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Jo Williams, André Chapman, Nicole Taylor, Lisa Sobrato-Sonsini, and Aleta Smith at the Building Promising Futures event.

Dear Friends,

As we step into May—National Foster Care Awareness Month and Affordable Housing Month across the San Francisco Bay Area—we’re reminded that the homelessness crisis facing youth aging out of foster care is urgent, but solvable.

Last year, we launched the Fostering Promise Youth Housing Summit, bringing together over 220 leaders to declare that Not Even One young person should age out of foster care into homelessness. (View the Summit highlights reel here.)

This month, that movement is scaling to the national stage with the Foster Youth Housing Summit in Washington, D.C., a first-of-its-kind convening at the U.S. Capitol on May 19–20. We’re proud to stand alongside Good River Partners and other national leaders to elevate solutions at scale, aligned with the White House Executive Order: Fostering the Future for American Children and Families.

Over the past several months, we’ve held focus groups with county social workers, case managers, CASAs, and service providers across the Bay Area—grounding our work in real-world insights as we continue to build solutions.

At every level—local, state, and national—our work continues to center the voices of young people with lived experience. They are not just informing change, they are leading it—as you will see below.

To our donors, partners, supporters, and community: Thank you for putting your hands in the soil with us. This movement is growing because of you, and we’re just getting started.

With gratitude,

André Chapman, M.A.

President & CEO

Voices of Lived Experience Driving Policy Change

Gerbenn Seraphin, a Fostering Promise advisor, provides public comment at a San Jose City Council meeting.

Across the San Francisco Bay Area, our Strategic Advisors—young adults with lived experience in foster care and housing insecurity—are shaping real policy outcomes and making sure systems work better for current and former foster youth.

This month, several of them spoke directly to decision-makers:

• On April 2nd: The Santa Clara County Housing Authority unanimously approved their 2027 Move to Work plan prioritizing resources for youth exiting foster care.

• On April 14th: The San José City Council, acting in its capacity as the Board of the San José Housing Authority, followed with a similar commitment.

At both meetings, our Advisors delivered powerful public comments—bringing lived experience to the forefront of policy decisions.

And the work continues:

• You’ll see our Strategic Advisors throughout the month of May at community meetings for the Santa Clara County Plan to End Homelessness and at other forums.

• At the state level, we’re supporting AB1899, which would establish an Office of Youth Homelessness Prevention.

This is what systems change looks like: When those closest to the challenges are designing the solutions.

Spotlight On: Gerbenn Seraphin 
Fostering Promise Strategic Advisor

Gerbenn speaking on stage at the Fostering Promise Youth Housing Summit

At just 20 years old, Gerbenn Seraphin is already redefining what’s possible.

After entering foster care in Florida at the age of 12, Gerbenn navigated instability with extraordinary determination—graduating high school early and enrolling at the University of Miami at just age 15. At 18, he moved to California seeking a state with more resources for transition age youth, but faced homelessness in San Francisco before finding support through the Bill Wilson Center in San José.

Today, Gerbenn continues to impress and inspire us as:

• A student at Mission College, earning straight A’s, applying to 4-year universities
  
• A published researcher with two papers in the National Library of Medicine (Stanford University faculty provided Gerbenn with lab space for his research.)
  
• A future bioengineer focused on advancing cancer treatment

We are honored to have Gerbenn as a Strategic Advisor to our work—using his voice to advocate for others while building an extraordinary future for himself.

The Promise Campaign: Momentum is Building

Nicole Taylor, CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, sharing remarks during the event

On March 26th, over 40 cross-sector leaders gathered for an evening of inspiration and action—advancing The Promise Campaign: Building Promising Futures. This was our second campaign event, further deepening engagement and commitment to the work ahead.

Our goal is bold but achievable: Raise $3 million to launch a pilot that proves we can end this crisis—at scale.

We're deeply grateful to Lisa Sobrato-Sonsini for hosting a beautiful and meaningful evening; to Nicole Taylor, CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, for her leadership and belief in our work, which began with SVCF's On the Table initiative in 2017; and especially to lived experience leaders Aleta Smith and Jo Williams, whose stories continue to remind us what’s at stake—and what’s possible!

Join Our Promise Campaign.

Invest. Host. Connect us to resources. Be part of the solution. Read our Prospectus to learn more. Want to set up a coffee with André? Email Melina.



Together, we can ensure Not Even One young person ages out of foster care without a place to call home.

Fostering Promise | 408-430-7571 | 

andre@fosteringpromise.org| www.fosteringpromise.org