Team Crisafulli is Created!
December 31, 2011 by Susan Clarke
THANK YOU all for supporting my charity of choice, Fostering Opportunities Dollars for Scholars. We raised $1500 and have created the Team Crisafulli Scholarship for 2012!
In addition to serving on the Board since 2003, I mentor students. Two of mine have graduated! I am currently mentoring Sade. My description of her after our first meeting in 2007 was, “She’s a very angry, inner city kid.” Mentoring Sade has been like peeling an onion. Every layer I got through allowed me to connect with her on a deeper level. She has turned into the most beautiful young woman! I am so proud of her and all of her accomplishments. She graduated from Cuyamaca College in 2009 and went on to SDSU with the Alex Smith Foundation Scholarship. She will graduate in May 2012, with a degree in Social Work and is already talking about studying for her Masters. I will be mentoring our Team Crisafulli Scholarship student and as soon as I know who that is I will let you know.
Our chapter was formed, in March 2002, by a group consisting of social workers, teachers of at-risk students, and nurses. They decided something had to be done for their foster kids, who when they turned 18, were “aged” out of the system. Our first scholarships were a $100 each. Wow! We have come such a long way!
As of this year, we have awarded 186 scholarships to our students for a total of $300,921. 14 of them have graduated with a college degrees! Youth in foster care are 44% less likely to graduate from high school and after emancipation, 40 – 50 percent never complete high school. Only 5% of former foster youth will continue their education past high school and of those only 2% will graduate.
We are a locally operated non-profit scholarship foundation. There is NO paid staff at FODFS. We are ALL VOLUNTEER Directors serving on the Board. When asked, “Do board members get paid?” The response given with a hearty laugh is, “No, it costs to be a board member.”
Our Mission is to continue expanding post secondary educational opportunities for the foster youth of San Diego County, by providing them mentors and financial support. They are in need of funding for housing, food, and transportation, as well as, their education.
We believe our youth are the greatest resource in our community and it only takes one person to make a difference in a young person’s life. Is that person you? I would LOVE to have you on my team!