Empowering Young People Aging Out of Foster Care

2017 Volume 2

Dear Friends,

It is an exciting time at The Hope Center at Pullen. Our Summer Internship program is bigger and better than ever. Twenty-three young people between the ages of 16 and 21 received coaching with resume writing and interviewing and are now working at paid internships at non-profits and businesses across Wake County. This work experience is transformative for the participants, introducing them to the expectations of the workplace and the exuberance of earning a paycheck. The program participants are making contacts and finding mentors and references for future job searches. Some are being offered jobs where they interned. We are grateful to area employers, Wake County Human Services, our corporate and foundation partners, private donors and transportation volunteers for making this program a great success.

Our Clinical Director and Transition Specialists are welcoming new young people to The Hope Center, partnering with them to reach their educational, employment and housing goals. We are pleased to report that with the generous support of United Way, we are entering our third year of serving young adults with a history in foster care and their children, focusing on the comprehensive services and support they need to prevent intergenerational abuse and neglect and to achieve educational success, economic security and family well-being. Our Collaborative Partners include SAFEchild, Families Together, Wake County Human Services, Wake Tech Community College and EDSI: Tomorrow's Leaders. We are excited about the newest member of our Collaborative, Triangle Family Services, who will be providing financial wellness counseling, mental health services and anger management training for our young people.

We could not be offering quality programs or providing intensive support for young people without our wonderful volunteers and donors. Together, we are brightening the days of young people in Wake County and we are helping them make their futures brighter, too.

Warmly,

Jennifer Weiss
Executive Director
The Hope Center at Pullen

We are thrilled to announce that Relish Craft Kitchen & Bourbon Bar is hosting the 2nd Annual Mac & Cheese Throwdown and Showdown for Hope on Sunday, September 17, 2017! Bring your friends and join us at 214 Martin Street at 6:00 p.m. to taste and judge the best mac & cheese dishes and best cocktails. Stay tuned for more details on which local chefs and bartenders will be competing for the win! All proceeds will benefit The Hope Center's work supporting young people aging out of foster care. Click here to buy your $25 Advance Tickets!

Welcome, Sauyna!

Our young people now have a new Transition Specialist to turn to for support: Sauyna Jones. We are so pleased to welcome Sauyna, who comes to us with a

background in sociology and psychology, to The Hope Center staff. Saunya was drawn to this work because she wants to support young people and provide them with the resources they need to achieve independence - which we believe makes her a great fit to serve our young people and connect them with the resources they need to transition to a successful adulthood.

Wheels4Hope: New Partnership

The Hope Center at Pullen is now a Wheels4Hope Partner Agency! Through this partnership, we will be able to refer some of our young people to Wheels4Hope so that they can access affordable and reliable transportation to continue on the road to self-sufficiency. Without reliable transportation, it is extremely difficult for our young people to maintain employment far fro

m their homes or work non-traditional shifts - one young person found himself having to walk several miles home from a second shift job, along busy streets, in the dark because the bus stopped serving his neighborhood by the time his shift ended. We are so grateful for this new resource. It will help lessen the transportation challenges our young people encounter and make it easier for them to pursue their education, work, and life goals.