Foster youth to Mayor de Blasio: ‘Save Fair Futures!’
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BRONX TIMES R 12 EPORTER, JULY 3-9, 2020 BTR
BY ALEXANDER SANTANA
Growing up was tough. I entered foster
care when I was fi ve and have been
pushed from home-to-home since then.
I’ve been placed in the Bronx, Manhattan,
Staten Island and on Long Island.
Now, I’m a 20-year-old full-time student
at GED/HSE Future Now at Bronx
Community College, living independently,
with dreams of one day becoming
a motivational speaker to inspire
other youth in care like me.
I know there are odds stacked
against me. For young people who age
out of care in New York City at age 21,
just 21% complete high school, many
end up involved in the criminal justice
system and one in fi ve become homeless
by age 24.
I, however, will not become a statistic,
thanks to the unwavering support
of my Fair Futures coach, Nayeli
Ariza.
A Fair Futures coach is someone
who is there to support youth in foster
care from middle school through age 26
with everything from school, work and
college applications to fi nding a job and
a safe place to live. While most people
have family to lean on, youth in care often
have no one to turn to, especially in
New York City, where every year over
600 of us age out without adult support.
Before I fi rst met Nayeli, I never
knew what it meant to have someone
you can count on through thick and
thin. Moving through different foster
care homes, I spent my childhood feeling
frustrated and abandoned. There
were countless times where I didn’t
know how I’d make it through another
day. I distanced myself from everyone
around me, even dropping out of high
school when I was 17. It was shortly after
then that I met Nayeli.
Without Nayeli’s help, I would still be
lost and struggling. She believed in me
unlike anyone else ever had. She helped
me realize I had to refocus and explore
opportunities for myself. I didn’t discover
Fair Futures until many years after
being in care, but in the short time
I’ve worked with my coach, I’ve learned
there are people who care for my well
being, people I can lean on. I can only
imagine what great impact a Fair Futures
coach would have on a young person
in need of assistance and guidance
throughout their life.
When schooling switched to remote
learning amid COVID-19, I didn’t
know how I would be able to attend and
I started to wonder if I should even attempt
to fi nish, but she helped me fi nd
access to a laptop and pushed me to
continue. This is just one of the many
things I would not have accomplished
without her.
Through this pandemic, she has
been checking in with me via text, call,
email and video chat to make sure that
I am doing ok and have everything I
need, even helping me make sure I’m
set up for success for a summer job.
Since the moment I met her, my coach
has helped me tremendously, so much
so that I decided to take an opportunity
to advocate on behalf of youth in care
who need a coach and life mentor.
As a Fair Futures youth advocate,
I show others like me that a supporting
hand can make all the difference.
I speak on what a coach can provide to
a youth in foster care, as someone who
wishes he had someone there for him in
the early years.
That’s why it’s inconceivable to me
that Mayor de Blasio is looking to cut
Fair Futures from the city budget, especially
as the mayor made a recent commitment
to divert funds to social and
youth services for at-risk New Yorkers.
I have no doubt that stopping a program
like this in its tracks will have devastating
effects for youth in care like me
for years to come.
Fair Futures coaches want to fi ght
for us, so I’m fi ghting with them, alongside
other youth and coaches, to call for
Fair Futures funding. New York City
leaders can help us gain access to the
support we need to secure a more promising
future. Now is the time for the city
to show us they care.
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, CUNY Chancellor Courtesy of CUNY
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