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Connect With Others
Pacific Northwest Alumni of Foster Care believes that the voice of youth and alumni is important and invites you to join the alumni movement by contacting us and/or becoming a member of Foster Care Alumni of America (FCAA). Together, we can learn what is happening, lend our voices, and impact policy and practice to improve foster care experiences.
To connect with others please view our brochure:
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You Can Help
We appreciate every opportunity we have to be a voice for those in and from foster care. With your support, we can continue our work to positively influence policy and practice.
· Sponsored FCAA memberships
· speaking and traveling support |
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Where to Donate
Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to:
Pacific Northwest Alumni
of Foster Care
2661 N Pearl St. # 349
Tacoma, WA 98407
Tax-deductible donations can be directly made by visiting:
http://alumniofcare.org/donate.htm | |
Greetings!
Greetings!
Pacific Northwest Alumni of Foster Care (PNAFC) aims to connect the alumni of foster care community and is pleased to introduce Paul Owen, an alumnus, and his recently published memoir titled The Long Winter. This book is an opportunity to share his experiences of foster care to increase an awareness of issues important to our community in our attempt to positively influence policy and practice for those in and from foster care.
- Delilah Bruskas |
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The Long Winter: One Man's Journey through the Darkness of Foster Care (2010) Paul Owen, PhD - Asheville, NC
 Paul Owen, a professor at Montreat College, has recently published a memoir describing how he went from an orphan to a college professor, with the hopes of providing hope and encouragement to others from foster care, and shares that "A difficult start in life does not have to mean a bad ending!" Although his circumstances in foster care are different from many, he shares the same story, our story.
Read more about Paul Owen and the details of his book.
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University of Washington School of Nursing-Partnerships in Community Health NCLIN 409 - Seattle, WA
December 1, 2010
The University of Washington's School of Nursing is providing another opportunity for Delilah Bruskas to speak about her community work as an advocate for those in and from foster care. Her presentation to the Bachelors of Science in Nursing students will focus on how she is using her experiences in foster care and her nursing background towards the development of policy and practice that support individual and community health outcomes.
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- All the alumni of foster care who continue to show and express support!
- Paul Owen for support, friendship, and a willingness to connect with alumni of foster care.
- Randall Spence from Analogue Web Design, LLC for your continued work and support.
- Presentation Partners for your continued support.
- And to all those not mentioned who have also shown a continued support!!
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I'm a foster care "alum," having spent the years spanning 1983-1988 in the foster system, moving among seven different homes. I also spent a few months in a youth home for wards of the state in Idaho Falls in 1986. I was delighted to discover that there are networks out there for those who have "graduated" from foster care, when I ran across Delilah on the internet last year. We immediately struck up a friendship, united by the bond of experience which ties together everyone who has experienced the trials of growing up without a family to call one's own. It's a daunting challenge indeed, to get through the foster care experience and come out on the other side intact. Too many of us emerge so damaged we are unable to cope very well in society. Our life has been one of those success stories that we all need to hear about!
I've decided to reach out and share my own story with others through my recently published memoir, The Long Winter: One Man's Journey Through the Darkness of Foster Care. It describes my early childhood, growing up with a single mother, the experience of her death when I was 13, and then my arduous journey through my teenage years in foster homes. I try to weave throughout a number of important themes, such as the solace of nature, my love of dogs, the trials of young romance, and that sense of dislocation in the world which is unique to those who grow up without their family around them. In the end, it is a story which offers hope. A difficult start in life does not have to mean a bad ending! After years of putting myself through school, I eventually earned my Ph.D. and now teach Greek and biblical studies in the religion department at Montreat College, near Asheville, NC. How I got from an orphaned teen to a college professor is the substance of my memoir. I hope that others can read it, draw encouragement from it, and enjoy a good read along the way!
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