Holiday bash will help area foster kids
Posted: 12/12/2009 02:30:26 AM
PST
Kareena Blackmon, 21 unpacks a high chair, donated for the New
Beginnings Supportive Services holiday party for needy area young adults. (Mike
Jory/Times-Herald)
Kareena Blackmon, 21, of Vallejo was one of the lucky ones. After
14 years in foster care, she had a place to live and was college-bound when she
was emancipated from the system.
But as they approach their 18th
birthday, many teens about to age out of foster care face enormous hardships in
finding work and housing, and in going to college, said Blackmon, a youth
advocate for the county.
Teens in foster care who are 18 or older have needs all year, but they're
pronounced during holidays, said Blackmon and volunteer who help foster
children.
"I want people to just be aware
and try to help them to get into housing programs, employ them and get them
enrolled in college," Blackmon said.
To help brighten their holidays, two
agencies have teamed up to throw a Holiday Bash, 4 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the
American Canyon Community Center, 477 Canyon Creek Dr.
Donations are being sought to put on
the bash and give each teen a gift for Christmas. At least 150 teens are
expected.
"This is just a holiday
Christmas party for this population that is usually forgotten about," said
Cynthia Grady of New Beginnings Supportive Services.
New Beginnings is staging the event
with Alternative Family Services Solano Independent Living Skills Program,
which contracts with Solano County to help teens make the transition to
adulthood.
"There is a great need,
especially during the holidays," Living Skills Program Assistant Program
Director Ella Bell said. "Without
their biological families, they feel distant and withdrawn. We
try to pull our resources together so that we can provide them with gifts and
help them feel part of the community," she added.
New Beginnings helps numerous young
adults with food, diapers for their babies, formula, bus passes, clothing and
other items. Efforts are also under way to open a transitional housing center
for them.
Too often, Grady said, these young
adults face homelessness and poverty when they leave foster care.
Further, nearly half the youth
surveyed do not complete high school, nearly one-third have spent at least one
night homeless, and about one-fourth sell drugs to support themselves,
according to an Annie E. Casey Foundation Survey of former foster care youth.
Blackmon said she's faced continuous
challenges in the three years since she left foster care, including the need to
suspend her college plans due to lack of transportation. She is also now
guardian of her 18-year-old sister.
People can help with the Holiday
Bash by making a cash contribution, donating gift
cards, and providing household and clothing items, such as warm blankets, bed
sheets and towels, Grady said.
For more details, contact Grady at
(707) 655-6064.
Donations also can be made through
Independent Living Skills Program, 100 Corporate Place, Suite A, Vallejo or by calling (707) 648-2000.
Contact staff writer Sarah Rohrs at srohrs@timesheraldonline.
com or (707) 553-6832.
