resiliency

Ever wondered how much you are willing to risk to follow your passion? I was raised as an obedient girl in a small village in Northern Africa. My talents included walking on hot coal and balancing a sword on my head or fingertip.

Surrounded by the effects of poverty in the heart of East Oakland, Calif., I arrived in 1989 as the fourth of my mother’s eight children. We lived without access to the resources critical for survival due to my father’s incarceration in a Louisiana state prison, where he has been serving a life sentence for the past 25 years.

Projected on the enormous screen at the front of the room was a blue-tinged image of a brain scan with a seemingly simple phrase next to it: “Changing Minds.” The striking image and accompanying messages are still being developed by national nonprofit Futures Without Violence (Futures) for a public outreach campaign about the complex issue of childhood trauma.

James, a former foster youth who holds a master’s degree in social work, parallels his life with that of a half-brother who was in and out of jail, on drugs and involved in gang-related activities.

Current and former foster youth who are 18 years and older are invited to participate in a “resiliency” research project with Loyola Marymount University and Fostering Change. The purpose of the project is to measure how participation in the foster care system has influenced the individual’s identity, life and future goals, and to identify the factors that contribute to their resilience.

Starr Commonwealth CEO Marty Mitchell was awarded the Samuel Gerson Nordlinger Child Welfare Leadership Award by the Milwaukee-based Alliance for Children and Families, a membership group representing 360 youth and family service providers around the country.