$66,731.53 raised or pledged

Giving that Creates Opportunity

Janet reached the summit and we raised $66,731.53!

Since we kicked off this goal and began the climb to our original goal of $50,000 in November, your support and contributions have helped us raise funds to provide wraparound services including education, employment, life skills, mentoring and well-being, and activities for youth currently and formerly in foster care.

Thank you for your generous contributions and social media shares to help us spread awareness and raise money for The HAY Center! 

HAY Center foundation board member, Janet Dietrich, has set a goal to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in January 2021. She is dedicating this climb to current and former foster youth. These youth have incredible figurative mountains in their lives to climb, and Janet and The HAY Center want to make sure that they have the resources necessary to achieve their goals. Janet’s personal summit is to raise $50,000.

Your tax-deductible donation will go towards the wrapraound services provided by The HAY Center, including education, employment, life skills, mentoring and well-being programs and activities.

 Follow progress of the campaign climb here, and on The HAY Center’s Instagram and Facebook  pages.

Debra

Debra, a youth formerly in foster care has climbed mountains of her own. When Debra was 11, she was placed in foster care and like many foster youth she moved from placement to placement until she turned 18. She graduated high school on time, no small feat given the number of schools she attended and the challenges of adjusting to multiple foster homes. When Debra left foster care at age 18, she lived with a family member which did not provide the stability she needed to reach her goal of getting a college degree. Her HAY Center Case manager referred her to the HAY Center housing program which allowed Debra to become stably housed. Debra now works for The HAY Center as a peer wellness specialist and will be providing the youth voice for program development. She says, “Everything good that happened when I aged out (of the foster care system), is because of The HAY Center.” Debra’s next mountain is enrolling back in college, and getting a degree.

Jazmine

Jazmine entered into CPS at the age of 5, and had experienced multiple foster homes by the age of 10. She described herself as destructive, and not content, and she knew she wasn’t the same sweet girl she was before she entered foster care. By the age of 16, she saw other children going through the same things she went through, and Jazmine started thinking about her goals. She ended up dropping out of school during her junior year, and said, “During that year, I was having the best time of my teenager life, but I wasn’t progressing in life and the people I chose to hang around never had my best interests at heart.” Jazmine wanted to be at peace with life. In 2017 she started making serious goals for herself including enrolling back into school and being around people that support her and want her to be successful in life. Jazmine said, “I started to think positive for myself because if I can’t do it for myself no one else can. I had setbacks during this time, but kept the mindset that you’re going to be successful and that kept me pushing day after day.” By the age of 20 she had her first apartment and first car. One year later, at the age of 21, Jazmine reflects on her journey: “Now that I am 21 I see that I may not have went down the right path but I kept fighting to make my life better. Wonderful case managers like Mrs. Manett and Mr. Perry made sure I know I have a lifetime support, and having someone to lean on and talk to and help you achieve goals you thought you couldn’t is amazing.” Jazmine’s next mountains include keeping a positive mindset, finding a college, and becoming stable and at peace with her own life.