Local nonprofit helps support youth aging out of foster care
JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. (WXXV)- Transition Blvd is a nonprofit working to give young adults aging out of foster care a place to call home and a path towards independence.
WXXV News 25’s Brynne Baxley has more.
For many young adults aging out of foster care, the transition to independent living can be challenging.
That’s why the Transition Blvd Empowerment Program is offering a structured 24-month pathway designed to help them build life skills, find stability, and prepare for their future.
Founder Brandi Bosarge says housing is crucial for young people as they transition into adulthood. “And if that means me building one house at a time and accepting four of them then okay. But I have emails and phone calls constantly asking if I can house. And it really honestly breaks my heart that I have to turn them down. And knowing that they have nowhere they have no adult, they have no parents, no grandparents. I mean honestly it only takes one person to say I believe in you, and that can change the whole dynamic of their lives.”
Bosarge says this will give young adults the time, support, and stability needed to decide what comes next, whether that’s attending a trade school, going to college, or entering the workforce
To start, the program will house up to ten young adults, either male or female, between the ages of 17 and 20.
They must be referred by CASA or a social worker and approved by Transition Blvd’s board before entering the program. “If you’re told your whole life well nobody wants you because kids aging out of foster care obviously have never been adopted, right? And so they already feel like that. And then society puts these labels on them—’oh well they are a lost cause or oh these troubled kids’. That’s the first thing I hear.”
Bosarge says the goal is to help these young adults gain the tools and confidence they need to thrive on their own long after they leave the program.
For more information or to find out how to get involved, click here.
