Who We Serve

Over 27,000 abused and neglected children make up the Los Angeles foster youth population. Each year, more than 4,000 youth “age out” of California’s foster care system when they turn 18. Many of them have no family to rely on for support or guidance, research shows some unimaginable odds are against them:

• Just 40% will have completed high school (compared to 84% of the general population)
• 40-50% will be homeless within 18 months
• 38% are likely to be unemployed at age 24
• 25% will be incarcerated within two years

Fostering Imagination was created to address the unmet needs of these overlooked children. Our fundamental mission is to mentor at-risk, displaced foster youth in Los Angeles through free, structured one-on-one creative arts and social development programs. FI programs impart stability, responsibility and self-esteem building to unlock personal potential and empower youth to become positive peers, future mentors and community role models. We focus on the kids who reside in smaller foster homes or group homes or with single families – kids who often don’t otherwise have access to outside support or extracurricular opportunities.

We are more than an organization - we are a family, providing a stable nurturing environment where youth learn about respect, responsibility and perseverance. Working with our caring mentors, our kids are able to build their self-esteem, begin to mend their broken souls and realize their true potential in order to become productive, happy members of our community.

When Martha joined Fostering Imagination at age 15, she was a quiet, painfully shy girl who had been abandoned by her parents to be raised by her grandmother. But through FI’s programs, Martha has grown into a confident and talented young lady. “Fostering Imagination is more than part of my family, it’s a part of my body,” Martha says. “Since coming here I have grown in every aspect. Fostering Imagination is everything to me.” Martha is now entering her senior year of high school and preparing to begin applying for college with the support and guidance from her mentors at FI.

Martha is one of the LA foster youth who find support and encouragement in Fostering Imagination’s programs annually. Our participants range in age from 12-19 and reside in foster homes, smaller group homes and with relative caretakers usually located in low-income and limited resource communities throughout Los Angeles.

Approximately 90% of our youth have moved at least four times within the past two years, making it impossible for them to participate in a program that doesn't provide transportation. Fostering Imagination tracks our youth when they move placements, and continues to provide them transportation, so that they will have at least one stable and consistent environment they can turn to in their fractured lives.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Ethnic Breakdown of FI Participants:

·       48% African-American

·       40% Hispanic

·       12% Caucasian

Gender Breakdown of FI Participants:

·       50% Male
·       50% Female

Age Breakdown of FI Participants:

·       30% 12-14

·       40% 15-17

·       30% 18-19