South Metro Community Foundation Announces Grant from the Gilson Family Foundation
The South Metro Community Foundation (SMCF) announces that it has received a grant of $10,000 from the Gilson Family Foundation to improve outcomes for foster care youth in Arapahoe County.
The Gilson Family Foundation is a private nonprofit headquartered in Massachusetts.
Susan Thornton, founder and chair of the SMCF, said that the Foundation is very appreciative for the support.
Outcomes for youth aging-out of the foster care system at age 18 are “dismal,” she stated, citing statistics such as:
- At age 18, former foster care youth are almost immediately homeless (38% within 24 months). Although housing vouchers are available for them, the vouchers are complicated and require documents that the youth often can’t access.
- They have low high school graduation rates (30% vs 80% of their peers).
- They become involved with the criminal justice system (60% vs 24% of their peers).
- They are often trafficked, abuse drugs and alcohol at high rates (40-49% vs 30-33% of their peers), and suffer from mental health issues.
- Most horrifying, they have suicide rates that are 10 times their peers.
“These statistics are shocking,” Thornton said. “We are wasting the lives of too many of these young people, and suffering from high social costs as well.”
She noted that the grant from the Gilson Family Foundation will be combined with grants from the Daniels Fund, the Buck Family Foundation, a large family foundation and others, and will help provide life-skills/housing navigators for at least the last year before foster care youth age out of the system.
SMCF is working with Advocates for Children/CASA of Arapahoe County, which will hire the navigators to help these young people apply for housing vouchers, obtain job training or education, and develop life skills. Approximately 400 foster youth age out of foster care each year in Arapahoe County.
Later this year, with financial assistance from the City of Littleton, SMCF plans to hold a free community forum to educate the community about foster care issues and ways the community can help improve outcomes for these very vulnerable young people.
The SMCF is a nonprofit, community-supported organization and donations are welcomed. Learn more at www.SMCFinfo.org.
