San Diego, CA – Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT), a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging a caring community to help transition-age foster youth achieve self-sufficiency and well-being was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the Kiwanis Club of San Diego. This Kiwanis grant is being awarded to support Just in Time’s Basic Needs service, specifically to provide housing insecure former foster youth with rent, rent deposits, and utility assistance. National statistics project that after emancipation almost half of former foster youth experience homelessness. In San Diego, where the housing market is especially challenging and homelessness has just been declared a public health crisis, housing support for transition age foster youth is a critical basic need.
An excerpt from the grant states, “Stable housing has always been a core deficit for young people impacted by foster care. Their early lives are defined by the adverse living environments that led to their removal from family homes. That trend continues with multiple impermanent placements as they move through the foster care system. They emancipate with no family support and limited financial resources. In California 31% of former foster youth will become homeless within 2 years of emancipation, and 61% of former foster youth experiencing homelessness are likely to be incarcerated.”
Gordon Boerner, SD Kiwanis Club 1st Vice President and JIT Board Member, said “In the San Diego Kiwanis Club Foundation’s quest to fund impactful, youth-focused non-profits, Just in Time represents a perfect match. For 20 years, JIT has provided a supportive safety net that enables our region’s aged-out foster youth population to not just survive, but to thrive personally and professionally.”
Another Kiwanis Club Member and JIT Youth Services Managing Coordinator, Sanam Charlton states, “As a member of the SD Kiwanis Club, I’m very proud that our Club’s Foundation Trustees selected Just in Time as a grant recipient. JIT highly values this contribution, which will be critical to supporting housing transitions for our aged-out foster youth population.”
For more information on Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT), please visit https://jitfosteryouth.org/
###
About Just in Time for Foster Youth:
Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT) is a nonprofit that serves young people out of the foster care system after age 18 who leave without a safety net or a family to assist with their transition to adulthood. JIT provides a community of support to help these young adults stay on the path to self-sufficiency. Serving over 1,800 youth annually, JIT is focused on stable housing, essential education, meaningful employment, financial security, reliable transportation, positive connections, confidence, and well-being. For more information, visit www.jitfosteryouth.org.
