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Faith on Ice: A Black History Month Story of Family, Kinship, and the Olympic Dream
During Black History Month, we uplift stories that show how Black families protect, nurture, and sustain one another across generations. Christine Vincent’s story reflects the very heart of kinship care: the quiet, consistent love of relatives who step in so children can remain surrounded by family and connection. While her daughter, Jasmine Jones, competes on the Olympic stage as part of a bobsled team made up largely of Black women representing Team USA, Christine is holding things together at home, caring for Jasmine’s 4-year-old daughter, Jade.
Jasmine’s path to the Olympics began on the track, running sprints from childhood through college at Eastern Michigan University. Years of discipline prepared her for an unexpected invitation to try out for bobsledding through Olympic champion Elana Meyers Taylor. That opportunity led to the Olympic Training Center, international competition, and ultimately the honor of representing the United States at the Olympic Games.
Christine believes this journey was guided by faith long before ice ever entered the picture through a dream Jasmine had years earlier, where God told her to run a track and ask for whatever she wanted.
“If God said it, that’s the end of it,”
Christine Vincent
As Jasmine trains and competes overseas, Christine and her husband have stepped fully into kinship care, becoming Jade’s daily caregivers. This means early mornings, preschool drop-offs, rotating work schedules, church on Sundays, and the everyday routines that give a child stability. For Christine, kinship care is not a pause in life, it is an active commitment to showing up, every single day.
It’s not just me watching her. It’s a whole village.
Christine Vincent
That village includes extended family, church members, friends, and even the Olympic training community. Coaches, teammates, and staff at Lake Placid know Jade by name. When Jasmine trains, others step in to hold Jade’s hand, distract her, or cheer her on. At home, Christine’s church family welcomes Jade as their own, from sitting in the choir stand to walking hand-in-hand with the ushers.
This is kinship care in action: community stepping in so a child never feels alone.
Christine is intentional about keeping Jade connected to her mother while she competes internationally. Jade video chats with Jasmine before bed.
Four-year-old Jade also recognizes athletes and coaches on television and proudly tells others that her mom is at the Olympic Training Center. She cheers during races and understands, even at a young age, that her mother is chasing something meaningful with family, holding things steady at home.
Keeping Jade with family means she never loses who she is or where she comes from.
Christine Vincent
This is the power of kinship care that A Second Chance, Inc. (ASCI) works to uplift every day, children remaining with people who love them, relatives being supported as they step into caregiving roles, and families staying connected even through challenging seasons. Christine shares words of encouragement for other grandparents and relatives navigating kinship care: Trust the process. If we’re in kinship care then we must love our children. Love them and be supportive emotionally and spiritually. We must pour into them that they are more than what they see in the mirror. They are more than what they believe in their mind. They are more than what someone has told them, and they can do whatever they set out to accomplish.
Christine’s story mirrors the experiences of so many kinship caregivers who quietly rearrange their lives so children can thrive while parents pursue healing, opportunity, or, in this case, an Olympic dream.
As Christine prepares to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies and see her daughter walk in with Team USA, her pride is rooted not only in athletic achievement but in the legacy being modeled for Jade.
I want my granddaughter to know she can do anything. There’s no ceiling on her life. No matter how many times she falls, with God’s strength, she can always get back up.
Christine Vincent
This Black History Month, Christine, Jasmine, and Jade remind us that history is not only made on podiums or Olympic ice, but in living rooms, churches, and families who choose love, faith, and kinship every day. It lives in Black women pushing forward on the world stage, grandparents stepping in with unwavering care, and communities, like those championed by ASCI, ensuring children remain connected, protected, and empowered across generations.
A Second Chance, Inc. is proud and deeply honored to uplift Christine, Jade, Jasmine, and the entire bobsled team as they represent excellence, perseverance, and the power of community on the Olympic stage. Their journey reflects the very heart of our mission: families supporting one another, kinship caregivers stepping in with love, and children thriving because they remain surrounded by connection and care. We celebrate this historic moment and stand with this family and their team, inspired by the legacy they are building for generations to come.
How the community can support:
Jasmine Jones is currently raising funds to support her Olympic journey, including training, travel, and competition-related expenses. To contribute to their journey, visit Jasmine Jones’ GoFundMe. As Christine puts it, every donation, share, and prayer helps carry this story, and this village forward.