Our Story

Who We Are

Family & Youth Initiative grew out of a need to support older teens in foster care who would otherwise have no caring adults in their lives.

Before we were Family & Youth Initiative, we were the Kidsave Weekend Miracles program, funded by a five year Adoption Opportunities grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We learned a lot through the work of that grant - both from the families and youth we served and the other Adoption Opportunities agencies. At the end of the HHS grant when Kidsave decided to close Weekend Miracles in DC, we were not willing to walk away from the wonderful teens then in the program or the many others also in foster care. We knew we could make a difference in their lives. We created Family & Youth Initiative to keep going and build on what we had begun.

Family & Youth Initiative is a non-profit organization. We incorporated in October 2010 and received our 501(c)3 status in March 2011.

Our Community

The strength of our program comes from those who participate with us.

  • DCFYI teens are some of the most interesting, fun, and resilient young people you could ever hope to meet.
  • DCFYI adult volunteers are caring, dedicated, and committed to making a difference.
  • DCFYI partners provide indispensable support, sponsoring engaging activities and helping us reach new volunteers.
  • DCFYI staff keep the pieces connected and the program moving forward, under the oversight of our Board of Directors. 
Our History

2023 to 2025

We were able to expand our staffing to better support both youth and volunteers, splitting the Program Coordinator position into new Youth Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator positions.

In 2024, we started work with an amazing group of individuals with the lived experience of being or having been in foster care (the “LEx Leaders”), DC Child and Family Services Agency, the Office of the Attorney General, Children’s Law Center, and others to create a new and innovative type of legal permanency, called SOUL, for older youth in DC foster care.

We more actively involved current and former participants in our core program in work around program design and evaluation, including convening a group that met bi-weekly for almost two years to revise our Theory of Change.

In 2025, we expanded programming specifically for youth who have aged out of care, including introducing a financial planning series in conjunction with the Catholic Charities Financial Stability Network.

We:

  • Served 31 teens in foster care and 27 young adults who had aged out of foster care;
  • Held 25 program events to bring together youth and caring adults interested in being in their lives;
  • Matched eleven more youth with DCFYI mentors and one with a weekend host family;
  • Introduced two DCFYI teens to the people who became their adoptive families;
  • Matched eight youth who had aged out of foster care with Open Tables.

2020 to 2022

In January 2020, we created the Fund for Critical Youth Needs to ensure older youth would stay housed (helping with security deposits or application fees) and have employment (paying for transportation to or uniforms for new jobs so youth could earn their first paycheck) and be able to meet other urgent needs, not knowing how critically important the Fund would become just two months later.

When the COVID pandemic hit, we pivoted first to virtual and then to outdoor only events and to wrapping even more support around participants - both those in and out of care (many of whom became very isolated). We are deeply grateful to the DCFYI volunteers who continued to show up for youth throughout the pandemic – checking in, offering support, sometimes buying food, and being there in every way possible. It was so much fun to bring the large group together again for the first time at the September 2021 annual birthday party.

We are also grateful to the many generous donors who made sure that DCFYI not only survived the pandemic but continued to grow. That investment allowed us to wrap additional support to older youth through our new Open Table programming starting in January 2022.

 We:

  • Served 36 teens in foster care and 17 young adults who had aged out of foster care;
  • Held 25 program events to bring together youth and caring adults interested in being in their lives;
  • Matched seven more youth with DCFYI mentors and two with weekend host families;
  • Helped four DCFYI teens find adoptive homes.
  • Matched seven youth who had aged out of foster care with Open Tables.
A blonde woman with glasses, holding a pamphlet. She has shoulder length blonde hair and is wearing a purple floral top with a nametag. Theresa Vargas.

2018 to 2019

Theresa Vargas features DCFYI’s annual birthday party in her Washington Post column: “Making up for birthday parties that were never had, group gives older foster kids a chance to celebrate” WGTS 91.9 honors Family & Youth Initiative Executive Director Susan Punnett as a Hometown Hero. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute honors DCFYI as an Angel in Adoption. DCFYI board member Lisa Aguirre’s book “Faces of Foster Care: Messages of Hope, Hurt and Truth” is published. A DCFYI mentor’s reflection on her mentee’s strengths and struggles appears in the “Close to Home” section of The Washington Post. We received funding from the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s Fund for Children, Youth & Families, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., Foley Hoag Foundation, and three other family foundations. We:

  • Served 35 teens in foster care and eight young adults who had aged out of foster care;
  • Held 34 program events to bring together youth and caring adults interested in being in their lives;
  • Matched nine more youth with DCFYI mentors and three with host families;
  • Helped two DCFYI teens find adoptive homes.
  • In 2019, we expanded our mission to include serving young adults after they had “aged out” of foster care.
A young man and a woman posing together in front of a stone retention wall, a lush green backgdrop behind them.

2016 to 2017

We hired an Operations Coordinator, our second paid staff position. DCFYI was selected for a 2018 Compass Micro Project. Media about DCFYI included: Bittersweet Monthly Reader's Choice profile; and an interview with a DCFYI adoptive mom, her son, and the DCFYI Executive Director on Greater Washington Urban League On Track Radio. Our programming continued to grow. In 2017, we:

  • Served 30 teens in foster care and two young adults who had aged out of foster care;
  • Held 18 program events to bring together those young people and caring adults interested in being in their lives;
  • Matched 15 teens with DCFYI mentors;
Two women and a man in the middle, all smartly dressed. The woman on the right in a red dress is holding up an oval plaque/award.

2012 to 2015

We continued and expanded our program – holding events, recruiting new teen participants and adult volunteers, and matching adults and teens.

We received our first major foundation grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation.

Fair Chance selected DCFYI as a new partner.

Media about DCFYI included:​

We honored former DC Mayor (and former foster child) Anthony Williams at our 2014 Establishing Roots fundraiser.

In 2015, we honored NBC4 news anchor and founder and host of Wednesday's Child Barbara Harrison.

Nine DCFYI teens had their adoptions finalized during these years.

An adult man and woman, with their arms slung around 2 middle-high school aged kids.

2010 to 2011

2010

Kidsave ends the Weekend Miracles program in Washington DC so a small group creates Family & Youth Initiative that October to continue programming.

We recruit our first Board of Directors and file incorporation papers.

Despite no real funding we continue monthly program events bringing all participating teens and adults with us to the new organization.

2011

Our first full year of operation. We:

  • Served 30 teens;
  • Held 20 program events;
  • Matched 11 teens with mentors;
  • Matched 8 teens with host families;
  • Helped 12 teens find permanent (adoptive or legal guardianship) families.

We also:

  • received our 501c(3) non-profit status;
  • launched our first website.

All on a budget of about $20,000.