A journey to
adulthood
Independent
Living
The journey to adulthood can be full of excitement, growth, and change.
Young adults with foster care experience often miss out on the support and guidance needed during this time, reducing their chances to locate safe housing, find steady employment, and build stable and strong relationships.
Without the needed guidance and support, they are more likely to experience homelessness and become involved with the criminal justice system, and less likely to graduate from high school or college.
Despite the barriers, they are resilient and can make a positive transition if given the opportunity.
When you make a gift to Selfless Love Foundation, you provide support, resources, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to help youth who are aging out of the child welfare system become self-sufficient, thriving adults.
Every youths’ needs are specific. Selfless Love Foundation offers 3 levels of support dependent on where each youth is in their journey to adulthood.
- Support: Provide supportive housing, access to necessities, and empowerment workshops.
- Leadership: Give youth an array of leadership training and opportunities that will forever benefit them personally and professionally.
- Engagement: Provide youth in foster care and those who have aged out with the opportunity to use their voice and engage in improving the foster care system.
Selfless Love Foundation collaborates with child welfare agencies to provide training, resources, and tools to impact the outcomes of over 1,000 youth who exit the foster care system in Florida each year.
- 100% of youth are enrolled in school or have completed post-secondary education
- 75% of youth are employed part-time or full-time
- 100% of youth have their driver’s license or permit
- 60% of youth have completed a leadership training program
Casey Family Programs: Casey Family Programs is a national foundation focused on influencing long-lasting improvements to the safety and success of children, families, and the communities where they live.
Child Welfare Agencies: Selfless Love Foundation collaborates with all the child welfare lead and provider agencies across the state of Florida to improve the outcomes for transitioning youth.
Children’s Harbor: Children’s Harbor is a nationally accredited nonprofit agency with a mission to provide a safe harbor and support to at risk children, youth, and families-keeping brothers and sisters together, strengthening families, and guiding youth towards independence.
Florida Coalition for Children: The mission of the Florida Coalition for Children (FCC) is to advocate on behalf of Florida’s abused, abandoned, neglected, and at-risk children, and to support the agencies and individuals who work on their behalf.
Florida Department of Children and Families: The mission of the Department of Children and Families is to work in partnership with local communities to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and advance personal and family recovery and resiliency.
Dale Carnegie Training of South Florida: For over a century, Dale Carnegie has been improving individual and business performance around the world through in-person and live online courses.
The Institute for Child Welfare Innovation: The Institute for Child Welfare Innovation supports child serving agencies to scale proven solutions, work together, and bridge gaps in policy and practice.
Thanks to Selfless Love Foundation’s generous supporters.
We advocate to ensure that transitioning youth have access to quality services and the support they need to thrive.
The journey to adulthood
SELFLESS LOVE FOUNDATION
01.
Support
02.
LEADERSHIP
03.
ENGAGEMENT
01. Support
Brown’s Harbor
Through a partnership with Children’s Harbor, Selfless Love Foundation formed Brown’s Harbor, a supportive housing community that bridges the gap from dependence to independence. Brown’s Harbor offers on-site staff, training, and support services for youth, ages 18-23, who have aged out of foster care.
Brown’s Boutique
Located at Brown’s Harbor, Brown’s Boutique offers residents a place to “shop” for free clothing to help them feel confident about their everyday and business attire.
Empowerment workshops
Empowerment workshops such as Resume Building, support efforts for foster youth to build the skills required to live independently and empower them to successfully transition into adulthood.LIFE-SKILLS REIMAGINED
Life Skills Re-imagined is a learner-centric, online platform revolutionizing life skills education for youth working towards self-sufficiency. The 9-month program covers five critical topics: personal finance, getting and keeping a job, resiliency, independent living, and communication skills.
02. LEADERSHIP
DALE CARNEGIE TRAINING
Each year, Selfless Love Foundation offers more than 50 youth who were in foster care the opportunity to participate in a Dale Carnegie leadership training program. This high-level training teaches youth to think on their feet, create professional connections, communicate effectively, and build their self-confidence.
Dream tank
The Dream Tank Competition is the capstone of Selfless Love Foundation’s independent living initiative. Finalists from across Florida are selected for an intensive, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
During the nine-month-long process, the finalists receive 150 hours of training in speech writing and presentation, professional etiquette, investment basics, and more.
At the Dream Tank Competition, each youth presents their dream to a panel of judges. They are judged on their content, organization, delivery, and stage presence.
03. ENGAGEMENT
ONE VOICE IMPACT
One Voice Impact (OVI) is a youth engagement initiative powered by Selfless Love Foundation that provides current and former foster youth opportunities to develop skills for leadership and life, advocate for changes to policy, and join a network of youth leaders in Florida and Texas to improve the system of care.
YOUTH COUNCILS
OVI’s Network of Youth Councils seeks to harness authentic youth voices, giving youth with lived experience opportunities to work alongside system leaders to find solutions to local issues, and give councils a platform for statewide collaboration.
Dale Carnegie Leadership Training
“Participating in Dale Carnegie Leadership Training is providing me with tools I’ll use for a lifetime!”
Brown’s Harbor
If I want to be successful, I must first believe in myself, I know that I am capable of anything, and live out these beliefs every day. The leadership trainings have taught me that if I don’t believe in myself first, nobody else will.
Dale Carnegie Training
Dale Carnegie Training taught me how to communicate in my personal and professional life.
Brown’s Harbor
When I was 17, I was left homeless for two months and still in high school. Then I found Brown’s Harbor and my life changed forever.
Let's get to work
Young adults in the foster can make a positive transition if given the opportunity
100% of your donations go toward transforming the lives of current and former foster youth.
