Family & Youth Initiative's 2023 Annual Report
DCFYI's 2023 Annual Report tells the story of a couple looking to adopt and how they and a seventeen year old DCFYI participant became a family after they met through our weekend events.
DCFYI on NBC4
Family & Youth Initiative is featured in this NBC4 story on ViaPath Foundation and their work supporting organizations like DCFYI that support young pepole and, directly or indirectly, keep them out ofthe criminal justice systems.
Making up for birthday parties that were never had, group gives older foster kids a chance to celebrate
Theresa Vargas' column in the Washington Post.
"We tend to take for granted that children get birthday celebrations, that someone in their life will, at minimum, buy or make them a cake and put their name on it."
Ms. Vargas profiles a DCFYI teen, after conducting an interview in between musical chairs and the water balloon toss at the annual DCFYI all-teen birthday party. She captures her struggles, aspirations, and why the birthday party and DCFYI community are special to her.
The power of the birthday party is in creating a space where teens “get the chance to be silly and carefree, at least for a few hours. Whatever toughness they might present on other days falls away as they play children’s games."
The difference one adult can make for foster children in D.C.
Long time DCFYI mentor Kathryn Maddux's piece in the "Close to Home" section of the Washington Post.
Kathryn describes her mentee's struggles both in foster care and since "aging out" of care and gaining a footing as an adult. She places those in the larger context of challenges faced by young people aging out across the country as documented in a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the impact that DCFYI mentors are making in the lives of their mentees.
Kathryn's mentee continues to struggle. "However, I know that by at least offering a listening ear, helping find social services, navigating bureaucratic processes and providing a good meal every time we meet, she has come to trust me. And through her authenticity and perseverance despite the odds, I have come to admire and trust her."
DCFYI on the Radio
Greater Washington Urban League On Track Radio, November 20, 2016
In this interview a DCFYI adoptive mom and her son and the DCFYI executive director shared what makes DCFYI special.
Bittersweet Monthly
Bittersweet Monthly uses beautiful photos and prose each month to tell the story of "organizations doing inspiring and much needed work in response to the critical social issues of our day." Bittersweet Monthly readers selected Family & Youth Initiative as the November reader's special organization.
The result is magical, using the experiences of two DCFYIers, Robert and Dayar, to tell the bigger story of challenges faced by young people who age out of foster care and the impact one committed, caring adult can have.
“Brian helped me get into Duke Ellington School of the Arts. I wouldn’t have applied if it weren’t for him. That changed my life. He pushed me to do it. He helped with everything. He helped me with my homework, took me to shows across town, took me to my audition.”
DCFYI's "Doc in a Day" Mini Documentary
How do you perceive teens in foster care? Watch this quick three minute video to meet some DCFYI teens and hear them tell you what DCFYI is all about.
Learn how one caring adult can make all the difference - maybe that adult is you.
Created for Family & Youth Initiative by an amazing "Doc in a Day" team from Stone Soup Films (on Vimeo).