“I just wanted to thank you again for the prize and believe it or not you have saved my life again… I still have a long way to go but I am making progress. ” Love, Sam
Samuel tagged along with his older foster brother to a Foster Pride computer class for teens when he was just nine-years-old. He was so enthusiastic that despite his young age, the teacher, Rosanne, let him stay. But the once-a-week class wasn’t enough for Sam — he started showing up at Rosanne’s office everyday. Soon afterwards, he was doing his homework with Rosanne and staying for dinner— and by the end of the year not only had his grades improved, he’d won his school’s science fair. Rosanne has remained Sam’s trusted mentor throughout the years—cheering his college graduation, dancing at his wedding and becoming an adopted grandmom to Sam and his wife Kristyn’s two beautiful children. Today Sam has a great managerial job, owns his own home and recently was the recipient of the Foster Pride Susan Fillin-Yeh scholarship, awarded to outstanding program graduates. Sam used his scholarship money to buy a bike.
“I am writing to let you know that the prize money awarded to me went to a great place. I’ve been getting heavier as the years progressed and I found working out at the gym was never my thing. So I took the prize money and invested it in a bike. I have been riding 40 miles a week and have lost 11 pounds so far. I just wanted to thank you again for the prize and believe it or not you have saved my life again. Because if it wasn’t for that money this wouldn’t be possible. I still have a long way to go but I am making progress.”
Love, Sam”
Andrea
“It was my first internship and I also got paid for researching work for an upcoming art exhibit. It was a VERY big milestone for me!”
“I was just a regular girl from the Bronx, coming from another country. I thought art was a privilege, something for rich people” says Andrea A. Reséndiz Gómez. But all of that changed when on the advice of a teacher, Andrea applied for—and was awarded— a place in a high school program at The Whitney Museum of American Art. ”It made me realize that anyone can take advantage of art, it’s something that belongs to me.” Andrea, now 23, was born in Mexico and came to America when she was 7. She has been a DACA recipient since she was fifteen and she is always rising to the occasion, taking advantage of opportunities. Andrea has worked at restaurants as a cashier and host and at various jobs at the Whitney Museum. When the pandemic struck and everything shut down, Andrea was excited that under the Foster Pride Internship Program she would be able to work remotely at an interesting job. “It was my first internship and I also got paid for researching work for an upcoming art exhibit. It was a VERY big milestone for me!” Foster Pride was also able to help Andrea nag a coveted internship at Phillips (auction house), where “she was one of our best interns,” her supervisor confided. Andrea will be graduating Lehman College this year with a BFA in Sculpture and a double minor in French and ASL. Her dream job is to work in the education department of a museum or gallery, where she can help facilitate the accessibility of museums and let others understand that “art is for everyone.”
Massama, now 22, is a refuge from Mali who arrived in the United States alone when he was 15, speaking no English. Massama participated in Foster Pride’s “Career Week,” an event which exposes youth to what it’s like to work in different industries, as well as the educational and professional opportunities they should take advantage of to get there and he attended every single session-- visiting a fashion company, a construction site, a restaurant, and a bicycle repair shop. When we asked him what kind of job he would like, Massama’s answer was simple, “One that leads to a good future.”
Foster Pride was able to secure an internship for Massama at the NYC Department of Law where he honed his language and administrative skills and participated in group discussions about cases. These days, Massama is the first set of eyes to review internship applications for law students who want to work for the department. His bosses admire Massama’s drive, ability and enthusiasm and Massama loves learning and working there. He is currently a junior at John Jay College, where he is studying criminal justice. And whether he ends up with a career as an admin, a paralegal, a lawyer, or in some other entirely different profession, we feel confident, as does Massama, that he is on his way to becoming a proud, confident, tax-paying member of his community, one who has a job “That leads to a good future.”
Massama
“Using the arts as a launching pad, Foster Pride helps children and teens in their programs develop the skills they need to succeed.”
— New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer
Sarah
Every year we choose a Foster Pride student who is smart, talented, and motivated to receive The Susan Fillin-Yeh Scholarship. We think that Susan Fillin-Yeh—a great friend, noted art historian, feminist and creative spirit, would be especially proud of 2021’s recipient. Fifteen-year-old Hunter High School student Sarah Malik is fierce. Sarah was as first time crocheter in the HandMade program but she quickly became a star—designing, selling and helping to teach other students all about crochet.
As a Foster Pride Intern, Sarah earned praise from her employers at NACTO, where Sarah helped organize a conference on transportation; Sarah is currently a “Gugg Teen,” in partnership with Foster Pride, working on a project for the Guggenheim Museum on how to make museums more accessible to children in foster care. Perhaps most impressively, Sarah has organized sixty friends and students at Hunter to create Achillea, a peer tutoring program for youth in foster care. https://www.peer-tutoring.org/
Sarah is now a freshman at Boston University, and a recipient of a Blavatnik Education Fund Scholarship.