Footsteps Letter of Introduction

Foster care was originally designed to be a temporary stop for abandoned, neglected, and abused children in the United States. Today, however, there are more than 800,000 children in foster care in the U.S., many of them for years. There is a big push to address the conflicts and dysfunctions within the homes where these young people come from and, if possible, to reunite them with their birth families. The process is slow and challenging. Meanwhile, far too many children continue to grow up in the foster-care system, are not reunited with their families, are not adopted, move from one foster home to another, bounce from school to school, and rarely build any positive, reliable relationships with adults. And then at age 18 they are abandoned yet again, as they officially “age out” of the foster-care system, making them no longer “wards of the state.” Unfortunately, most of these youth leave foster care without a high school education, without sufficient life skills, without a place to live, a job, without an adequate education—and without much hope for their future.

Consider these startling statistics regarding “aged out” foster children:

• 50% will fall prey to crime, drug or alcohol abuse, unwanted pregnancies, and homelessness;
• 70% do not have a high school degree or a GED;
• 25% becomes homeless within three years of leaving the system;
• 70% of the nation’s prison population have spent some time in foster care.

There are over 1,800 foster children in SW Florida, over 16% “age out” annually. Footsteps to the Future, a 501c3 non-profit incorporated in the state of Florida, is committed to introducing former foster youth—primarily young women—to the opportunities essential for self-sufficiency and a healthy, productive lifestyle. Our goal is to provide them with tools so they may become empowered to make positive choices and reach their highest potential. We will achieve this by providing mentoring, assistance with safe, affordable places to live, access to education, employment readiness, and life skills training and coaching. Our core values encompass self-reliance, accountability, love, integrity, and personal responsibility.

We hope to accomplish our goal by offering a variety of programs. We have developed a unique one-to-one life-coaching/mentoring/empowerment program, drawing upon the wisdom and compassion of a growing number of successful women from our community who volunteer their time and talents to improving the lives of “our girls,” as we love to call them. Mentoring is a matter of trust. It is a structured and trusting relationship that brings young people together with caring individuals who offer guidance, support, and encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of the mentee.

We arrange monthly meetings with mentors and mentees where we provide dinner and conduct life-skills training. Some examples of that training include:

• Visiting a local bank, where they can learn about opening their own savings and checking accounts, on-line banking, and use of ATM cards. We follow up that meeting with detailed, hands-on sessions on how to set up a realistic personal budget—and how to stick to it.
• Visiting Health Park Hospital for a presentation about working in the health care profession, including education requirements and compensation potential.
• Inviting public health professionals to speak about sex education, STDs, birth control, and abstinence.
• Inviting local businesspeople to discuss what an employer looks for in a prospective employee, including proper attire and etiquette, and to conduct mock job interviews.
• Inviting local educators to speak about higher education opportunities, both in colleges and trade schools. Our mentors help the young women fill out financial-aid and scholarship forms.
• Inviting motivational speakers, including former foster children, to tell our girls what they have done to become educated, productive, successful, and loved—and that they can do it, too.

The Footsteps Vehicle Donation Program is available to those young women who qualify and demonstrate they are responsible and accountable. We arrange for individuals in the community to donate their used vehicles. Then, when a young woman needs transportation to school or to work, we try to provide them with one of these vehicles. To qualify the young woman must:

· Be 18 or older;

· Obtain a drivers license (we have contracted with a local driving school to provide lessons, which Footsteps helps pay for);

· Attend school and maintain at least a C average;

· Have a full or part-time job;

· Maintain $500 in a bank account for necessary vehicle repairs.

· Remain actively involved with Footsteps

To date we have provided 13 vehicles to our young women.

In August 2008, the two young women became the first to enter our Footsteps Transitional Living Program. To qualify, they had to sign an agreement with Footsteps to strive for self-sufficiency by attending school, entering the workforce, saving money, and adhering to prescribed house rules. In return, Footsteps locates safe housing, negotiates an affordable lease, assists in housing and furnishing costs, and provides ongoing life-coaching and counseling. We offer services to young women from ages 14 thru 26.

To help support those and future programs, Footsteps has developed a proprietary mentoring training program that all our mentors must complete. Designed specifically to meet the unique needs of these young women, the program, called Mindful Mentoring, is followed up by a companion program/curriculum, Maturing Mindfully, in which mentors work one on one with their mentee. Both programs are geared toward goal-setting, communication, and building positive relationships.

Footsteps to the Future has accomplished much thus far, most importantly the ability to affect change in the lives of young women who have, through no fault of their own, have endured often difficult lives that forced them into the foster care system.

Failing to support this group of at-risk youth through the difficult transition from foster care to independence can and often results in enormous cost in terms of wasted lives, disrupted communities, and the taxpayer burden of delinquency, dependence, homelessness, and incarceration. Clearly, preventative services are the most cost-effective way to meet the needs of this population and change their plight. By giving former foster youth access to the resources they need, we heal the symptoms of a broken system. Through our advocacy on a local, state, and national level, we work to repair the system and change lives, one footstep at a time.

Please contact us to learn how you can join in this journey toward success. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Judi Woods

Founder and Executive Director

Footsteps to the Future, Inc

www.footstepstothefuture.org

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead

References and financials available upon request.