January/February 2016

Dear Friends,

Hands down, The Hope Center has the best supporters of young people aging out of foster care. You give your time to provide countless hours of tutoring and mentoring, you share your resources so that young people have gas and bus passes to get to and from work, you move furniture into new apartments, you invite young people to shadow you at your work place, and you donate computers and printers, just to name a few.

And, as if that wasn't enough, you are now taking your commitment one step further--you are opening up your homes to provide young people aging out of foster care with a safe and stable short-term place to live through our new Host Home Program.

At its core, the Host Home Program is about our community taking care of its young people. We are confident that your hearts, knowledge and skills are so tremendous that our young people will thrive with you as their coaches and guides.

Thank you for answering every call for support that we send out and for continuing to share your many gifts and talents with young people aging out of foster care.

Warmly,

Stacy Bluth

Executive Director

The Hope Center

Our first training for the Host Home Program was a success! Our Host Home Program pairs volunteer host families with young people between the ages of 18-25 who have aged out of the foster care system. The goal of this program is to provide our young people with valuable independent living skills in a safe and supportive environment as they transition out of foster care into fully independent living. We continue to look for stable homes that have additional space for a young person to live. We provide high quality training and ongoing support to all of our volunteer families. The length of stay will vary: we are looking both for people to provide respite help (very short term housing) as well as a little longer stays (average length of stay 3-6 months). Please consider becoming a host home and sharing the opportunity with neighbors, friends and colleagues who you think might be a good fit. Our next training session is in April. To find out more information please contact Rashidah Myrie at rmyrie@hopecenteratpullen.org.

Highlight: Mentoring

January was National Mentoring Month and we want to take a moment to send a huge thank you to all of our mentors who spend a significant amount of time with our youth. These relationships are crucial to these young people, and also fulfilling to the mentors themselves. Here's what one of our mentors had to say about her experience:

"I have been mentoring for nearly one year now. While it was challenging in the beginning, the more we talked, the more commonalities we found, and the deeper the level of trust we have been able to develop. A few months after meeting, a major upset happened in her life, and I stood by her all the way. I know that strengthened our bond immensely.

I really enjoy being able to share my knowledge and insights on how to make it in the world when you are someone who does not fit the conventional standards. I find we learn a little bit from each other every meeting, and it's quite enjoyable!"

Thank you Mentors!

Yelp Foundation Votes are In!

We want to extend a huge thank you to all of you who voted for us during the Yelp Foundation Gives Local grant contest. It was incredible to see such an outpouring of support. Thanks to your community votes, we won a $5,000 grant! This funding will go a long way towards helping young people with a history in foster care transition successfully to adulthood.

SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, March 10th

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza Event

Please join us for pizza on Thursday, March 10th at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza (Cameron Village). Brixx will donate a portion of the proceeds to The Hope Center. Please click here to print the flyer to bring with you to the event so your purchases qualify. We look forward to seeing you there!