Thank you for supporting us this National Foster Care Month!

National Foster Care month is over and what a month it was! Here at Pivotal, we packed a whole lot into a short time.  

The incredible Delrisha White hosted three live podcast events where Pivotal alumni, scholars, and staff shared their experiences. Here are just a few quotes: 

I not only had someone that could be there for me academically, but I also had someone that was close to my age and was able to understand me, help me make decisions, personal or academic, because I was just all over the place. I can't thank Pivotal enough because I don’t know where I would be without them. – Dunhoja, Pivotal Scholar 

When people talk about what foster youth need, they often think about their education. They think about their housing. They think about food, which is kind of synonymous with housing. People never talk about the community element; it’s not even included when they think about the triad of things that a young person needs right. – Delrisha White, Host of EPEC Conversations Podcast 

A lot of our students don't have that adult talk to them about college after high school. They're in the trenches and the last thing they have capacity to think about is the next step when they're worried about, where am I sleeping tonight? So, my role is to say, “I'm going to hold this future for you. I know it's a lot right now. I'm going to hold it for you because I know you'll get there, even if you don't see that right now.” -  Dazzy Maldonado, Pivotal High School Coach Supervisor 

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get notified when the full podcast is available! 

We kicked off our 35th-anniversary campaign and shared the timeline of our work over the years. We caught up with one of our first scholars Vanessa to get an update on what she’s been doing and brought Pivotal board members old and new together for a reunion. This has been an opportunity to reflect on all we’ve achieved, and how far we still have to go!

Our board member, Pattie Cortese, along with her husband, Senator Dave Cortese and Carl and Leslee Guardino, generously hosted a DreamBIG event – a small party at her home where she invited her friends and colleagues to gather, learn more about Pivotal, and contribute to support our work. We are very grateful for Pattie’s support and her deep commitment to helping foster youth.  

As National Foster Care Month comes to a close, remember that foster youth need your support all year round. We are so grateful to Equinix for hosting our EPEC: Pivotal Perspectives LIVE events, to Pattie, who raised nearly $30,000, and to all of you who have supported Pivotal with donations, time, and resources to help us continue this important work!