Mission Statement: TSF brings the power of a team to young adults from the foster care system, as well as unaccompanied refugee minors, preparing them to meet their goals in order to live independently.
CY 2022 was once again a very successful year for TSF.
Below is a summary overview of all that TSF accomplished in 2022
Mentors. TSF expanded from 13 mentors in 2021 to 22 during CY 2022, adding Gerry White, Rocky Rochester, Jim O’Brien, Andi Weissbart, Rachael Jarrells, Bob Cavaliere, Larry Land, Crawford Smith and Duncan Sheils.
The addition of nine mentors significantly increased TSF’s overall depth and capability to support more young adults with both Fostering Acadia (FA) and Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC).
Tutor. Lisa Rock joined TSF in 2022 as a tutor/financial education mentor to the young adults TSF serves.
Fostering Acadia. TSF mentored 13 of FA’s young adults for a total of 70 face to face meetings in 2022.
Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC). TSF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CCC in late 2021 and began mentoring three of the young adults who have come through the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program in 2022.
Governance. TSF was approved for the Articles of Incorporation and received a favorable determination letter from the IRS to become a 501©3 tax exempt organization in 2021. The TSF BODs elected the following officers effective November 1, 2021: Executive Director: Gary Powers, Board Chair and Treasurer: Don DeLaney, and Board Vice Chair and Recording Secretary: Gordy Rawles MD. Sarah Bane Williams and Renee Walker also serve on TSFs BODs.
2022 Martin Luther King Jr Drum Major Award
TSF was both honored and humbled to be a recipient of the MLK Jr Drum Major Award in 2022 for excellence in the community.
Individual, Corporate and Foundation Contributors
Many thanks to our Individual, Corporate and Foundation Contributors! TSF is extremely grateful to the numerous individuals and corporations who contributed to our cause in 2022. Since all of the work that TSF does is pro bono, and we receive no government or grant fund financial assistance, we rely solely on individuals and corporate contributions to fund our operations.
Julia Anne Hood Contributors
Many thanks to the individuals and/or organizations who made a contribution to TSF in memory of Julia Anne Hood in 2022. These contributions will be used in TSFs effort to honor Julia’s passion for nursiung by introducing young men and women to careers in healthcare.
Medworks Surgical
TSF is also very grateful to MedWorks Surgical for allowing TSF to use their Conference Room for our monthly meetings and supporting TSFs young adults through their Work/Life Lab intern program.
Community Resource Book (CRB)
TSF published the fourth iteration of the CRB in 2022. The CRB describes the role of numerous non profit organizations and governmental entities who operate in RVA and provide community services such as Workforce Readiness Training, alternative education for the at-risk population, adoption and foster care support services, affordable housing, homeless support organizations and related governmental programs which are all inter-connected
Primary Lessons Learned in 2022
The primary lessons learned in 2022 is that the most important way TSF mentors add value is when we consistently see, hear, connect and ultimately help the young adults we mentor.
“See Them”. The most important thing TSF does in serving this population is to “see them”. We do so by caring enough about them by walking along side them during this very important part of their life journey from ages 18-21.
“Hear Them”. TSFs mentors work really hard to not only see the young adults we serve but as important “hear them”. We hear them by constantly asking open ended Qs during our meetings to get them to open up and tell us what they are really thinking and feeling.
“Connect with them”. TSFs mentors not only see and hear the young adults we serve but connect with them as we become their trusted advisor.
“Help Them”. If we truly see, hear and connect with them then we can play a significant role in helping them so that by the time they transition out of the IL program they are ready to live independently. It’s not easy to do in such a short period of time however when we do so it is nothing short of magical.