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THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW
Launching Fall 2006
Project BirthdayScout © |
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REMEMBERING YOUTH
Girl Scouts Create Birthday Cards for Foster Youth
Children
enter the world with a wonderful sense of entitlement, regardless of the way
their families function. This knowledge was the spark that led to the
development of Project BirthdayScout, a solution for the foster youth of
Orange County and Los Angeles. The general public is unaware that
stress-consumed relatives and professionally drained social workers with
large caseloads to manage may unintentionally overlook the birthdays of
foster youth. Additionally, a child may not have active parents or foster
parents; each level of involvement varies for each individual child.
Positive Resistance believes children should not be forgotten because the
act of being remembered reinforces individual importance and compassion.
With the support of the Girl Scout Council of Los Angeles and Orange County,
the Cardinal Computer Academy, and the Department of Children’s Services,
Girl Scouts will create handmade birthday cards that will reach youth. This
pilot program will encourage social workers, uplift foster youth, enhance
the community and inspire hidden virtues.
California has the largest foster population in the country. Once the
success of this program is determined our hope is that it is emulated
throughout the country.
Launching Summer 2007
SELF PORTRAIT: Passport to Paris
Upon emancipation several foster youth will be offered the opportunity to
study art in Paris, France, for one week. This program is intended to
inspire youth to bond with art while offering a new sense of identity and
group unification. Through art our expectation is for youth to construct a
new representation of who they are, learn cultural and ethnic tolerance,
while building a sense of self-sufficiency. Knowing they can travel to a
foreign country with support and ease youth will come to the realization
that they can also travel into the adult world with a sense of confidence.
OUR INTENTIONS FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS
ART & OUTREACH: Positive Resistance is already collaborating with
organizations around the world to establish a combination of art education
and volunteer undertakings for emancipated foster youth. Our goal is to
empower, educate, and encourage.
*Partnership Being Established
Summer 2008: China*
Summer 2009: India*
Summer 2010: Africa*
Summer 2011: Mexico*
Summer 2012: Russia
Summer 2013: Canada
Summer 2014: Australia*
Summer 2015: Philippines
Summer 2016: England
POSITIVE PLACE
(Projected Date January 2016)
A PLACE CALLED HOME
In an effort to alleviate homelessness within the foster community Positive
Resistance is working on raising enough capital to secure an apartment
complex for emancipated youth. Youth living at POSITIVE PLACE will be
coached on the acquisition of life skills as they balance maintaining their
own studio apartment while working and going to school. Staff and counselors
will be available 24 hours a day in order to help youth make the transition:
opening bank accounts, fiscal responsibility, employment, ensuring they pay
rent on time. Surveying foster alumni and social workers closely connected
to the reality of transitional housing, Positive Resistance would also like
to have a resource center with internet and job information accessible.
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