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Bette Maisel is a 2014 Aim Higher Fellow attending Notre Dame de Namur University. As a senior at NDNU, Maisel is leveraging her Aim Higher experience to design a program to support other foster youth attending her university.

“The program will create healthier experiences for students transitioning from high school to college. We want to help find for these students the essentials they need for living on campus but most importantly offer them support from people who can understand and point them in the right direction,” said Taylor Dewees, a former foster youth and Maisel’s partner in developing this foster youth program.

Maisel attended Aim Higher’s two-week intensive program in Washington D.C. last summer and developed communication skills to publicly speak to the foster care community; she now hopes to give back to foster youth similar to her in order to support their postsecondary needs.

“I hope that the foster youth at NDNU will feel supported. I hope that it will lay the foundation for their future careers and they’ll have year-round housing, and consider this place a home,” said Maisel.

Foster Care to Success encourages our students and Aim Higher Fellows to not only dream big, but to execute the visions they believe will transform challenges into solutions. Maisel currently has 11 students in the foster program at NDNU, she and her team hope to reach other students in similar situations in order to scale the impact they imagine.

Best wishes Bette! Keep up the amazing work, and always Aim Higher!