Foster Care to Success

From Foster Youth to Doctor

FC2S Staff | August 3rd, 2012

Southern Illinois University’s Department of Psychology is reporting on one of our students: “DOCTOR Smith’s work has appeared in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Career Assessment, and Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.”

This is what we like to see: our students earning prestigious titles, degrees and jobs; our students giving back; our students having a positive impact on the world.

Michael Smith (Ph.D., 2011, Kansas State University) was one of our Casey Family Scholars. He is now an Assistant Professor in the Applied Psychology program at Southern Illinois University. How did he go from foster youth to doctor? Learn more about his journey.

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August 2012 Hero

FC2S Staff | August 1st, 2012

This month’s hero is Jenny Vinopal.

We Cannot Fail

FC2S Staff | July 27th, 2012

Ever wonder what it feels like to be a young person who has aged out of the foster care system and is struggling to put themselves through college? We received an astounding letter from one of our students, Michael from Ohio, detailing just this. He forwarded it to us after sending it to his county executive asking for continued funding for a program that provides foster youth w/ a limited amount of money for college. This is his plea:

“We, I, desperately need help from someone or something. We have no families to fall back upon for support. I do not want to ever have to be an adult recipient of foodstamps, Medicaid, public housing, or social security income. I not only want to be successful, I have no choice but to be successful. I have watched, during my brief few years of college, many of my friends failing out of school. They cannot fathom how lucky they are that that is an option for them. We, former foster youth, cannot fail or make serious mistakes, otherwise we will end up on the streets and not in the comforting hands of mom and dad in their suburban home. We cannot fail.”

While petitioning the county for more funding, he acknowledged that programs like ours have helped him out immensely, writing:

“Thanks to the generosity of Foster Care to Success, I’ve been receiving $5,000 a year – mostly to pay down student loans so I don’t drown in them upon graduation. They also generously provide scholarships, learning opportunities, and support to former foster youth. They are an amazing organization.”

Powerful stuff.

Interested in learning more about how you can help young people like Michael in their struggle to graduate?

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A Powerful Partnership

FC2S Staff | July 26th, 2012

Now that our summer Aim Higher program has wrapped up, we’re hearing more and more from our interns about their day-to-day experiences. One such intern is Nikki Goncalves. Nikki interned with Alliant Credit Union – a close partner in our mission to connect foster youth with the education and training they need to successfully enter adulthood. Nikki blogged about her experience on Alliant’s site, writing that:

“Alliant is one of the organizations that donate money to FC2S. As someone who was once a part of the foster care system and received grants and scholarships from FC2S, I never imagined that this summer I would be interning with the organization that helped to provide me with scholarships and grants for my education.”

Read more about Nikki’s experience working in the marketing and communications department at Alliant on their Stay Connected blog. Or, learn how YOU can become eligible to join Alliant Credit Union by donating to any of our programs to help foster youth.

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It Pays to Be Nice to Everyone

FC2S Staff | July 25th, 2012

James Spivey is a junior at West Virginia University, studying management information systems. He recently sent us an email, which we thought was very worth sharing!

“I learned a valuable lesson today.

I was running around campus the entire day to get everything situated for school. Unfortunately, when I got to the financial aid office, they wouldn’t give me my independence status because my court papers were old and difficult to read. While going back and forth with the secretary, a gentleman came in and asked if anyone had change for a $20. I smiled, went into my wallet, and gave it to him. He then asked me what I was doing in the office, and I explained my situation. At that point, he revealed that he was the chairman of financial aid. He changed my status on the spot for me! He also said that he would write up my award letter and have it ready by tomorrow morning.

I guess it pays to be nice to everyone.”

Well done, James!

It certainly does pay to be nice. And thanks for sharing your story with all of us.

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Success in all Areas of Life

FC2S Staff | July 19th, 2012

Our students are successful in so many areas of life. Take Condola Williams for example. Condola is a former Education Training Voucher recipient who graduated from a leading Maryland community college in 2010. She’s now a junior at the University of Maryland’s Baltimore Campus.

She’s feeling great about her life, her education and herself. You see, Condola was recently featured in the Huffington Post’s Healthy Living section for taking control of her health and losing a whopping 115 pounds!

She’s an inspiration to all of us – her discipline, positive attitude and hard work has not only helped her overcome a difficult past and excel in school but helped her, as she puts it, “enjoy life more than I ever did before”. Go Condola!

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Always Looking Up

FC2S Staff | July 17th, 2012

One of our ETV students, Alex, has traveled to Borneo to participate in a program sponsored by Miami University of Ohio and the Cincinnati Zoo. And guess what? He’s keeping a blog about his adventures. His major is primatology with a minor in global sustainability and conservation. He will be studying several species that are endemic to Borneo including, as he describes it, ‘the elusive Tarsier’. Things for Alex are looking up, and so is he, into the trees where, according to his blog, he’s found an orangutan. Read more below and on his blog.

So I am at the Danu Girang Field Centre in Borneo. You could look it up on a map, but you wouldn’t find it. Just check out the giant forest there on google maps, I’m in there.

Internet access is limited, and I am really shocked we have been able to use it. It has been humid and extremely warm, and I mean WARM. Generally within several minutes of work I am sweaty. We have been extremely busy. I wake up around 5 am or sometimes 6 and typically retire around 10, sometimes earlier. There is no air conditioning at all, and the power goes out around 11 P.M. This means no fans, so ideally you should try to fall asleep before 11. Once you get used to the heat it is actually not that noticeable unless you’re busy doing something and you’re gonna sweat buckets.

Last night I heard of an orang in the area so I went to survey the trees. I found some possibilities for where it might have built its nest. This morning I was outside by 5:30 looking for its nest. The best way to find them is to locate where they sleep at night and then arrive early to track them. After waiting for a while and walking in the general area, LOW AND BEHOLD THERE WAS AN ORANGUTAN!!

Find out what happened next and read more of Alex’s adventures on his blog, Borneo Research.

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FC2S’ 2012 Summer Celebration

FC2S Staff | July 16th, 2012

Last week, with generous sponsorship from international law firm Reed Smith, FC2S held our annual Summer Celebration at the firm’s office in downtown Washington, DC. The celebration wrapped up our 2012 Aim Higher program, which places outstanding students in prestigious internships in Washington, DC and other major cities across the U.S. and provides the assistance they need to participate. The event, held on the penthouse level of Reed Smith’s high-rise building, allowed for magnificent views of the nation’s capital. Aim Higher fellows and other FC2S students and graduates were there in full force, mingling with sponsors, partners, volunteers, employers and FC2S staff. Check out the photo of our 2012 fellows below (can you believe we were able to wrangle them all up for one big photo?).

BACKGROUND: Since 1994, FC2S has brought hundreds of students to Washington, DC and helped others across the country launch their careers through InternAmerica. FC2S interns have worked at the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and on Capitol Hill. They have also worked at the Siemens Corporation, Burston-Marstellar, Hyatt Hotels, the Washington Hospital Center, Alliant Credit Union, Morgan Stanley, and the American Bar Association.

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Living the Dream

FC2S Staff | July 9th, 2012

DaShae Dunbar is a pyschology major who hopes to go into counseling. She wrote us a quick note about how her Aim Higher fellowship is working out. Sounds like she’s living the dream!

Once again I have been blessed with an opportunity from Foster Care to Success (FC2S) – in the form of a Washington, DC Aim Higher Fellowship. I say once again because, initially, being a part of FC2S’ Education Training Voucher program provided me with the opportunity to go to the school that I wanted to attend and not have to worry as much about the financial issues. I am extremely grateful for this support, and extremely excited about my internship!

I’ve been interning in the office of Senator Roy Blunt, the representative from my home state, Missouri. Not only have I learned so much about politics, public policy and how our government works, but I’ve learned a lot from the weekly seminars offered through the InternAmerica program. These seminars have covered everything from how to dress professionally to how to handle finances. I never would have imagined working on Capitol Hill last year but I now realize that this is just the beginning of the heights I plan to reach. I have no doubt that between the internship and the seminars, my dream job is just around the corner!

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Kayla Becker: Aim Higher Brings Great Rewards

FC2S Staff | July 2nd, 2012

Kayla Becker

Kayla Becker is interning thru our Aim Higher Fellowship program at the American Bar Association’s Center on Children and the Law, where she’s gone from being disinterested to down with politics. Why the change of heart? Her story is below.

“Japanese food – my favorite. I wonder if there will be any good Japanese food in Washington, DC…”. I was opening my fortune cookie while talking with my aunt the night before FC2S’ Aim Higher program would take me from Alabama to a city much larger than any I was accustomed to.

“Traveling to the East will bring you great rewards,” the fortune cookie read.

Still, I was having reservations. I couldn’t stop associating DC with the word ‘politics’. Not something I have ever been too interested in.

I am a mass communications major. People always ask me if I’d like to be a news reporter/anchor. My answer: “Heck No!”. My dream was always to own my own talk show. And, through a lot of hard work and support, I finally have one. The topics cover everything EXCEPT politics. Read More

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