FosterClub
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Mission Statement
FosterClub is changing the game for young people who experience foster care.Your support helps FosterClub do two things: 1. Provide direct support to young people who experience foster care. 2. Drive lasting change in the foster care system. We carry out all of our work in partnership with those who know foster care firsthand: young people who lived through it. Your support helps us engage and train tens of thousands of youth with lived foster care experience annually, empowering those with the most at stake in transforming foster care: young people themselves.
About This Cause
Separation from family. Living with strangers. People asking questions. New schools. Navigating court systems. Stigma. Uncertainty. Grief. These are just some of foster care's impacts. But FosterClub is changing the game for young people who experience foster care. * * * Our Vision FosterClub is the national network for young people who experience foster care. While the child welfare system provides a critical safety net for children and youth, being in foster care can be life-altering for a young person. FosterClub drives meaningful change in the child welfare system and provides direct support to children and youth, in partnership with young people who experienced foster care. Our work is rooted in two core principles: > When kids and young adults have the support they need and opportunities to drive change in their lives, they become self-determined + do better. > When the system listens to young people, it does better. * * * Our History Two boys, ages 10 and 12, were struggling. Their mother had an addiction, and abusive people were in their home. When child protective services removed the boys from their mother, the brothers identified their neighbors—young newlywed couple Celeste and Jeff Bodner—as the most reliable adults in their lives. It was 1996, and Celeste and Jeff were asked to become foster parents. Celeste found it odd the boys received almost no information about foster care. When one of the boys suffered from anger and depression and struggled with traditional therapy, Celeste looked for a peer support network for him. She couldn’t find one. And FosterClub was born. Since then, FosterClub has: • Put young people in front of policymakers to drive lasting CHILD WELFARE REFORM • Become a national hub for practical information about FOSTER YOUTH RIGHTS • SPREAD AWARENESS of the challenges of foster care and potential of those in it • Trained countless FOSTER PARENTS to support youth • Provided COMMUNITY spaces for youth who don’t know anyone else like them • Created CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES every kid deserves FosterClub is made possible by young people who experience foster care and by supporters like you. * * * Our Method For more than two decades, FosterClub has empowered young people with “LEx.” LEX = LIVED EXPERIENCE All of FosterClub’s work is powered by LEx Leaders, young people ages 18-26 who experienced foster care and give back to younger peers following in their footsteps. We have engaged and trained thousands of youth as LEx Leaders. Our approach empowers those with the most at stake in transforming foster care: young people themselves. But this is about more than how we do our work. This is a movement. It's about the right of young people to participate in their own case plans, and to have a say regarding services for their families. It's also about the right to help design, implement and evaluate child welfare policies, programs, and services. * * * Our Work FosterClub has two strategic program areas: 1. Direct support to young people who experience foster care. FosterClub's peer-delivered youth services include camps + conferences, tip sheets + publications, virtual spaces to connect, and more. 2. Drive lasting change in the foster care system. We empower LEx Leaders to affect public policy, child welfare practice, + public awareness. * * * Our Impact What young people say: “Meeting people with shared experiences, mindsets, and trauma... That connection was something so life-changing for me.” - Devan Burnett | age 19 | 4 years in Oregon’s foster care system “It’s really wonderful. The people are genuine–just being around people like me with that experience, knowing you guys chose people with the experience to do the work.” - Nia La’Shay | age 20 | 13 years in New York + Pennsylvania’s foster care systems “I didn’t realize how many rights I had… I like the word, ‘power.’ I didn’t realize that there was strength in what I’d been through, and where I was to where I’m at currently.” - DeQuincy Bergen | age 27 | 5 years in Montana + Texas’ foster care systems * * * JOIN US. We need the energy, heart, + dedication of people who believe: • Every kid deserves to know they're not alone in their foster care journey. • Young people deserve better than the current foster care system. • Youth in foster care need us now more than ever. Let’s build brighter futures for the half a million children and youth who will experience foster care this year. Give today.