FYI Kicks Off New Year with Opportunity to Become an Ally to a Local Foster Youth
Training to Be Held January 13
More volunteer Allies needed to help change the lives of these vulnerable young adults aging out of the foster system
SANTA CLARITA (January 6, 2025) – Local nonprofit Fostering Youth Independence (FYI) is kicking off the new year with a training session for new “Allies” to support Santa Clarita youth who are aging out of the L.A. County foster care system. Allies provide invaluable support to these vulnerable youth, as each one is paired with a youth who they will help guide and encourage as they complete a post-secondary education – a key to breaking the cycle of challenges faced by these youth.
On January 13 a training session will be held for anyone interested in learning more about what being an FYI Ally entails. The training will take place in the Fellowship Center at Christ Lutheran Church in Valencia from 6-8 pm. Those interested can email FYI’s Volunteer Coordinator Darlene Allen at dallen@fyifosteryouth.org.
Volunteer Allies have the unique opportunity to directly impact the lives of Santa Clarita’s transition age foster youth (ages 16 to 25) by providing encouragement and support as they transition into adulthood.
“For anyone looking for a meaningful way to contribute to an important cause in the new year, we have more and more local foster youth discovering FYI and wanting to be a part of our community and receive the support we provide,” said Carolyn Olsen, FYI’s executive director and co-founder. “This means we’re in need of additional Allies – both men and women – to offer the care and encouragement these youth may not have had as they’ve traveled through the challenging foster system.”
She explained that Santa Claritans have the opportunity to make a real difference in these youth’s lives by becoming a volunteer Ally and supporting their youth through the journey to obtaining a college degree or trade certificate.
“We’re often asked what Allies do,” Olsen said. “Our Allies support their youth in any number of ways. This can be with calls and texts to check in on them, getting together with them for coffee or meals, helping them with errands, taking them on outings, offering guidance and generally being a sounding board for their questions or issues.”
The benefits Allies offer to local foster youth are clear. Here are some quotes from FYI youth about their Ally experiences:
“To me, what an Ally is, is a best friend. It’s a person who you can go and call whenever you need help, when you feel lost, when you feel confused in anything. To me an Ally is a mentor where you can look up to someone where you don’t have to feel like you’re alone or doing this thing called life by yourself. It really is just someone who you can put your trust in and it’s really hard to have people like that in your life so having in Ally is really special.”
“An Ally is basically a mentor that FYI pairs you up with. They are less of a mentor and more of a friend and a lot of times they become family. They are there to rely on, to call upon whenever you need some advice or you need someone to hang out with. They are a great form of support system. You can count on them for anything and that’s one of my favorite parts about FYI.”
“An Ally is like a best friend, in a way. They’re always there for you. They take you out, look over you, always check on you. So I think it’s just a great person to have in your life.”
“An Ally is a healthy relationship that you can always lean on. I have truly had a lifechanging effect having an Ally, because being a young adult, and a young mom and a single mom who is solo parenting there are so many things that I’m responsible for that are really scary to face by myself. Just honestly being young I don’t want to fail but when you have an Ally you kind of know that you can’t fail. You have somebody there to lift you up no matter what and to push you harder when you’re doing great. It’s just the most, what feels like unconditional support.”
“An Ally is somebody that they appoint to you based off of who they think is the best fit for you, and said Ally kind of helps you, it’s like your own personal mentor in a way but serves more as a friend rather than somebody you are supposed to listen to as an adult figure. Having my own Ally has been one of the greatest experiences in my life. We do all sorts of stuff together, and Richard, my Ally is one of my best friends, I would say, and it’s meant a lot to me to have him around.”
Olsen added that FYI’s youth have achieved many of their goals because of the right support system and caring adult Allies, as these youth have never had the traditional support of parents or family in their lives.
Further information about Fostering Youth Independence and how to support this organization can be found on www.fyifosteryouth.org.
# # #
About Fostering Youth Independence (FYI)
FYI is the largest Santa Clarita-based nonprofit supporting local foster youth who have aged out of the L.A. County foster care system without being adopted or reunified with their birth parents. FYI addresses the serious challenges faced by these youth, which include not finishing high school or pursuing higher education, homelessness, and incarceration. FYI offers local foster youth numerous resources to help overcome past traumas, complete an education, gain employment, and become successful, independent adults.
FYI currently serves 85 transition age (16-25 years) foster youth in the Santa Clarita Valley and has supported 214 local youth since its inception in 2017. It assigns each youth a caring adult volunteer Ally and a coordinator to help them set and achieve goals in areas such as education, employment, housing, finances, health, transportation, assistance with college applications, enrollment and class registration, and referrals to resources for food, housing, health, mental health, and employment. It also provides emergency financial assistance when an unexpected expense such as a car repair threatens to derail a youth’s educational plans. FYI offers The Study Place for learning support and tutoring, a Ready, Set Drive! program to assist youth in obtaining their drivers license, personalized Money Matters financial literacy education, hosts events throughout the year where the youth can connect with other youth and Allies to create a community of support, and partners with College of the Canyons for referrals and counseling. It also provides school supplies, holiday gifts and household items for youth moving into new homes with few possessions.
FYI is recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. FYI’s federal tax ID number is
82-1034101.
Website: www.fyifosteryouth.org
Instagram: @fyifosteryouth
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fyifosteryouth
Contact:
Carolyn Olsen
Co-founder and Executive Director
colsen@fyifosteryouth.org
(661) 360-1500 ext. 700