Jamie Smith
2016 Dance With Your Heart Celebrity
2017 DWYH Judge
Jamie Smith
Market President & Publisher
Cincinnati Business Courier
It is my firm belief that, in life, it is not what happens to you, but how you respond to life’s adversity that is most important. It requires an enormous amount of strength to overcome the throes of addiction. To simply say that I have become a productive member of society would be an understatement. I have reshaped my destiny, from one of desolation to victory. I now serve as an inspirational role model to women and men who have no help or hope otherwise. I encourage them to grow toward their full potential so that they, too, can find safety, recovery and empowerment. My motivation and focus demonstrates a life reformed through action and commitment.
I try to exemplify service to the community for those who are suffering from substance abuse, chronic homelessness and domestic human trafficking. I have served this population since 2001 and continue to advocate as a change agent through each and every individual, organization, and service project that I encounter. This has been one of the motivating factors of my life and career commitment, of giving hope to those who face this dilemma. While serving in Cincinnati Union Bethel’s Off the Streets program, Program Director, I have been directly involved with the identification of victims of domestic human trafficking and sexual exploitation, which is directly linked to substance abuse and chronic homelessness.
Since 2006, I have helped serve over 1,200 women, finding them secure housing, connecting them to mental health, medical, substance abuse and other direct services. My daily activities include interacting and advocating with local agencies: Strategies to End Homelessness, Over the Rhine Community Housing, Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women, Talbert House, and Lighthouse Youth Services, to identify immediate safety and shelter, transitional and long-term housing and permanent supportive housing for the women we directly serve.
My personal victories include my own triumph over chronic homelessness, substance abuse and sexual exploitation. I have completed a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and am currently pursuing my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. I continue to advocate for this disenfranchised population by serving on many different committees. Board Member of Greater Cincinnati Homeless Collation; work closely with Hamilton Country alternative sentencing court; speaker for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Senate Bill 4 Safe Harbor Survivor; deliver programming to the Hamilton County Justice Center and Domestic Violence Task Force Committee; Project Director of a 3-year grant funded through the Domestic Victims of Human Trafficking; presenter for the Institute for Child Poverty; work on behalf of the Office of Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC); participate in the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy; present for the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC); key stakeholder on Substance Use and Opioid Crisis; awarded Woman of the Month by the City Of Cincinnati. All of this while raising a beautiful daughter, which is one my major accomplishments.