Julie Hays, grant committee member of the Marlene and Spencer Hays Foundation, has a passion for helping children experiencing foster care because of her personal fostering story. The Foundation is a supporter of Youth Villages and specifically LifeSet, for its critical services to children exiting the foster care system and transitioning into adulthood.
Every day at Youth Villages, we are charged with helping children who have experienced trauma and toxic stress. They may have been victims of abuse, neglect or have experienced significant and chronic community violence.
Primed and prepped, the West Tennessee Youth Villages group homes step into the prom season with style. The Sneaker Ball gave youth the opportunity to show up in their best ‘kicks’ and glamorous outfits.
The CDC recently released a disturbing study showing that 3 in 5 teen girls have felt deeply sad or hopeless in 2021, a 60% increase since 2013
At just 20 years old, Katrina had walked a rocky road for most of her life. Due to domestic violence and verbal abuse, she was removed from her biological home.
At 19, Silvia was the one who found her brother-in-law lifeless, shot to death, lying on the pavement of a gas station lot. A few years later, she was the victim when a man snuck up behind her and held a knife to her chest.
Catherine Bergrud, a Family Support Partner in Asheville, North Carolina, goes above and beyond to help Jeremy live out his dream and supports them to overcome behavioral challenges. The Joey Logano Foundation continues their support of Youth Villages’ mission by providing kids like Jeremy with experiences of a lifetime.
The state of foster care in Tennessee is in crisis. More children than ever need temporary, safe homes compared to the amount of open foster homes. Nationwide, a child is placed into foster care every two minutes, so the need is great. In Tennessee, more than 8,000 kids are in the foster care system with only around 4,000 certified foster homes available.
The lack of mental health resources has become a crisis across the country, especially in Massachusetts. On any given day in Massachusetts, there are over 100 children boarding in hospital emergency departments (EDs) because there are no psychiatric beds available.
What do pregnant and parenting transition-age youth need? More services and more understanding of their specific needs and challenges, presenters at the first Achieving Success convening in Las Vegas recently said.