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“cover and brochure design: Iberia Zafira (BIO Intelligence Service)”

FC2S Staff | November 29th, 2012

Stanford University senior Iberia Zafira recently wrote us the following email:

With your support, I was able to achieve my dream of studying abroad in France.  As a Stanford in Government Environmental Policy fellow, I interned with BIO Intelligence Service (BIO), an environmental consultancy in Paris. At BIO, I worked on projects such as waste prevention, decoupling policies, and publication design for EU and UK public institutions.  I designed this cover, and I am proud to say that it was selected for the European Commission’s Green Public Procurement Good Practices brochure.  I am extremely appreciative of all of the support I have received from Foster Care to Success and Stanford University, and I encourage foster youth to travel abroad.

Well done, Iberia!  We’re very proud of you, too.

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A Man of Many Talents

FC2S Staff | November 7th, 2012

Meet Arthur Miller – certified nurse’s aide, youth minister, peer advocate, college student, and future proud soldier.  Oh, and former foster youth.

Arthur, 22, was placed in the Ohio foster care system at the age of seven.  With 10 placements, he has a lot to say about the system:

The best thing about foster care was being able to travel and meet so many amazing people even if the traveling was under bad circumstances like rejection. I enjoyed seeing different cities, but most of all I enjoyed smiling. The worst thing for me in foster care was getting used to not having a connection with someone, being isolated and always watched over as a teenager, and not feeling normal but confused about what I wanted to do in life because of always being told what to do… Those things really slow a child’s will to grow up after 18 and it has taken me an extra four years to realize this!

Today, Arthur is a student at Sinclair Community College, working on his Exercise Science degree with only 22 credits left to complete.  He is also scheduled to take his physical exam to become a member of the U.S. Army.   Working hard to complete these goals, Arthur also takes the time to advocate for his peers in the foster care system.  He is a member of the Ohio Youth Advisory Board and the VISION (Voicing Independent Solutions in Our Neighborhoods) Youth Advisory Board in his home county of Montgomery.

Recently, Arthur wrote an article, “Connecting the Dots from Foster Care to a Successful Adulthood,” and it is an inspiration to all who read it.  Congratulations to Arthur!

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November 2012 Hero

FC2S Staff | November 1st, 2012

All Ja’Nelle Earle ever wanted was a “regular family.”  “You know,” she says, “like a perfect TV family with a stay-at-home mom.” Read More

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October 2012 Hero

FC2S Staff | October 1st, 2012

Our October 2012 Foster Care Hero is Jon Larsen of Richweb, Inc. Read More

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September 2012 Hero

FC2S Staff | September 13th, 2012

This month’s hero is Jonathan Elliott. Read More

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Friends for Life

FC2S Staff | September 3rd, 2012

Faith and Kathy were matched in Foster Care to Success’ vMentor Program, the predecessor to the Academic  Success Coaching Program in 2008 and have formed a close relationship that is important to both of them.  Recently they had the chance to meet, and each of them wrote to tell us about it:

Kathy said:  I’ve been mentoring Faith online for several years and, although we’ve communicated about everything from school, money, and work to relationships, our spiritual lives, and hopes for the future, we had never met face-to-face.  Last month she flew to my hometown, Washington, D.C., to present a workshop on foster care issues at a conference.  All of us need someone who is “there” for us when we have something to celebrate, need a shoulder to cry on, or a hand stretched out to help.  Faith and I had discussed permanency before, but now that I’ve met her, I know that she’s someone I want to know for a lifetime.  She’s an amazing young woman, and I’m proud to be her mentor.

Faith said: When I think of Kathy, she is not just a mentor, but she is a part of my family and I hope that she will forever continue to be a part of my life.  When I first met Kathy through the former vMentor program, it started off as your typical mentor-mentee relationship. vAs time went on I found myself opening up more and more to her.  I found myself at a point where I felt like I could talk to her about anything.  One thing I like so much is that not only does Kathy listen but she makes sure that she gets an understanding first before offering her wisdom on whatever the situation may be.  To some that may be such a simple thing but it’s a something that I really appreciate.  Meeting her for the first time when I visited Washington, D.C. for a conference was a moment that I will never forget.  I finally was going to get a chance to meet and spend time with Kathy face to face…it felt like a dream come true…and it was. Once we met and began talking, it seemed as if time flew and before I knew it, it was time to say good-bye.  Kathy is such a beautiful person inside and out and I’m thankful not only to have her in my life as a mentor but as a part of my family.

For more information on how to join our Academic Success Coaching Program and make a relationship with a young person such as Faith, click here.

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Mr. Talented: Foster Youth as Entrepreneur

FC2S Staff | August 16th, 2012

Tyrelle (Augustus) Shaw

Some stories end well; others, in tragedy.

Tyrelle (Augustus) Shaw never graduated.  He dropped out of school to concentrate on his bow tie business and for a time things went well.  In April 2013 his photograph was featured on “Humans of New York,” and his truly original bow ties were sold in several boutiques. 

 However, in mid-June 2015 he committed suicide after, as he confessed in his blog, assaulting several Asian woman apparently at random on the streets of New York.

 It is truly a tragedy for all involved.  Our sympathies go out to the families and friends of Augustus Shaw and to the women whose lives he affected.

 Rest in peace, Tyrelle.

~ 6/26/2015

Meet Augustus Shaw, aka Mr. Talented.

Shaw is a former foster youth who is attending NYC’s SUNY Fashion institute of Technology with the help of FC2S’ Education Training Voucher program. He’s also an entrepreneur pioneering the art of the bow tie.

“I feel at home when I get dressed or decide to create something unique. I create each bow-tie by hand in New York City,” Shaw said during a brief interview.

Inspired by artists ranging from Andre 3000 to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Shaw makes his unique bow ties out of colorful dice, vintage woods and more. And business is booming.

Shaw’s gotten his bow ties out to some big-name celebrities: NBA all star Kevin Durant, Randy Jackson, and Adam Sandler to name a few. As he puts it, “My company is growing by the customer.”

What can we say, the man’s got swagger.

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Back to School for Foster Youth

FC2S Staff | August 14th, 2012

While preparing for school in September is an exciting time for most students across the U.S., for foster youth it can be downright scary. Casey Family Programs has reported that 65 percent of those who grew up in foster care changed schools seven or more times from kindergarten through their senior year of high school!

It’s hard enough to change schools once – to find new friends, establish new relationships with teachers, make sure your grades and classes transfer over successfully…imagine doing it seven times!

As reported in Texas’ TODO Austin Magazine (via CASA of Travis County): “Many foster youth will be attending a brand new school this August, and there is no guarantee they will be able to stay there even through the fall semester.”

Thankfully, Texas is one of the states that has established a blueprint for minimizing the trauma and helping foster youth stay in school. But there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.

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“I’ll Survive”

FC2S Staff | August 7th, 2012

Alisha Adkins is a former foster youth survivor. She wrote the poem below while she was in 10th grade struggling to overcome what she described as a “horrible home life”. At the time, the only adult who listened to her and mentored her was her English teacher, who encouraged her to write her feelings down and to keep moving forward. Today, she’s happily attending school in Ohio, earning degrees in criminal justice and social work with the help of FC2S’ ETV and scholarship programs. She’s even in the process of publishing her first book of poetry! Check out Alisha’s poem, “I’ll Survive”:

It is hard every day to survive,
But I do.

I don’t know how long it takes to get by,
But I’ll Survive.

Read More

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Foster Care By The Numbers

FC2S Staff | August 6th, 2012

The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) has just released The State of America’s Children® 2012 Handbook. In case you’re not familiar with their work, CDF is an excellent national nonprofit that pays particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. And their new handbook has a lot to say about foster youth. Here are some of the most interesting facts we gleaned from a quick read-thru:

• 51 percent were reunified with their parents.

• 21 percent were adopted.

• 8 percent went to live with relatives.

• 11 percent (nearly 28,000 youth) were emancipated out of foster care without connecting to a permanent family. Youth who age out of foster care have greater chances of dropping out of school, not attending college, being unemployed, and experiencing financial instability and homelessness.

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