With just over a month remaining in the year, we look forward to the holiday season to celebrate the opportunity to give, share, and be thankful. We are honored to share a few stories about the determination of three youth who had been in our foster care program. These three successful young people are changing the trajectory for youth in foster care. Typically, foster youth experience unacceptably poor outcomes in education and job success:
- 50% graduate from high school or obtain a GED;
- 1 in 5 go to college; and
- only 2% earn a college degree.
Children’s Aid keenly focuses on the transitional years, when foster youth move to independent adulthood, which is the time when most of these young people fall through the cracks. We work with them to determine goals and opportunities to learn and grow. We are particularly proud of Araya, Julio, and Alexander, who are featured in The New York Times as part of the annual “Neediest Cases” campaign:
- Araya Manning spent four tumultuous years in New York City’s foster system. After a difficult and brief tenure at NYU, she found a new focus in social work. Now studying at Hunter, she is the first in her family to go to college. Araya said she looks forward to graduating and plans to go on to graduate school.
- Julio Reyes entered foster care at the age of 13. He credits Children’s Aid for helping him get to Binghamton University. Now 24, Julio earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting, and he just started a job at Ernst & Young. He is currently studying for his fourth and final CPA exam, after having passed the first three.
- And then there’s Alexander Santana, who entered the foster care system when he was just 5 years old. He isn’t ashamed of his upbringing. In fact, he wants to draw from his experiences to inspire other children who are struggling. “I want to get my story out,” Alexander said. “I want to help kids who go through my situation.”
We are proud of our Children’s Aid kids, and grateful for your support to help them succeed and reach their full potential.
We wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving,
Phoebe C. Boyer
President and Chief Executive Officer
COMMITTED PARTNERS
Accenture: Sticking With Us From Child Care to Career
When Accenture began their investment with Children’s Aid more than 20 years ago, they supported children like Robert Saunders from East Harlem, who was enrolled in child care at our Dunlevy Milbank Center and continued with Children’s Aid for many years.
Since their first gift in 1997, Accenture has served as our Presenting Sponsor at our annual Golf Classic fundraiser on multiple occasions, donating generously toward our general operating and scholarship funds, and recruiting golfers for a fun and impactful day on the course. Through our 20 years of Golf Classic fundraisers, Accenture has donated more than $1 million toward our students, ensuring they have the resources to attend and succeed in college.
In addition to their unrivaled support of our Golf Classic, Accenture has also invested in workforce development programs for teens at our Hope Leadership Academy in East Harlem — and one of them was Robert. For many of the Academy’s students, they are the first in their family to explore higher education as a tool to launch their careers, and they benefit from resume writing, interview skills, business etiquette workshops, networking opportunities, and internships.
Accenture has another special way they have contributed to Children’s Aid: their time. This past year alone, Accenture invited 15 Hope Leadership Academy students to their offices to participate in college and career exploration workshops. And during the spring, 10 Accenture employees visited our Early Childhood classrooms and read “The Carrot Seed” to the classes of 3- and 4-year-olds, then planted seeds together with the kids in the playground’s garden.
Accenture is a prime example of a corporate champion that understands the benefits of a long-term, comprehensive partnership. In 2015, Robert graduated from SUNY New Paltz, and has spent his career working in the hospitality sector. Accenture stuck with Robert from child care all the way to career, and through their continued partnership, they’re planting the seeds for so many other children to follow in his footsteps.
IMPACT
Dom Telesco: Paying It Forward
Photograph provided by CAPEHEART
Dom Telesco wasn’t like most of the other Princeton University students in the 1940s, who attended private schools and grew up wealthy. His father emigrated from Italy with only a sixth grade education, and Dom attended a rough high school where students frequently ended up in jail. But with the help of Children’s Aid, he was able to overcome the odds, and lead a life where he truly thrived.
Dom grew up in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen in the 1930s, and when he was 8 years old, he decided to check out our local West Side Children’s Center (now closed). The Center offered endless opportunities — a library where he learned about the world and completed his homework, intramural pingpong and boxing teams, and shop class. He was hooked. Dom pursued every opportunity he could, and through middle and high school, his Children’s Aid mentors made sure he stayed off the streets and continued his programming. Dom still remembers Mrs. Andrews, who paid money from her own pocket to take him to his very first Broadway play — “Home of the Brave.” Dom says after seeing this show, “None of my friends have ever done anything like this, and there I was. I felt smart, sophisticated.”
When he was in high school, Dom showed academic promise, and Children’s Aid helped cultivate his abilities. Children’s Aid introduced him to the idea of college, and prepared him for college exams. He received stellar marks, and got accepted to almost every Ivy League university.
After he graduated from Princeton, he served in the Navy, began a successful career in distribution and real estate, and started a family of his own. In 1988, Dom decided to pay it forward by making his first donation to Children’s Aid in the amount of $100. Ever since, he has donated every year, and continued to increase his giving amount generously. “I’m grateful for what I have. I like to give back, because life has been good to me,” Dom said.
Dom also has a message he wants to tell other children growing up with the odds stacked against them: “Never place limitations on your horizons. There’s a big, wide world out there, and it’s waiting for you. Go get it.”
YOUTH ACTIVATED
A $10 Million Investment for Youth In and Aging Out of Foster Care
Every year Children’s Aid works not only to provide valuable services to our children, youth, and families, but also to advance their interests at every level of government. The hard work of advocates inside and outside of Children’s Aid ensures the needs of our children, families, and staff are genuinely reflected in their government.
Combined with many other efforts, this year Children’s Aid proudly joined the “Fair Futures” campaign in advocating for, and securing, more support for youth in and aging out of foster care in New York City. The campaign, a coalition of more than 100 child welfare agencies, nonprofits, foundations, advocates, and young people, resulted in New York City investing $10 million in long-term coaching and academic supports for youth in and aging out of foster care.
Because of the voices of foster youth and advocates across the city, New York is now the first city in the nation to make such a long-term investment in the development of its young people in care. Too often our foster youth are left behind by the very institutions designed to support them, but New York City has made it clear that here we believe in our foster youth and will proudly support them every step of the way.
Children’s Aid knows how powerful the voices of our families can be, and we will continue to help amplify their voices until they are all heard loud and clear.
Ninth Annual Benefit Raises a New Record: Nearly $2.2 Million
PROGRAM UPDATE
Newly Renovated Pool Opens at Our Goodhue Center on Staten Island
The Goodhue Pool, a staple in the northern Staten Island community for decades, opened in August after renovations began last October.
Children and families, elected officials, community partners, and donors celebrated the opening on August 12. Council Member Debi Rose, Deputy Borough President Ed Burke, and community members tossed beach balls to children as they swam in the pool.
The Goodhue Pool renovations are part of a larger effort to preserve 37 acres of Goodhue Park as protected parkland, and build a new community center for Staten Island children and families. Staten Islanders have successfully advocated on behalf of Children’s Aid to keep the project moving forward.
The pool improvements include a new pool shell, decking, bathrooms, and lockers. The renovation was supported by a planning grant from Richmond County Savings Foundation and a capital grant from City Council Member Debi Rose.
“This opening represents the partnership of so many Staten Islanders, who joined together and amplified their voices so the children and youth of the Goodhue Center could have the pool they deserve,” said Children’s Aid Chief Operating Officer Don Shacknai. “I’m thrilled we can celebrate this milestone.”
Good Morning America:
New York Times:
After a Turbulent Adolescence, a Career Path Comes Into Focus
New York Times: