The holiday season can be hard for youth who have been in foster care or homeless. They often don’t have an extended family, or even a single person, to welcome them into their home to celebrate. They also struggle financially, lacking the resources to pay rent, let alone buy gifts.
Former foster youth Alexis Barries knows this reality first-hand, “Holidays are supposed to be fun, loving, and full of happy spirits. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the reality for many of us.”
Alexis entered foster care at age two and lived in 15 placements, before aging out as a young adult. “Christmas is often a lonely time of the year. Without having a home, family, or friends to spend this time with, a lot of us suffer from depression among other things.”
That’s why John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) is partnering with California State University East Bay to provide holiday gifts for up to 40 foster youth. Youth who will receive the gifts are participating in their Renaissance Scholars program, which provides intensive academic, emotional and financial support to foster youth enrolled on campus.
While highly effective, campus support programs in the California State University (CSU) system don’t receive any public funding, making their existence precarious. JBAY will work to change that in 2022 by advocating for public funding for both the CSU system and the University of California campuses, along with an expansion of existing funding for foster youth attending community colleges. Collectively, this will assist 9,950 foster youth attending college in California each year.
According to JBAY Executive Director Amy Lemley, campus support programs like the one at CSU East Bay are critical. “Foster youth in California are enrolling in college in record numbers, but retention is low. The key to increasing retention is programs like CSU East Bay that understand the needs of foster youth and are helping them step by step towards graduation.”
Helping foster youth during the holidays is another way to show our support. Some foster youth receiving gifts are young parents and thanks to this effort will be able to have a happier, less financially stressful holiday season.