keeping your eye on the prize

Hi blog family!
Thank you ALL who have visited this site!! We are growing, which means the word is getting out, a blog foster and ex foster kids can go to ....please ask any questions, I will find an answer if i don't have one!!

alot going on...including the usual life drama...always to be continued! lol...

Fosterkidsunite, what is the point of this blog? Why do we give stipends to kids aging out of foster care?
Because this is what I was called to do!!!
 I am blogging in response to a "naysayer", (they have no idea they was negative but I am sharing so that you learn a lesson on sticking to your guns!! ( thoughts, ideas, plans....not an actual gun...lol (i don't like those things and they kill people so please know i am NOT talking about a weapon! lol... follow me...

Today I am Keeping my eye on the prize...why am I hear, what is my purpose?? TO HELP OTHER FOSTER KIDS!!! I am clear about this.
I realized I don't have to be a celebrity or have money, I have to have heart, will and take action....and I am doing the later!
Recently I went to ask someone in great authority/position to help me, they basically said my ideas were great, ( I didn't need them to tell me that..i needed their model for success on helping others..), but they said: "no one would take me serious or give money without the 501c3 yet!"

At that point I lost all of my respect for this person because I thought they were a visionary" a leader" but I realize....they are just another clone in society who feels that only "known" people or those with "Money" can make a difference.

I thought to myself, if money could solve problems vs ideas, a few good people and action, then why is Africa still starving?
why is Katrina victims still displaced,
why are people still homeless,.. because we have, "money" in place to help them???

 I hope you get my point--money is needed, is great BUT without the PERSON to volunteer or take time, money means nothing!!

I want to see change, one kid at a time!
 It may  seem slow but at least I will see the results and NOT a statistic!! I want to know how that "kid" that aged out is doing in 15 years..after he left...no what 350,000 kids on paper are "doing"!!!! follow me....
We as people need to get up get out and do something for a cause we believe in, nothing will change until WE do!! Stats mean NOTHING unless YOU SEE and know results, you can only know if you follow through adulthood, everything else....is a guess...

As you may know May is National Foster Care Awareness month--deemed by our president as a time to raise awareness, in your way, in your community about the issues of foster care!

This will be our 2nd event at the Mount Kisco Public Library May 18th 2-4 2nd floor conference room. 
Please RSVP!! (the room only holds 100!)  and last year, it was filled!!

We will be honoring people working with foster kids and a few young people aging out and going to school will be awarded a stipend to help them through the first semester!
We hope each winner will not care about the money but the fact that someone is thinking of them, following them through school and teaching them they must PAY IT FORWARD!!
We can only help each other by sharing what we know, then passing it on.
There are times when you will be tested on how much you believe in you or your ideas and faith...I say... keep your eye on the prize...aging out gracefully and with a future plan--even if its not exactly what you envisioned, its a plan!
I was told the other day after sharing that i was doing this event and will make NO money, (all food, items for event are donated) but i was still asked by a person: "why are you doing it if your not getting anything out of it"?  I was stunned but I know that MOST people are not awake and everyone wants to keep up with the Jones" - but not only was I not raised like that by my foster mother but I take on this work because SOMEBODY has too!!
And who better than I who lived through foster care? Life still is not perfect, (it never will be or I would be in "heaven" lol..) I know that 30,000 kids leaving a year and around 9,000 in care in my area....I can only help a few...but I'M OK with that!!
Don't allow negative or money hungry people into your head to make you think that your wrong for not wanting money for doing something you love!
We are still working on the 501c3 but that will not deter me from helping 4 kids a year, only health or death could stop me now.
 I know what a difference ONE person can make in the life of a foster kid who has NO FAMILY- I would NOT have made it through NYU without the help of a lovely lady, (R.I.P Mrs. Bauer)! So the point for today is to stay focused on what is right for YOU, stay true to what YOU believe, even if its not aligned with others, as long as its right, ethical, and will help you to help others...

life is short, when I leave there is only one song I could hear in my head: "If I can help somebody, as I travel along, then my living will not be in vain".. (writer unknown)... this is my favorite gospel hymn and my fav song since i came into foster care. I try not to let naysayers effect me, but i am human. Please know that I care about every foster child and I will do what i can, with what little I have to assure a few " get it" before they leave care! This is my mission with Fosterkidsunite, I hope your in!

Have a great day, smile, someone is watching you - you may make their day!! xo Tanya