Kindergartner Eli Grout, a kidney transplant recipient, started classes at St. Joseph School in Crescent Springs for the 2026–2027 school year. A grant from the FIRE Foundation of Northern Kentucky funded a registered nurse to support him on campus.

The grant lets Eli attend the same school as his older brother. Liza Grout and her husband are both St. Joseph alumni who moved back to the area in 2019 hoping their children would follow them through the school.

The plan grew uncertain during Liza Grout's pregnancy with Eli, when the family learned he would have significant medical needs. The Grouts held onto one target: getting Eli to St. Joseph by kindergarten.

"We always kept the goal in mind of getting him to St. Joseph by the time he started kindergarten," Liza Grout said in a school press release published Thursday, Sept. 17. "We feel so fortunate to have received a grant to help with that transition."

The FIRE Foundation helps Catholic schools in the Diocese of Covington welcome students with disabilities and learning differences. For the 2026–2027 school year, the foundation awarded $154,600 in grants to six diocesan schools. St. Joseph was among the recipients, alongside St. Pius X School in Edgewood and St. Agnes School in Fort Wright.

Without the nursing support, the Grout family could have faced a choice other local families know well. Pull one child out of Catholic school, or move all their children to a different system so one child can get the help he needs.

Grout said the decision to pull a child out of Catholic school because another needs support the school cannot provide is one some families in their own parish have had to face.

The smaller school setting also gives the family added confidence in managing Eli's infection risks, according to the press release. Eli's older brother is described as deeply protective of him, and Eli looks up to his big brother.

Missy Hail, president and co-founder of the FIRE Foundation, said the organization's work sometimes means finding a way around one very specific barrier. She said the foundation was grateful it could help St. Joseph make room for Eli so he could begin school alongside his brother.

The FIRE Foundation's other 2026–2027 grant recipients in the diocese include St. Therese School in Southgate, St. Henry Catholic School in Erlanger and Mary, Queen of Heaven School in Erlanger. Across all six schools, the grants fund special educators, paraprofessional staff, speech and language therapy, reading specialists and classroom equipment.