Season of giving: making the holidays brighter for foster youth

By TRAVIS D. TESTER
Guest Columnist

As the holiday season approaches, like me, I bet you are looking forward to being with friends, family, and your chosen family for gatherings filled with laughter, love and good food. However, I can’t help but think about the young people we support at Foster Success – those who often face the holidays with a sense of isolation and uncertainty.

For many, the holidays heighten feelings of loneliness and exclusion. While others are surrounded by family and friends, those who have aged out of Indiana’s foster care system find themselves lacking what we take for granted such as love, connection, safety, and support – absences that have a lifelong impact on their health, education and opportunities.

Foster Success is dedicated to helping teens and young adults navigate the transition out of foster care by providing essential resources like education, basic needs assistance, financial literacy training, health and wellness services, and job skill development. We are the ONLY statewide organization doing this work and supported more than 1,100 young people last year across Indiana. According to our 2023-2024 Impact Report, 70 percent of young people we support report being at or below the federal poverty level. For them, a simple holiday meal or presents may be out of reach.

We are currently in the midst of our annual FriendsGiving campaign to raise awareness about the challenges young people leaving the system face, especially this time of year. Every dollar we raise throughout the campaign directly helps foster independence and self-sufficiency while removing barriers that have, for too long, been obstructing the paths of these young individuals.

Your support not only makes an immediate impact, but it builds a foundation for lifelong success. Together, we have the chance to provide our young people with a chosen family so they may too not feel alone any time of the year.

As we gather with friends and family this holiday season, I invite you to reflect on the power of community and how awareness and simple actions can improve the lives of those within it immeasurably.

Join us in this mission – consider investing in these young people with your time or treasure today to help brighten the holidays for those who need it most.

Travis D. Tester, CFRE, of Indianapolis, is the Chief Development & Communications Officer at Foster Success. More information about Foster Success can be found at fostersuccess.org.