September 23, 2008
Contact:
John Bell
Kids@Home
prseitz@bellsouth.net
954-970-3394
Felecia Henderson
NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5315
fhenders@nova.edu
Kids@Home Life Coach Helps Former Foster Teen Win Four Year Scholarship
South Florida -- At 17 “Mimi”, suddenly found herself part of the state foster care system, working through difficult family issues and juggling her senior year studies while trying to plan for her future.
At age 18 the state support system ended almost as suddenly as it began for Mimi. Having been in the system for less than six months, she no longer qualified for any state assistance. Like many young adults who at 18 ‘age out” of the foster care system, Mimi found a safety net in the form of Kids@Home, an organization dedicated to helping foster youth learn and grow as they prepare to transition from foster care at age 18 into the world.
Kids@Home, (along with Turtle Nest Village, also located in Palm Beach County), provides a continuum of care for foster teens and emancipated foster youth. The organization arranged for housing and assigned Mimi to a life coach for counseling and support. Thanks to 100 percent funding from Children’s Services Council of Broward, Mimi became part of the Kids@Home “Future Prep Program”.
Social worker Shanna Fried was just two days into her new job as a Life Coach for the Boca Raton-based Kids@Home organization when she noticed a scholarship opportunity listed on a United Way circular.
The scholarship, established by Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS) was created to provide an undergraduate transitioning youth with the cost of tuition for undergraduate studies with the School of Education.
In her caseload of 15 teens and young adults, Shanna thought Mimi was a good fit based on the eligibility qualifications and expectations.
“She had good grades, she was a motivated, dedicated good student,” recalled Shanna. “Mimi had the potential and we were going to make the effort to make this happen for her.”
For Mimi, who had hoped to one day attend the local community college, a four year $70,000 scholarship to NSU was never an option—until now.
The golden ring suddenly was well within reach.
Shanna and Mimi worked together on the application and then held their breath.
Mimi, who now lives in nearby Plantation, was accepted to the undergraduate program and began her studies this fall at NSU with the ultimate goal of becoming an elementary school teacher.
“I had never expected something like this to happen to me,” she said. “This is so cool. The teachers are great and things look so different today than they did just a few months ago.”
Awarded for the first time last year, the Nova Southeastern University Transitional Independent Living Undergraduate Scholarship was created through and is supported by the collaborative efforts of the United Way of Broward County, The Junior League of Fort Lauderdale and the NSU Fischler School of Education and Human Services.
Elizabeth Wynter of United Way pitched the scholarship idea to Kim Durham, Psy.D, executive dean for Administration and Human Services at FSEHS and H. Wells Singleton, Ph.D., education provost and university dean of FSEHS. The idea became a reality, offering an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for former foster teens to get a quality university level education.
Thanks to the Legacy Project administered by the Junior League of Fort Lauderdale, information regarding this and similar scholarships and many other programs available to transitioning foster youths will be housed in the TIL Resource Center. The center, according to TIL Resource Director Kristen Guerrise, is a convenient one stop location where youth from the dependency system can access the services and supports needed to assure their successful transition into adulthood.
About Kids@Home and Turtle Nest Village
Kids@Home, founded in 2000, and Turtle Nest Village, founded in 2001, have worked for the past seven years to meet the needs of former foster youth. The two organizations jointly provide South Florida foster teens with a wide range of services, including housing and life skill training while connecting them to a network of community resources that include education, work readiness/job placement, health care, counseling and mentoring.
About Foster Care
In America over 500,000 kids lie in foster care. They are abandoned youth of our country and often become a burden to themselves and to our communities as adults. No child chooses to be taken from their family and placed with strangers in several shelters, group homes and foster families. Our government makes the decision to remove these children from their homes and then assumes the responsibility of parenting them. Parenting doesn’t end at 18, an age when foster youth care typically ends.
Without help at this crucial time:
- Up to 45% will experience homelessness within the first year.
- More than half will be unemployed.
- Less than half will have a high school diploma.
- They will be three times more likely than the general population to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
- They will be seven times more likely to experience drug dependence and twice as likely to experience alcohol dependence.
- Within four years, 41% will be on some type of public assistance.
- 25% of the males will be incarcerated.
About Fischler School of Education and Human Services: Serving more than 15,000 students in approximately 40 countries, Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services is one of the largest schools of education at an accredited university in the United States. When we opened our doors more than 35 years ago, we shattered the barriers of traditional learning, causing a ripple effect that can still be felt today. Online, On-site, Or on our modern, 18-acre campus in North Miami Beach, Florida, our ideas, our approach, and our programs—found nowhere else in the nation—inspire our students to inspire the people around them to move the world.
About Nova Southeastern University: Situated on 300 beautiful acres in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University is a dynamic fully accredited institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 26,000 students and is the sixth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The university awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, doctoral, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences. For more information, visit www.nova.edu.
