We Trust Foster to Lead

Thank you for joining us in our values journey over the past week and learning what it takes to fully fund our Foster-led mission work this year. Our team is grateful for every donation made so far and all your comments about what these values mean to you. By building a relationship with our team, you’re leaning into our next value:

When I left my job in healthcare research to come to Foster Advocates, I did so because of the trust I had in this organization. I had seen the meaningful partnerships that were being built with Fosters.  Ryn, one of our Foster Ed Leaders in 2020 and a Community Board member today, reflected on her experience: 

Trust is knowing you can be vulnerable in a space without the space becoming unsafe. It’s knowing that I have someone who’s going to check in on me and that when things go wrong in my life, I have someone I can call. At other panels and in other spaces as a youth leader, I’ve felt like my story was met with a defensive front. A lot of “well actually, I don’t do that” or “well actually, not everyone in the system…” With Foster Advocates, I’ve felt safe speaking publicly because I knew staff were backing us up. I was given so much grace to say what I needed to say, and it made me want to keep going. I know my Foster story and my Roma identity and heritage are safe with Foster Advocates

As a Foster myself, I felt hesitant to jump into work that challenges me to reflect on my own story. Fosters have often had our trust violated by family, by the system, and by our communities. I see this past harm in the relationships I’m building with our Fostering Education programming. Even if we can’t rectify the harm that has been done, I am proud to show up every day and demonstrate that Fosters like Ryn can trust that we will do right by them.

We are building this together with your support, and transformative change and authentic relationships are only possible with trust.

It’s crucial that as an organization, we have the space and freedom to move at the pace of trust. When you support our $15,000 goal by December 31st, know that your trust in our organization allows us to follow Fosters’ lead, build deep relationships with them, and bring true capacity to enact critical systems change. 

Thank you for your trust,

Hannah

Fostering Education Program Manager

PS: If you haven’t already, consider sharing what these values mean to you on our social media! A reminder that our office will be closed starting Saturday—a new year starting with value connections (and donations)—would mean a lot to our team.