SU awarded $1 million pledge to expand programs to aid foster youth
Campus-wide initiatives will increase university's commitment to develop educational collaborations
Local foster children will have a better chance of reaching their fullest academic potential and Seattle University will be able to build upon its commitment to foster youth through the help of a $1 million pledge to the university. The five-year grant from the Schultz Family Foundation will expand SU's existing partnership with Treehouse, the nonprofit agency that provides programs and advocacy on behalf of King County's 15,000 foster children.
"Through our partnership with Seattle University, Treehouse's programs will be able to provide more intensive, professional instruction to students who have missed many critical milestones in school," said Treehouse Executive Director Janis Avery. "With this pledge Seattle University is in a great position to help Treehouse strengthen the services we provide youth in foster care."
The grant, which will be administered by the College of Education, is already being put to use to make a positive difference. Seattle University undergraduate Paula-Ann Carvalho-Johnson was hired this month to help tutor foster youth who are participating in the Treehouse Summer Academy, an intensive, six-week academic program. Carvahlo-Johnson, who was raised in a foster home, says the experience has helped crystallize her desire to pursue a career in social work or foster youth advocacy:
"This job has opened my eyes to what is important to me, which is to help children. A lot of these youth are at a point in their lives where they are unable to see the bright side of things, but I feel that I am able to relate to their situation and let them see that life does indeed get better."
Foster youth at local partner schools of both Treehouse and the Children's Literacy Project, the College of Education's volunteer tutoring program, will also benefit from the Schultz Family Foundation gift. Beginning this fall and continuing throughout the academic year, twenty-four students will be hired and assigned to the schools to participate in Treehouse's Tutoring Corps, a new program designed to provide one-on-one tutoring sessions to foster youth. The tutors, who will be recruited from the Children's Literacy Project and the Bachelor of Arts in Humanities for Teaching program at Seattle University's Matteo Ricci College, will tutor the foster youth while receiving leadership training and gaining hands-on experience. The Treehouse Tutoring Corps will be supervised by Children's Literacy Project staff members.
The Schultz Family Foundation pledge will also escalate Seattle University's role in providing programs to benefit foster youth on a cross-disciplinary level.
"This fall we will begin meeting with others throughout the university to explore opportunities for students to become involved," said College of Education Dean Sue Schmitt. "Together with Treehouse, we will identify additional projects to enhance and expand the education of both Seattle University and Treehouse students."
In recent years, Treehouse and Seattle University have collaborated on a number of efforts to assist foster youth: nursing students provide health assessments as part of their clinical training; Children's Literacy Project and First Generation Project volunteers offer tutoring throughout the school year; and the social work program sponsors Treehouse internships. The partnership with Treehouse deepened this past year with the establishment of Seattle University's Fostering Scholars program, which provides tuition, room, board and mentoring support to eligible foster youth.
Press release posted online on August 3, 2007