On October 18, 2007 we celebrated the grand opening of our office in Fairfield, continuing to serve youth in transition in Solano County. We enjoyed an outstanding show of support from local government, community members and news media. The day began when two young women moved into their first apartment together and continued into the evening at 1545 N. Texas Street, our new home in Fairfield.
Please follow the links to learn about this important day.
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A first home
Group helps ease transition to adulthood for former foster youth by finding them
By Danny Bernardini/The Reporter, Vacaville
Vallejo Times Herald
Article Launched:
In her six years in the foster care system, 18-year-old Vallejo resident Elizabeth Hobbs was in and out of 40 homes. She admits she made some poor choices in her lifestyle along the way.
But last night, she and her new roommate cooked dinner in their first apartment.
It marked the first time the two women were on their own.
“I don’t know what we’re going to cook, but it’s going
to be good,” Hobbs said Thursday afternoon before suggesting a typical young person’s dish. “Probably some Top Ramen.”
Hobbs and 18-year-old Brittany West are the latest clients of First Place for Youth, an organization that helps children transition out of the foster care program.
Based in Oakland and founded in 1998, First Place for Youth celebrated the opening of their first satellite office located on North Texas Street in Fairfield. Serving Alameda, San Francisco, Contra Costa and now Solano counties, the program serves about 30 youths a year who would otherwise be homeless, said co-founder Deanne Pearn.
Foster children are released from care at age 18, or at the end of an 18-year-old’s last high school semester, Pearn said. She said about 5,000 are released in California every year.
“We want them to put a stake in the ground and say ‘This is mine,’ “ Pearn said. “We’ve literally had kids walk across the graduation stage and into homelessness.”
Hobbs and West now will begin their journey out of the system. They started moving their furniture into their Vallejo apartment Thursday.
Hobbs said after having so many people run her life for her, her new independence is going to be a whole different world.
“Just knowing it’s ours is crazy. You get used to getting moved around,” Hobbs said. “To have something of our own is so new.”
The women won’t be completely on their own, however. They are assigned a youth advocate and an education and employment specialist to assist in finding a job or starting college. First Place provides assistance for two years. It helps by loaning enough money for a cleaning deposit and pays 90 percent of the first month’s rent. Every couple of months, tenants are responsible for paying more of the rent, Pearn said.
“As much as possible, we try and make it like real life,” she said.
Sundria Sam, the women’s youth advocate, said her job is to help mediate conflicts and keep them on track, while at the same time letting them be teenagers.
“They have to experience that,” Sam said. “I let them spread their wings and be wild. But not too wild. I tell them that life is about their choices now. Whether it’s a good choice or a bad choice, I’ll be there either way.”
Danny Bernardini can be reached at .
The story from the Daily Republic
FAIRFIELD - Thursday marked two milestones for the nonprofit group First Place For Youth - it unveiled its local headquarters the same day it placed its 10th Solano County participant into a home.
The sparkling new office on North Texas Street near the intersection with Travis Boulevard will allow the center to better serve transition-age foster children, said Andrew Niklaus, director of programs.
An ongoing challenge for those who work with foster care programs is how to help foster children get jobs, education and a home once they reach 18 and no longer can participate in the foster system, Niklaus added.
“We have come into Solano County to provide housing for emancipated youth,” Niklaus said. The program offers subsidized rent for two years.
“They are your backbone if you have some issue or some complication,” said Terri Larkin, a First Place for Youth participant who said she spent months homeless after leaving the foster care system.
First Place helps participants find jobs and offers youth advocates who work with them to make career choices to guide their education. That’s in addition to the housing, which it provides in hopes of giving youth some stability as they get their lives in order.
“The goal is that young people will take over the lease of the apartment after two years and put down roots in that community,” Niklaus said.
On the same day it opened the new facility, First Place For Youth also celebrated placing two program members in their first apartment.
Brittany West and Elizabeth Hobbs, both 18, became the ninth and 10 Solano County residents to get housing through First Place for Youth when they got the keys early Thursday to their Vallejo apartment.
They have been in the program for a few months, taking financial training and other classes to prepare them for living on their own.
On Thursday, the two gushed about their new rented townhouse and said they were looking forward to the stability of having their own place after years of bouncing from one foster home to another.
“Honestly, it’s a blessing,” Hobbs said.
“I never thought it would be possible this could be happening,” West added.
Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or .