For 25 years, Foster Angels of South Texas has been responding to the needs of over 49,000 children and youth in foster care in South Texas. We're proud to maintain the same process that our founder, Ted Oakley, created in 1999 while also expanding our daily work.

Children in foster care have lived through traumatic experiences that many of us would find difficult to imagine. They lacked prenatal care, understood hunger, wondered when or if their parents would come home, cared for younger siblings at a time when life should be carefree, and knew pain - physical and emotional. Once they enter foster care they're alone and facing the unknown. This makes our work vital and paramount to their dire situations.

We are closely partnered with the Department of Family and Protective Services along with other frontline agencies and organizations who submit requests on behalf of the children on their cases. Each request we receive is a testimony to a child's abusive and neglectful past, lined with a glimmer of hope only Foster Angels can provide. We respond to each request within 48 hours and deliver their requested assistance in one week or less. We can also process emergency requests in 24 hours; no one in South Texas can do what we do.

We have also added a Life Set Program: a three-part initiative that promises a safety net to youths facing life after foster care with no family support. Soaring Scholars gives financial assistance to foster youths pursuing higher education. This effort mitigates the negative graduation rates surrounding young adults in foster care. We currently have 7 Soaring Scholars on a path to success. Keys to Success assists current and former foster youths in the car buying process, including driver's education, understanding car maintenance, and learning healthy financial planning. We have assisted 5 youths in buying their first care this year, a rite of passage to independence. Our third effort is a Housing Pilot to reduce the risk of homelessness as they age out of foster care. We have 2 young adults living in fully furnished apartments and work closely with them for 6-9 months so they are prepared to live independently.

We believe all children deserve the most basic of needs, experience a sense of normalcy, and have the same opportunities for success as their peers. Children and youth in foster care carry their scars for a lifetime. We are committed to breaking the generational cycle of abuse by helping them find happiness and heal - one child, one request, at a time.