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Foster Care Alumni of America: New group, new Web site, new ideas
A new non-profit taps the wisdom and energy of 12 million foster care "alumni"—adults across the U.S. who have been in foster care—to create a powerful collective voice for children and youth.
Foster Care Alumni of America (FCAA) is a brand-new 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Richmond, Va. It’s a small operation with big ideas and an action plan to carry them out. At the heart of it all: their Web site at www.fostercarealumni.org.
Their innovative strategy? Using a powerful database and a Classmates.com approach to connect people interested in finding each other and working for change.
FCAA believes the key to truly transforming individual lives—and the foster care system—is to first connect as many people as possible and then give them the opportunity to communicate.
The Web site offers eight ways to connect, engage, and empower foster care alumni of all ages. They can participate in: FosterFind, FosterGratitude, FosterMentor, FosterPurpose, FosterRecruit, FosterTeach, FosterTransition, and Foster Resources.
FosterFind: Getting back in touch
Children and youth in foster care change homes, schools, and communities all too often and abruptly.
In the process they lose touch with people who matter to them—particularly brothers and sisters from their birth families, but also foster siblings and parents they’ve grown close to, social workers, teachers, school and family friends, even neighbors.
Finding lost loved ones is rarely easy. People move away, names change (through adoption, marriage, or decree), records are lost or sealed.
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