FOSTER YOUTH IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Guardian Scholars, Renaissance Scholars, or even FYRE Scholars, the programs vary by name, but they are all helping former and current foster youth navigate higher education.
California State Bill 967 gives the resources to dependency kids, coming out of the foster care system to get room, board and tuition paid for at institutions of higher learning. We are interviewing these students around California to understand the turning points, people and events that often challenged them and at other times allowed them to not only survive but thrive. Our goal is to find if these positive markers are not only identifiable, but also replicable.
With this information, we will be traveling to another state that supports this same population with emotional support groups, some funds but not the blanket that California provides. We will work with these former foster kids, now in higher education and join forces with social advocates to create a compelling body of stories that can be used to change state legislative priorities and improve funding to the California levels.
With this successful model for change…..we will take this campaign national.
“Yes, it took a long time for me to feel really supported and I feel like there is a way to overcome that, by surrounding yourself with positive people. The Guardian Scholars program has really made me feel like part of UCSB. When I first came to UCSB in 2012 I built friendships with different Guardians Scholars and I felt very welcomed and supported, especially by the oldest girls… Ever since I came to the first event, I feel a sense of community. Previously, when I first started this quarter, I felt very lonely and I had no friends. Guardian Scholars has allowed me to feel comfortable and happy.”
“Especially since I developed a lot of anxiety ever since I came to college. Since this was a big milestone for me, Graduate school is another hurdle to get through, I just need to do more research on what I want from life.”
Deanna, UCI FYRE Program
“I always knew that education was the only way out. Since both of my parents were immigrants, I grew up with the mindset of I have to go to college in order to provide my siblings with a better future. I have to be the role model.”
Kimberly, UCI FYRE Program
“When I was younger, I was completely in denial of being in it [foster care]. As I've grown older, I've realized, while I don't remember it, it has affected my life. It has affected me subconsciously and has come up in traumas that I did not know I had, nor did I connect with until very recently.”
“That's what's so great about the Fire program, they had extended it to me because I was a ward of the court. Didn't matter what, how long I was in or what age I was. Fire provides all the resources like books, support, scholarships, a safe place in general to meet other people that may or may not have the same stories.”
“I don't really have any other options. I have friends that after they graduate high school, they're finding themselves and exploring the country and going backpacking and whatever. I don't really have that privilege to do because they can always just go back and live in their parents' basement…
at a certain point realized I have to make a game plan for myself in a sense.”
“I'm noticing more that my academic struggles are closely related to the behaviors that I have developed from childhood because I've never been taught to deal with anxiety, depression, insecurities... When there was a lack of support in my home life. I desperately sought after it outside of the home… it was my teachers, it was people who were mature because I felt like my parents weren't mature. I needed grownups. I needed the parents and throughout my childhood that would be people who became my mentors like the staff at the boys and girls club and my English teacher in high school.”
Christian Morgan, UCSB Guardian Scholars Program
“It was very hard as a little girl because I just remember when my mom would come to visit, and then she'd have to leave. It was really traumatizing. I would just scream and ask her to take me with her. It was so long ago, but when you feel that pain, it kind of just sticks with you.”
“When I turned 18 we were staying with my older brother. Then my twin brother Nathan and I moved to the beach right next to the city college (SBCC). For about six months we went to school and stayed in the back of our truck and then realized what financial aid was. They had a Guardian Scholars there too which helped us.”
“This is Oakland. No one cares. Law enforcement went past me multiple times at night and for the whole five months. I was just on my own. They didn’t stop for nothing.”
“My foster sister recently graduated from UCLA, and she said, "I had a wonderful time, part of the Guardian Scholars.” That's what it's called at UCLA, and she said, "You should look into it, in Irvine, and see if there's also a similar program that could help you." I did and that's how I became part of FYRE and it wasn't until my second year where I became more involved. I'm currently part of a club that branches out of the program to advocate for foster awareness.”