Going Green Has Never Been Easier!
Oct 14, 2009 12:54 pm US/Eastern
FLITE Center Helps Foster Kids Take Flight
Nicole Maristany
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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Young adults aging out of the foster care system in Broward have a new place to hang out; the FLITE Center, which stands for the Fort Lauderdale Independence Training & Education Center.
CBS News
Every year, 120 foster kids in Broward County must leave their foster homes because they've turned 18. While they may be considered legal adults, many of them haven't fully developed the life skills they'll need to function successfully in the adult world. Now, those young adults aging out of the foster care system in Broward have a new place to hang out – the FLITE Center, which stands for the Fort Lauderdale Independence Training & Education Center.
It's a place that's been years in the making, and a place where 20 year old Michael Louis, he himself a foster care kid aging out of the system, volunteers every day.
"Fort Lauderdale, Independent, Training, Education Center, basically it's a one-stop resource center where we do budgeting and life skills classes, but more than that we have people to help prepare us for the real world," explained Michael. He says it's important for him to volunteer at the center in order to give something back.
"Somebody gave me a chance, and now I'm giving that chance back."
But Michael's positive outlook is an expectation, because the odds are stacked against those aging out of the foster care system.
"Statistics show that foster care youth either end up in jail or dead" said Michael. But the FLITE Center helps them become successful adults.
"When their peers are getting ready to turn 18, they're thinking about where they are getting ready to go to college, and the prom - and our kids, the level of anxiety kind of rises because it's where am I going to live, where am I going to be able to go to school and work and pay all of my bills," explained Kristen Guerrise, Resource Director of the Center.
From GED and college classes, to getting help with housing or a job search, the FLITE Center has it all, and it's already starting to make a difference for young adults like Michael. It's his hope to help others in his shoes along the way.
"Without the FLITE center, I don't know where I would be. Mainly, I'm working on just trying to leave a legacy for my brother to see," said Michael.
If you'd like to get involved and volunteer or help out those aging out of the foster care system, call Neighbors 4 Neighbors
(305) 597-4404.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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