Building on a Cincinnati legacy
The Nuxhall Foundation carries forward the legacy of Joe Nuxhall, the former Major League Baseball pitcher and longtime Cincinnati Reds broadcaster whose commitment to community service continues to shape the organization’s work. Kim Nuxhall is Joe’s son.
For years, the foundation has focused on expanding access, opportunity and dignity for individuals with disabilities through sports, education and character development. At the heart of that mission are the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields in Fairfield, an entirely accessible baseball and recreational complex serving nearly 300 athletes ages 4 to 80 each year.
The Hope Center marks the next chapter of that work, taking programs that already thrive outdoors and giving them a permanent, year-round home. Planned as a 31,000-square-foot indoor facility, The Hope Center will feature an arena that will serve as the permanent home for Butler County Special Olympics, along with a multipurpose recreation room offering accessible fitness equipment and play features.
The building will also include a community room with seating for more than 150 guests for health and wellness programming, a concession stand designed to create workforce development opportunities, the Nuxhall Archives celebrating Joe Nuxhall’s life and career, and permanent headquarters for the foundation.
A community rallying behind hope
Momentum behind the project surged in late October, when Walt Lunsford and The Hatton Foundation announced a $1 million matching gift at the foundation’s Miracle Ball. The challenge, the largest single donation in the foundation’s history, came with a Dec. 31 deadline and gave the organization just over two months to meet the goal.
A significant share of the matching funds came from the Welsh family, whose $500,000 gift through their family charitable fund helped propel the campaign beyond its target. The contribution will name The Welsh Family Court inside the arena at The Hope Center and stands as only the third half-million-dollar gift in the foundation’s history.
“We are so thankful to Dave and Vicki Welsh and their family for believing in the need for this project,” Nuxhall said. “Their generosity is pushing this project forward in a major way. We can’t wait to see our all-stars draining 3’s, dancing, and more on The Welsh Family Court at The Hope Center.”
The successful match pushed the Heading for Hope campaign past $6.6 million raised to date. Of the $12 million goal, approximately $10 million will fund construction of The Hope Center, while $2 million will support a maintenance and operational endowment to ensure long-term sustainability.
“Our donors never doubted for a minute that they could bring home the win,” Nuxhall said. “Now, we stand well positioned to break ground on The Hope Center in 2026 thanks to Walt Lunsford, The Hatton Foundation and all of our supporters who believe that our special needs all-stars deserve a permanent home-field advantage.”
Recipe for long-term success
The Cincinnati-based Hatton Foundation supports education, human services, and medical and youth programs, particularly those serving individuals with disabilities. Its relationship with The Nuxhall Foundation spans more than a decade.
A $500,000 gift in 2011 helped launch the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields.
“That first gift from Walt and The Hatton Foundation is the primary reason we were able to build this dream,” Nuxhall said. “Since then, we’ve seen thousands of lives made more full and more complete because he shared the vision for what we could create.”
Foundation leaders credit the matching challenge itself with changing the pace and reach of the campaign. By setting a clear goal and a firm deadline, the gift energized longtime supporters and drew in new donors across the region, according to Tyler Bradshaw, executive director of the Hatton Foundation.
“Walt and the board of The Hatton Foundation believe in this project, and they lit a fire throughout our entire donor base and our community with this gift,” he added. “They motivated givers in Greater Cincinnati and beyond to learn more about the project, to give, and to share it with others who could move the project forward.”
Bradshaw said the significance of the gift will extend well beyond construction.
“When we are finally standing inside a finished Hope Center, we will remember this chapter and this inspired gift from The Hatton Foundation as a tide-shifting moment in our history,” he said.
As plans move toward construction, the campaign’s momentum feels personal as well as communal, Nuxhall said. Those interested in taking part can still contribute donations as they push toward the groundbreaking.
“We are experiencing unparalleled momentum for this project, and I’m already polishing my shovel,” Nuxhall said. “In the coming year, when we are all standing in that field together, I know that my dad will be looking down with so much pride in his community for what they’ve accomplished.”
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